well what you can do is get a A/B switch and a little hook up which will allow you to connect a laptop to your screen and do the same as i did and press A/B when you want to switch between the laptop or the navi or even if you dont want to do a laptop you can do a video ipod which is so simple it will play movies and your music and switch to your navi when ever you need it

 

Thats cool! I have an idea to hook up a palm pc via bluetooth to my ss box/ Eu when I get all my things hooked up one day....Good to know that its not too hard to do this stuff!

 

hey gmz i would actually like to see that might look really cool never thought about using a palm os or a windows ce aka pocket pc

 

good luck finding a driver for the LCD ahah.. Its almost cheaper just to get a used laptop and this http://www.garmin.com/products/gps18/

 

looks great!!! Any plans for pc-based navigation?

 

Heat can be mitigated if you draw air from under the glove box as well, it is one of the coolest places in the car and it is insulated well by the gas tank. Using Speedfan I have found my processor has never gotten above 40C even parked in the sun with the windows up at 95F outside.

As for why one might want a carpc over a more traditional setup
Carry hundreds of cds without danger of lose or damage
Listen to audiobooks from Audible.com in their native format
Fully customizable navigation
Applications like Uprev's Cipher for in car diagnostics
Pick up email someone sent you in case you forgot to bring an address to an appointment
Check my350z.com from almost anywhere
Play video (something a PC can do but not something I care to do with mine)
Get you live traffic reports based on realtime information
Fully customizable interface
Make your friends and family gasp in disbelief

PCs in cars is the future, the big players just haven't figured out how to make it as easy to use as a toaster yet.

MERK350Z, I actually don't know to many people using old desktops, most people buy specific low power setups specifically for their CarPC. The ITX stuff is the most popular but my setup is running an AMD 2400+ mobile chip on a Biostar mini atx board with a mobile DC to DC power supply that handles car start and shut down events as well as car battery protection.

Chris

 

good job... welcome to the group of carpc owners.. firstly you need to replace that ugly media engine skin... my main reason for my carpc was navigation, the mp3/dvd player/bluetooth phone use was an added bonus...

 

you guys need to make a howto and do a stickie, a used laptop can be purchased for 500-600 bux

 

i got mine for 300 from ubid.com 500 thats if you want a new one lol

 

a desktop works better.... (trust me done the research)... the only reason to use a laptop is if its lying around... in my case i used a dell desktop i had "lying around"... gutted the whole thing... here are some pics from my build 1 year ago... total cost on my project including software (iguidance 2.0) was 650$.

 

this is the skin i have running now...

 

Or it could look like this









Chris

 

thats a nice set up i think down the line i will do a mini pc set up but i think as a start the laptop will do just fine but u got an awsome setup nice, clean and you got some tight skins

 

is that some kind of software that you can download that makes everything easy to access?


150bux barebone

3.7" x 12.6" x 13.0"

 

i have a build VERY similar to hypersprites....his was the basis for my build. I have loved it, but recently moved to within 10 min of work, so i barely use it anymore. I believe i'm going to sell the whole setup. The navi was very useful on trips, but i'll get used to mapquest again! If anyone is interested in a packaged carputer solution let me know....i think! haha I'll post some pics tomorrow

 

hey chris i wanna be sure and check out your setup at the hearst castle meet

 

Its a skin for media engine.... kinda like winamp skins... get it ?

 

If you are looking for media engine software, here:
http://www.mediaengine.org/index.php

 

there are tons of different front end software available to do these things. I personally kept the windows, because i'm too lazy to integrate everything into something that looks that pretty. There are lots of different mobile pc forums out there too that are very helpful.

 

Looks like this is a popular mod for Z's nowadays. I had this same setup on my Prelude before my Z and now I just finished installing one in there. I had mine installed inside the glove box too. I'm using Frodoplayer for my frontend and CoPilot for GPS navigation: