In-car PC? (Was: mod idea.)

[Nate Stuart]

Mark L. Chang said:
> To put it into perspective, perhaps, I have three Mini-itx boards around
> the house doing various tasks (including sitting in a drawer :>). They
> were $50 each. Last I checked, my laptop was a couple grand. Add a $50
> laptop hard drive, some memory, a dremel tool and some free plexi from
> the plastics place, and you've got yourself a PC! Plus a <$100 screen
> and you have a <$250 system that you can leave in the car.
>
> Cheaper than a laptop, IMHO.

Exactly, and all the parts are industry standard, and becoming quite well
supported in the linux community. The board I am using cost me ~$170 since
it was/is the fastest one out at the moment, with all the latest wizbang
features that you would be paying through the nose the get with a laptop.
I've got 4 USB 2.0 ports, 2 firewire ports, 2 serial, 1 parrallel, 6
channel analog audio outputs, digital audio output, VGA and svideo/RCA
video outputs, standard IDE headers, standard DDR ram, and the list goes
on and on. You won't find a laptop for a resonable amount that would be
smaller, or better suited. If you can build this stuff yourself the cost
is really not bad at all. I got the motherboard for ~170 as I said, the
ram was ~30 IIRC, the slot load DVD drive was ~35, the 20gig hard drive in
the box I traded some parts for, the DC-DC power supply was $35 new, and
the LCD display was ~108. All in all WAY cheaper then trying to use a
powerfull enough laptop to do this, plus the display for this is right in
the center console, where it should be.

As for the gauges, I will probably be implimenting them in the near
future, but it won't be of much use to most. I plan to interface to the
034 EFI ECU, there is no sense in me building a complete A/D interface
box, when I already have one sitting in the car.

Feel free to fire away with any more questions.
-Nate
'89 90tq
http://www.newtsplace.com/90tq


> On Mon, Sep 15, 2003 at 02:36:58PM -0400 or thereabouts, Kent McLean
> wrote:
>> I have no real need to play movies in my dashboard,
>> but I'm curious as to the amount of money and time you
>> spent on this. It would seem to me that a (cheap) used
>> laptop computer, with DVD player added, might fill the
>> bill. A DC-to-AC converter could power it. Drive the
>> LCD via the laptop external monitor port. Maybe a
>> PCMCIA card to drive a remote control (mouse?).
>>
>> So, is the "stow tray" that small? Were you looking
>> for a permanent solution? Are there features or
>> functions in your setup that a laptop couldn't provide?
>> Are you going to use it to do other things (e.g.,
>> electronic gauges, etc.)?
>>
>> I do admire your ingenuity, I'm just being curious.