carputers...

[volospian]

Do they stay on all the time, or boot on ignition? I've a feeling that one in my cerb would eat power like it's going out of fasion.

However, it would be nice to have all my MP3's, a sat nav system, internet and some real time monitoring of my engine all at the touch of a button.

 

[volospian]

You rung?

Power wise, there are PSUs designed for in-car use, which sense ignition, and automatically switch the PC on/off. They can also be set to completely kill power, or to keep supplying the 5VSB to keep the computer in Standby mode, meaning bootups are <10s.

New screens are transreflective, and good in sunlight compared to older ones.

Only thing that's missing really is DAB - but that's crap anyway. All music formats and all video formats can be played, your entire selection can be on-tap Sat-Nav apps for PC are getting better by the day, and there's a large selection of front-end software available, so you can have one that works how you want it to, and look how you want it to.

Mobile internet has got much better recently, with offerings from T-Mobile and Three to name a couple.

Price wise, yes it's more expensive than an all-in-one mass-manufactured unit - but the expandability, customisation, individuality and down-right-coolness of a CarPC more than justify the cost, IMO!

For more information - check out Digital Car forums


Garry

Cheers, that's very useful. I was originally thinking about an onboard computer as that way I can load the ECU management software on, wire it up on a permanent serial link and have on the fly access to the engine management system... instead of having a laptop flying around loose on the passenger seat while I drive.

Sure it's not useful on a day to day basis, but it's a damn site easier to check and keep an eye on if it's in place, and I get all the other computer bits such as sat nav, internet, mp3, etc as you have mentioned.

By the way, has anybody tried internet radio over their car PC? I have a squeezebox at home and am signed up to live365. Works well at home, but over a dodgy GPRS signal...

 

[volospian]

Avic-X1R can be had for £400 second hand these days, its got proper sat-nav a really nice touchscreen and with the Ipod adapter as much music as you want.

That would be and was my choice, infact i liked it so much i upgraded to the X1BT.

Yep, looked at the X1BT, but I can't read the ECU with it. If I decide that isn't important, then the AVIC will be my way forward.