Add a PC in your car. (wifi,bluetooth,dvd)

[alex_wky]

Ya, about the break-in thingy... abit worried but of coz will hide it when parked.
anyway, tested again this morning (only have time in early morning before i go to work) plugged in my PC and monitor together to the inverter. booted up nicely... (glad!!) and run windows xp nicely..... wireless mouse works.... after 15min it shut down. touch the inverter ... abit hot , probably heat problem or not enough power.

i have a digital voltage reader in my car ,so i can view the voltage drop when runnning the pc on idle or load. so running idle wasnt much load but when load windows media player u can feel the load.

i restarted the pc when the inverter cool down, and in 10 min it restarted due to my aircond compress kicks in...... sigh ...

maybe you need a bigger amp battery? like those on trucks :p

 

[LilKeV84]

inverter shut down?
should be heat usually...or overload...
i read b4 somewhere 1 fellar tried with a shuttle pc...4got the site liao...malaysian
have to mod the inverter and add a fan to it...after that no prb
=)

 

[icecube]

ya, i read about tat article too. his was a huge 300w inverter. anyway, i still havent got time to play much with it, thinking of getting another small inverter like 100w for the lcd and use the 150w for the pc. but then again, scare it drag my battery too much with 2 inverter in the car... sigh.
maybe a dvd player will be enough.. :P

 

[arturo]

just curious.....did u get ur system up and running in the end?im also planning to get a carputer up n running but the biggest prob is display...

 

[youmolo]

I think you guys are better off using a laptop. you can solve the power problem as laptops run relatively low on power. you can just connect it directly to your 12v car battery. and if the laptop comes with an lcd screen, you can use it. and laptops have hard disks that can stand shocks. I've had laptops in my car before for wardriving purposes and they never shutdown. Might want to consider getting a second hand laptop (=

but i do agree that putting a laptop in a car is very risky because people might break in and steal it. you might end up with a stolen computer and a broken window...

 

[ANDY_RESORT]

Geez, im thinking of installing a PC in my Resort ler.. need to do some research, at least it releases my stress (hopefully) :D ;)

 

[arturo]

laptop is good enuff and ez to instal...some laptops if i not mistaken can buy car charger that makes it even easier to instal but not diy enuff la...besides with a laptop u cannot upgrade other stuff like tv/radio card....at much cheaper prices compared to a laptop.but main point is DIY i found sort of a solution to powering a normal pc. some websites in the US sell a sort of psu that doesnt convert the power to fit into the normal pc PSU but instead directly feeds power into the mobo.much more safer n got added bonus...it has auto start up when u start ur engine n auto shutdown when u shut off ur engine...it'll power ur system till it shuts down properly b4 cutting power even after engine off.but then problem is will they ship to malaysia...my main problem is mounting the lcd.where to get the mounting-swivelling arm ar? :frown:

 

[SentraVIP]

Err... Guys. For those who's into carpc or Carputer. Do check out this link...

www.mp3car.com (a must visit site and forum for carputer fans)

For powering up a low P3 or Mini ITX, no need to get an inverter. Just get one of those DC~DC PSU available at www.mp3car.com

Oh, and do check out their LCD touchscreens...

Hope this helps.

 

[SentraVIP]

Oh... and did I mentioned it's been done by a few Malaysians before? Seems like there's no heat/durability issues so far! *touchwood*

Theft?

Well, you gotta smart up... hide it up nicely or dun simply part lor!


Cheers!

 

[1298]

Found this quite sometimes ago... http://www.computerservice-it5.eecity.de/bilder.html

 

[SentraVIP]

Hi! Err... the site is in Germans?!

 

[malcolmchoy]

hi..just wanna share a link..http://forum.audiopce.com. for all carpc needs..can also contact me if u need further information.. hehe..

 

[lucky8]

Oh... and did I mentioned it's been done by a few Malaysians before? Seems like there's no heat/durability issues so far! *touchwood*

Cheers!

yeah...with the correct installation of fans and the correct dc-dc psu ... there will be no over heat issue....

Thanks malcolmchoy for recommending my carpc forum (forum.audiopce.com) which the only one in Malaysia, i guess.. :shades_smile:

welcome to login, then we can share our part of the stories...

 

[howiechoo]

there's no need to worry so much la....just get a ups...and connect it to atleast 150w inverter...and connect ur pc to the ups...so when not enuff power( compressor kick in), the ups can help u to deliver power to the pc...when car running, the ups will store back the current...i think it works....but for safety, u should not use the same inverer for monitor and pc...pc eat a lot current...my pc eat 400w...and my monitor is 120w...for lcd, normally 60-100w...but even u use sff pc, it will >150w...so u need to use 2 inverter....

btw, the monitor do not use the ups....only cpu use it is unuff....

 

[coldfusionpower]

there's no need to worry so much la....just get a ups...and connect it to atleast 150w inverter...and connect ur pc to the ups...so when not enuff power( compressor kick in), the ups can help u to deliver power to the pc...when car running, the ups will store back the current...i think it works....but for safety, u should not use the same inverer for monitor and pc...pc eat a lot current...my pc eat 400w...and my monitor is 120w...for lcd, normally 60-100w...but even u use sff pc, it will >150w...so u need to use 2 inverter....

btw, the monitor do not use the ups....only cpu use it is unuff....

why not just use the UPS . ups is an inverter too. while crank, the batt in the UPS will keep it on. tried it and it works .. don't have any problem running my system more than 4 hours ( audio and amps are at 30% , video mode ) when car doesn't start and no prob during driving.

i don't have any problem with the SATA destop harddisk, either on bumps or sudden acceleration or sudden stop. heat is a little problem i'm still encounter. since my car is like a oven when parked outside at work.

drop by the forum Lucky8 and Malcom mention. It's new but growing.

 

[malcolmchoy]

wow all the carpc sifus also here.. cold,lucky8..ahaks

 

[DaRk_AnG3L]

Thought I saw somewhere there was someone selling a single din carputer online? Anyone know about that?

 

[DaRk_AnG3L]

Budget? Still looking at options. Have a few old computers lying around the house anyhow =)

 

[DarkSin]

if you're interested can try to find this mini pc.

http://minipc.aopen.com/Global/spec.htm

i had an actual unit few weeks ago. i measured this mini pc and the size can fit quite well on the player slot. only need to make a customize bracket to fit it in and to make sure it stays still.

or you can actually custom mount it under your seat. (problem will be inserting disc!)

power is via notebook adapter. so no worry.

the rest is customizing the connector for audio and display. keyboard and mouse just use bluetooth or radio frequency type.

infact i already 80% of actually doing it but unfortunately, last minute my manager took this mini pc back for the customer to do demo. :X-:

 

[DaRk_AnG3L]

Nice stuff bro! How's the pricing like?