doncojones

I only go to school in Madison, I'm from the suburbs of DC which is notoriously bad to navigate to. When I go into the city I take the subway, it's cheaper than parking anway. Most of the places I drive to, I know how to get there. How often do you go somewhere you haven't already been or have a general idea of where it is? In those cases I get directions from mapquest.com--simple enough and they're free aside from whatever it costs in ink and paper to print em out. Maybe living in LA you need/want one, but to me they're more of an annoyance than anything else.

As far as I can tell this is basically a combo navigation screen/mp3/player/stereo/dvd player etc with the ability to do some datalogging and display ecu data. I have no use for a navigation screen nor do I have a 60 gb collection of mp3s, and I certainly have no desire to watch a movie while I'm driving. So how is this any more useful than a Power FC and a CD player that can read mp3s?

fastcarfreak

very interesting. i dont feel it would justify spending 2500 dollars, becuase like all comps, the comp will be out dated before you know it.

SNracing

i would have to agree with fuji, that price is a little on the steep side. the eclipse install doesnt even look professional. the audi screen is moled into the dash, by way of lots of bondo and patience, and turned out fantastic. the eclipse screen just looks like its sitting there. and the processor you said thats included in your package is a celeron... the worst processor ever made by intel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A Mobile PC LG-SP3 w/intel 815E/A&V&L
3xUSB/1394 mini pc
- System color Black
- UPGRADE OPTION none
- Processor Intel Celeron 1.2Ghz/256Kc
- 2 Serial ports none
- Memory 512MB PC-133 SDRAM, Low profile
- Floppy Drive none
- Hard Drive Slim 60GB-5400rpm 2.5 inch
- Multimedia Storage Slim DVD Drive w/adapter 40 pin
- VGA Card Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics
- Monitor none
- 7" LCD Monitor 7 inch Touch Screen LCD Monitor,7TS,see detail spec in catagorie
- Sound System Onboard 6-Channel AC'97 Audio
- Speakers & Headphone none
- Modem none
- Network Device Intel Pro/100+ w/intel ICH4 and 82526ET phy
- KEYBOARD & Mini Keyboard none
- Roll-Up keyboard none
- Mouse none
- Operating Software MS Windows XP HOME
- Application Software none
- Application software(1) none
- Assembly Assembly with Testing
- AC/DC Power Adapter Included AC/DC Power Adapter
- USB External Hard drive none
- Pen Drive 128MB Pen Drive
- USB Flash Drive none
- Warranty Warranty-One(1) year warranty"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
there is no way this stuff adds up to $1600. if you are paying this much for a car computer, your getting ripped off. the only thing that has to be custom would be the case for the computer. all the other parts could be from a regular home pc, or a 1U rack mount server.
1.2 ghz processor is slow now...
60 gig hard drive will fill up in no time w/ movies on it
the video card type is not listed, just says vga card...
no application software.
"Assembly Assembly with Testing" ....?

just curious, what does the $2500 base package inculde? installation, software, type of lcd hard drive size, amount of memory?

diablone

iTrader: (2)

This isn't for major gaming or rendering. Playing mp3's and videos isn't suddenly going to require major upgrades, let alone any at all.

But for the price, I'd expect it to atleast look decent...

SWAT81

iTrader: (14)

Fujikuro san, that is a beautiful piece of equipment there! Ur friend also has alot of skill there, I'm a 2D animator myself but I stay away from air brushes

DCrosby

I don't mean to start a pissing contest with you, but my reason for the car-puter, is due to my choice in ECU...

I have an AEM, and I don't get a semi limp remote controll for $300.00 with my ecu, I get a lot of undocumented issues instead But what I did need is a laptop to run it, but that would run me $500 and rob me of the Only seat that I have to offer my GF ... so instead I chose to spend my money on the Car PC, and it does more than I would have gotten had I purchased the laptop and Pulled it out occasionally !

siueclipse

Hello everyone..

Im the builder of this particular car pc. If anyone would like an exact quote on a system like this. Feel free to email me at James@antsmarching.org.

The price Jeff mentioned is what Im selling it for retail, however for us, the tuners and enthusiasts of great, fast cars, I will be lowering the price of the units to around $1500.

The pictures and videos you have are of my car. I have not finished my install yet. Im impatient so I haven't done the bondo stuff yet. I use this system every day and like it very much.

One thing I wanted to express is that Jeff misquoted the size of the screen in his first post. It is a 7" Touchscreen, not a 5" like mentioned.

The packages I have been putting together include...

1Ghz CPU
256mb DDR Ram (upgradeable to 1gb)
60GB Hard Drive
8x dvd rom
GPS Hardware and Software (no subsciption fees)
7" TFT LCD Touchscreen w/ RCA Video Inputs (top of the line screen)
dc to dc power supply with regulator
~ Wideband and datalogging units are extra

Parts are warrantied for 1 year.

Don't sit there and think a 60gb hard drive fills up fast. It doesn't. I have 15 divx movies and around 50 albums of mp3s on mine and I still have 25gb left.

Also.. this unit comes with a dc to dc power supply. Basically, you turn your car on the pc comes on. You shut your car off, the pc goes into hibernate. It goes into hibernate so you can have instant on when you are ready to use it again.

