In car computing

[xvprado Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xvprado]

With the arrival of a new vehicle shortly, Im pretty keen to instal a mini PC
I have in mind a mini form facto A-open or mini mac running a 7" touchscreen for moving maps/gps application and a secondary screen for movies etc either for passengers or to move outside the car for camping etc

Other applications would include reverse camera, data storage from SD cards etc

Lastly but not importantly it could be used for wireless net and emailaccess, but this is largely unimportant to me

The pc box i have in mind has a size of 6" x6" x 2", so could be mounted underseat or in a glovebox and any cabling easily concealed, power supply is not a problem as there is some very clever dc/dc converters around to manage this

Looking for any thoughts/pics/links from anyone that has done similar or knows a bit more

Ta

Glen

[Damien Parker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Damien Parker]

Mac mini all the way. I just made the swap from having PC's for many years and just bought a new Macbook pro. Quite possibly the best computer i have ever owned thus far and the OS is simply stunning.

I had the same idea the other night.
You could mount it in the glove box where the stacker goes if you dont have one.

Plus you can get 7" screens now fairly cheaply from jaycar and other places like that. you could set it up to have like a dock in the car so it could be removed and taken inside to be a media center for home (this is currently my idea).

[Sim Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sim]

Perhaps a purpose built car PC might be better ?

http://www.vmscarpc.com.au/ is one option - they advertise in 4WD monthly regularly

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

This is something I've always considered doing, but I can't seem to muster the spare time and inspiration.

Check out some of the home built systems here:

http://www.gpsaustralia.net/forums/foru ... y.php?f=32

There's a lot of ways of doing it.

Damien, are you talking about using a laptop and a docking station? Now that would be a good system - and I could purchase it through work tax-free! :-D

Drew.

[Damien Parker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Damien Parker]

Drew, that is one option i have thought about. Just trying to think of a decent way to integrate it so it was an out of sight option.

The other one was making up a dock or harness for a mac mini which could then be used in the car and then become a media center for home.
The mac mini's are bloody perfect for this sort of application i think.

Those VMS car pc things are great and they have a lot of options now, with 2 DIN and single DIN head units in their catalogue but they are about twice the price of making something up yourself which will have 4 times the functionality.

It all comes down to how much you want to tinker.

[Indy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Indy]

G'day all.

I am currently mucking around with a Lilliput in dash pc system. Two separate single din units that replace the stock cd stacker - one is the mini pc and the second is a 7" in dash screen. I have it fitted but there are a few bugs that I will hopefully be able to iron out over the next few weeks.

Once i have it sorted i will be happy to post a review and some pics. Stay tuned.

Indy

[Grandeman Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Grandeman]

Excuse my ignorance (and I don't mean to be argumentative), but if you have factory satnav and an integrated ipod, what other functions are there to be had with having an in car computer set-up?

Besides, I've always worried about the fragility of some of the older instals I have seen a while back.

[xvprado Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xvprado]

Excuse my ignorance (and I don't mean to be argumentative), but if you have factory satnav and an integrated ipod, what other functions are there to be had with having an in car computer set-up?

Besides, I've always worried about the fragility of some of the older instals I have seen a while back.

Dont have factory sat nav :shock: and I think there are better satnav applications to be had by comparison (IMHO)
I would like Moving maps on ozi explorer for off road use, dvd player both in car and in camp. store photographs off camera card and I suppose you could run a tv tuner in it for camping

Lots and lots of bits and peices, and a list of escuses to tinker and play