themutt33 Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Basically what im going to do is build a shuttle computer that is going to sit in the back of my car. Im going to attach a 16" monitor to the front ceiling of my car that will have the ability to fold up and down as well as slide from the center to the passenger side of the car. I'm going to replace the in dash radio tuner with an external DVD RW and have the the usb cable run under the center console to the pc in the back. I'm also going to setup 7.1 dolby digital surround sound using the pc. The shuttle will be equipped with a tv/fm tuner card and high def (DVI). The pc will substitute for the radio as I'm going to run windows media center for an OS. I'm also going to see if somehow i can rig it up to monitor as well as adjust engine components. My shuttle will be have wlan with an extended range of up to 400 meters (open area). The Keyboard and mouse will be wireless and the keyboard will be built into the center console with a some kind of a cover. The keyboard will also be able to swivel to either the driver or passenger side. monitor custom mount i made My shuttle:grin: If you have any thoughts or suggestions let me know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsk8ter Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Im toying around with this myself. Im doing a custom dash and mounting it in there below the heating controls (280zx), and am going to have the dvd drive eject between the front seats and hide the computer and a enclosure behind the seats. Only down side to it is now you have the weight of a power inverter, the computer, screen and amps for the speakers. On a plus side you can get a digital tuner for computers:) Im still pondering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsk8ter Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 and also why not run a wireless mouse and keyboard. run touch screen it make life way easier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscason Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 how do you get the power to those kind of things??? what kind of amps would something like that pull? would you need a bigger batt or beefier alt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 DC to DC transformer (Actually 3 in one circuit). Also called a DC to DC micro ATX PSU. I suggest using a solid-state HDD. Regular driving conditions might cause a standard HDD to crash over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themutt33 Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 i forgot to mention that i was going to construct a shuck absorbing plate for it to ease up on the inside bouncing around too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naviathan Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 DC to DC transformer (Actually 3 in one circuit). Also called a DC to DC micro ATX PSU. I suggest using a solid-state HDD. Regular driving conditions might cause a standard HDD to crash over time. I would also suggest a solid state HDD. They have 4 gig plus USB drives now and most of your newer motherboard BIOS today allow for removable media boot devices. I know it can be done with Windows, although I'm not sure of that process myself. Linux on the other hand I can make do cartwheels and is my planned route of attack. I figured with Wine or one of the other crossover type apps I can get my tuning software for the TEC3 running easily enough. Everything else is simple Linux. Anyone interested in understanding Linux and wanting to learn more then any one person should know about it, check out Gentoo. It's simplistic, adaptive and the forums are incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjuju Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 I looked at doing this in my 280zx, if i'd have gone through with this, i'd have mounted a trackball in the center console, you don't need to move it like you do a mouse. just an idea. also, http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=12337&sk=MC511534&gclid=CPPKr52x-YkCFQUkggod9Qq5Ww bluetooth cloth keyboard, played with one of these at compusa, they seem to be the sh*t. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudypoochris Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Not trying to criticise... But what is the point? Just wondering? Why not just bring a laptop with you? Is this some kind of TV in your car? Sorry, I don't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Not trying to criticise... But what is the point? Just wondering? Why not just bring a laptop with you? Is this some kind of TV in your car? Sorry, I don't get it. I agree, but in defence. Why not? A laptop is more easily able to flop around and break on you than a mounted unit. Some of the stupidest thing turned out to be the greatest (Wright bros. ) With linux, its not really difficult to mess with. Its just getting use to the interface. You can setup a bootable CD distro. I've been messing with RH enough to get my RHD cert. I don't recommend that for this application, I suggest using Knoppix. And for setting up the comp to use a removable media as a OS source, you would have to mess with the BIOS settings (Same process in both windows and Linux). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickiewicked240z Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 i think this link my help you with all your needs they also have a forum..i think it will be very neet to have it, internet access:icon10: http://store.mp3car.com/?Click=9830 you can build your custom car computer all built just install it your car they test it and hook everything up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themutt33 Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 wow thanks for the input guys as far as the removable media I can boot windows from them the only thing is they dont like being tossed around any more than a hdd i was also thinking of going with a KDE based linux preferbly Kubuntu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thomasco Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I've been looking at doing something similar, but probably with something off the shelf like a Mac Mini or similar. That way, I'd be starting with a pretty small box that doesn't want a lot of power. I just don't know where to put everything in my '81 280zx. I already took out the storage box behind the passenger seat to put in an amp. The mini could probably go behind/under a seat or something, but I don't know what to do with a display, even one of the little 7" ones. It doesn't quite fit in the area where the giant radio was. It's been a while since this thread was active; how did your build go? Do you have any pictures of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Dude. read it 2 year old. Vibration will kill you carputer. Get a SSD drive and hot glue or silicone around the capacitors. Using a mac mini will be harder that it seems. the AC/DC PSU gives off a 16v line, your car will give off 14v at the MAX. You can wire in a power inverter but it will look messy and inefficient. Do yourself a favor if you try to build a carputer. 1.use a mini/micro ITX board. 2.buy a 100-200 watt 12v PSU 3.Get a SSD drive 4.use silicone also around the ram, thats have know to pop out just because of vibration. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakt Out Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I can't believe this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 you mean like this Mac Mini's are a good choice. There are quite a few people running them especially if your running itunes I'm running a mini itx with compact flash cards as the drives. Go here and read read read http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/ Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 SSD > CF cards. currently SDD are made in 32, 64, and 128 GB drives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 lol.. be nice! that was his first post! i wouldn't call him a 2 year old! just needs to do more research! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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