Easyriders Car PC Project

[easyrider]

Had a laptop doing nothing so decide to build a car pc from my E46.

IBM Thinkpad P4M 2ghz
1 GIG of Ram
120 GIG HDD
LinITX 7" touch screen.


Have been configuring the software:

Road Runner Front end
with Simplistique Skin.


Things to add:

Bluetooth for phone
GPS
WI FI aleady in just needs configuring.
Rear Camera


Some initial pics:

More to come and a log of the install for anyone interested.

Easy

 

[easyrider]

Interesting, how will you mount the screen or will it already fit into the centre console?

I have fully decided yet...

I want to be able to have the screen hot swappable for security.

Still thinking about the best way..

 

[easyrider]

You need to update Flash

Additionally - I would HIGHLY suggest you check out FreeICE - it's a really great, up-and-coming front end software!

Oh, and be sure to post up on Digital-Car too


Garry

Looks good, I would cut off the red border round the BMW badge and it will fit in perfectly with the buttons around it.

Cheers


Flash got rid of the orange square.

 

[easyrider]

That system should be more than fast enough for GPS, vids or MP3's.

Just don't use an inverter! Good luck.

Its a nice snappy system.

Heres a pic with the screen removed

Using a DC to DC car adpator for power

I'll remove the ciggarette light end and wire into battery

 

[easyrider]

^ Awesome, looks like you are doing it right the first time. You may be able to take the keyboard off also, if you want to squeeze it into some small crevice. Also make sure you use a fuse between the battery and the DC-DC PSU. 10A should be plenty.

I did a car PC as my dissertation around 5 years ago, so if you've got any hardware woes, I've probably had some similar problem. There is a lot more hardware around now tho, which makes things easier.

FWIW, I ended up with a 10" screen in portrait... It just squeezed into a pug 205 dash!

If its ok can I add you to msn?

Just in case I need some tips?

 

[easyrider]

Does look pretty nifty with the Logo sorted I must say. If you can get it mounted properly should be very nice.

Thanks

 

[easyrider]

Where are you going to house the laptop ?

I have thoughts of the boot as that is were the battery is.

But I may install it in the front glove compartment there a is 12v source there

were the torch is located.

 

[easyrider]

Right just a little update.

The DC-DC power adaptor arrived £19.99 and I have tested it with the laptop

and I now I have temporary power to the laptop in my Car!

The ciggarette end will be chopped of for connection to the battery some how

I ordered a docking station off an auction site for £3.99 like this

The reason for this is that it will be a lot easier to mod the power switch on

the dockstation rather than the laptop to extend a wire to the front of the

car were I will mount one of these in the centre console to power the laptop

on.It should look OEM

If i make a mistake I kill the 3.99 docking station and not my lappy! lol

Also I can just lift the lappy off the docking station for easy removal if I want

and the laptop has better air circulation underneath on a dockstation than it

would directly on a carpet as its raised up.



The power button on the thinkpads is joined by a ribbon to the keyboard so

to much of a faff to mod.

The Docking station power button is very easy to mod like this:

All I will do is run two wires from this button to the front under the seats.

 

[easyrider]

Very nice! Am following this with great interest as I've inherited a lappy with a broken screen and this looks like it may still have some life left in it after all...

Yeah, I'm getting really into this project...and its nice making use of bits

lying about.

 

[easyrider]

Will be ordering one of these:

This will show all my Cars Computer data on my touchscreen

 

[easyrider]

Up to now I have spent £170.49

£150 for the screen, £20 for the DC-DC converter and 49p for the power on switch.

Not a lot considering the fuctionality and upgradabilty of it it.

 

[easyrider]

I hope you have some sort of car alarm. When I had my carputer up and running, I was always worried it would get swiped. I didn't exactly have a stealth install really tho.

As far as sunlight goes, try and get a screen that is more than 300nits (cd/m) so that it is bright enough

My Screen is:

Specifications:

Display size: 7" - 16:9 Widescreen
Resolution: 800 x 480 native, supports 640x480~1600x1024
Brightness: 400cd/m2
Contrast Ratio: 350:1
Video Input: 1 x VGA + 2 x Composite
Touchscreen: USB Input

Power Consumption: 10W Max
Mains Adapter and Car Adapter included
Remote control
Stand included
Drivers supplied for Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP, XP Tablet PC edition, Windows CE 2.12/3.0/.net, Redhat and Mandrake.
Monitor Dimensions: 179W x 128H x 27D mm

 

[easyrider]

update:


The laptop is going in the boot. It won't fit with the dock station in the glove

compartment.

have been sorting out the mounting mechanism for the screen.

But the wires are semi in place under the seats ready for plugging in

 

[easyrider]

Update,

I now have the laptop and screen in the car running off the battery with a relay so the

PC will only work when the ignition is on.If the ignition is not on then the laptop will run

off its own battery.This will be handy when getting petrol etc... as the pc will just stay

on when I'm filling up and just run on its own battery.When I return to the car and start

it the laptop will run off the cars battery.

I have set the laptop to automatically hibernate when ignition is off after 10 mins in the

bios too.

Ran into a few problems with the audio side of things here's a pic.

My original plan was to use the onboard sound going into a connects2

adaptor in the boot replacing the CD changer unit like you see in the pic.

This is the testing stage so its looks a bit of a mess

But I ran into "noise" and "interference" that sounded awful.

This is called a ground loop issue.When I ran the lappy of its own battery

through the connects2 interface the "noise" went away.As soon as I plugged

the lappy into the car battery again the "noise" returned

This was no good so I decided on a few things:

Upgrade to shielded RCA cables

Ditch the onboard soundmax audio and get an Creative Xmod allowing

virtual surround sound in my car via USB

and lastly get a ground loop isolator.

I was advised to ground the connects2 adaptor and the laptop this didn't

work so I figured moving the sound from the laptop completely would "clean"

the signal.It did.


I now have 24BIT "clean audio" provided by the Xmod and It sounds fantastic.

Pics coming shortly

 

[easyrider]

Are the Xmods expensive?

I paid £49 delivered.

 

[easyrider]

How long does it take to boot up mate?

Not long at all. About 20 seconds.I will have to time it

 

[easyrider]

Looks good easy, did you consider using a Compact Flash to IDE, or SSD for the hard disk?

Not Really,

I want lots of storage.

 

[easyrider]

Here are some pics:

I wanted to be able to remove the screen at will for security reasons.I used a locking clip like you see in the pics

 

[easyrider]

 

[easyrider]

Nice installation Although hope the laptop is well secured as I don't think the wires will quite keep it in place Could you not hide it somewhere at the side of the boot?

I doubt the lappy will stay where it is.Although the velcro underneath stops it

from moving.

I may make a small box for it and cover it with grey felt so its hidden.But I

want easy access to the lappy to tweak the software etc.. in the house.

I was tempted to have the lappy underneath in the spare wheel bay but I

think air flow would be an issue.

Another idea is to have the lappy in a cradle on the back of the seat this

may be another option.

I will defintely route the Xmod usb cable better so its completely out of sight.