Please keep in mind that this being a car computer, you don't need a high powered machine. Furthermore, this is the fastest computer that can be built this small for car use. Sure you can save money and build a normal sized computer for a car, but good luck find a place for it and good luck with it not crashing. Furthermore, for those of you who think a price of $1500 is high, try and build one of the same quality, same performance, using laptop parts. You wont beat my price. I promise you.

With my car pc that I have built, I play mp3s, dvds, divx movies, use gps, wireless internet, fm radio, and use wideband and datalogging hardware and software. Currently im monitoring wideband, rpm, fuel pressure, and throttle position. Everything real time and logged.

Anyway.. I just wanted to say hello! Nice site you have here. I currently drive a 99 Eclipse which has gotten too silly with mods to understand. If anyone would like a direct quote, simply send me an email to James@antsmarching.org

Have a nice night!

theorie

iTrader: (31)

thanks. what type of stuff do you animate? any titles i might know?

im at school for computer animation right now...not sure if i want to stick with it or switch to film production though...

ReDLiNe@t9

and i thought the profec e-o1 was cool........just as i buy something ........something new and better comes out....

DCrosby

You're not going to DAVE are you ? Fujikuro ??

I hope you're going to ringling....

And yes I do all my 2K Compositing and Raytracing on my car PC

Profec e-01 is a boost controller is it not ??
And ODBII is something that doesn't exist on our cars.... unless you're trying to sell to RX-8's...

ODBII is for cars of manufacture dates 1996 +

And from what I've read ODB1 is seriously lacking ...
and ODBII is seriously convoluted ! Good Luck !

jeff48

The carputer is designed to work with ALL cars. OBDII is just one of the modules that James hopes to make available as an option to those who want it. OBDII codes are seriously convoluted and ECU specific, the only thing that is universal is the connector and software.

DCrosby

Yeah for me going AEM was much easier and straight foreward than ODBI or somehoe trying to jack into the ECU / Sensors / Diagnostic Block...

I would Immagine people with the datalogit might enjoy this...

theorie

iTrader: (31)

yah ringling. but its so boring!

DCrosby

I don't know what to say!
School is more about learning how to learn and dealing with difficult situations / people, that you normally wouldn't want around... than actual knowledge, especially in the field you're going in, by the time you're ready for a job, the software / hardware you did your theasis on is no longer applicable... plus most high end places use their own proprietary software on top of 3D / 2D packages, so that you'd hardly reccognize it anyhow...

rx-7ml

back on topic, my PDA crashes, so it's unlikely I entrust my car to Mr Gates.

siueclipse

With the car computer, you don't use it like a normal computer, hence it doesn't crash as much. Again, this doesn't replace your ECU, it only replaces or runs along side your existing car stereo.

Quiksilver540

okay I'm a newb when it comes to electrical crap, but how would you hook it up to your existing car stereo? Run audio cables from your sound card to an external car amp?

doncojones

Some aftermarket headunits have RCA-plug inputs on the back to hook up an external source. For example a friend of mine put a Sony deck into his RSX and an RCA-to-headphone converter cable down to a little storage bin thing in front of the shifter.



He takes his iPod which just so happens to fit rather nicely in the bin and plugs it right into his car stereo. You would hook up this computer in the same way.

Alternatively if your stereo does not have audio inputs you can use a device called an FM modulator. It runs from the outputs of whatever external source you have (in this case the computer) to the antenna input of the stereo. The antenna is plugged into the modulator so most of the time the radio works just as normal. The modulator has its own frequency that when you tune the radio to it, the signal is pumped directly in through the antenna input on that frequency. It doesn't sound as good as a direct connection but it is better than a normal radio signal because there is still a physical connection between the source and the stereo.

siueclipse

yeah, what he said.

blueskaterboy

whats a good touchscreen from ebay?

DCrosby

Liliput = Price wise more affordable
Xenarc = More expensive, but seems to give people less troubble

I got my system in the mail rescently, and most things work beautifully, USB 2.0 DVD-ROM powered by the USB Bus, no power cable needed.. Bonus: It boots off the USB CD/DVD-ROM !!!
Touchscreen on the xenarc seems to have better than expected accuracy, now all I need is thinner finger-tips

I'm having a little troubble with my HDD I ordered a new WD 120 Gig drive, that I don't have yet, but I plugged in one of my old 30 Gig'ers and it won't spin up, I wonder if the powere supply is taxed !? Hopefully, the new drive will use less wattage, or when I actually hook it up to a car, that's running I'll have a little more voltage and amperage to kick start it, since it seems to want to start but just can't get enough innertia...
(It's Currently hoocked up to a car battery in my office)

siueclipse

check the voltage on the car battery.

DCrosby

12.21 V
Output of the 12 V Side of the DC - DC Powesupply is 11.98 V
Output of the 5V Side is 4.98 V I'm thinking it might be a wattage thing...

blueskaterboy

what kind of power supply you using?

TAMAatWork

So the midgets you shove in your rear bins can watch DVDs?

(Sorry, little people)


-Joseph