In Car PC

TBirdUK

TBirdUK

TBirdUK

Soldato
Joined
9 Jul 2005
Posts
2,678
Location
High Wycombe
i am about to build an in car pc but would like to know what software people are using in theirs (if they have one).

I have heard of centrafuse, are there any others you can recommend (in particular free ones :D ) or any little progs that might be of use in a car ie does Tomtom do a pc based navigation system?
 
i cant help as i know nothing about this, but will be watch with interest to see what you come up with.

Good luck.
 
I am in the real early stage at the moment - I have a CPU/Mobo (on board GPU), laptop Hdd, 2GB RAM, a pico Car PSU. Also have a bluetoth adapter, a usb wireless dongle, a bt GPS (but would prefer a usb one)

Now to the hard bits - need to find a touch screen - I have a small 7inch monitor but its not touchscreen so its not really much use (although it does have anologue and dig tv!!)
 
great build log - can look at the pics at work :mad: but will do when I get home. I am still looking for a touchscreen or the way to adapt the screen I have - any cheap ideas?
 
you would have thought there was a simple piece of software to cover all - centrafuse seems to be the one of choice but its navigation software is poor and very out of date. (also I'd rather find software that costs less than £250!!)

Can you please list the software they found worked for them, and what didnt.

cheers
 
no photos yet - its in bits on my workbench. So far have got an old 7 inch screen (built in DVB, anologue tv etc - ugly but is mainly for testing etc), bought a 4 wire touchscreen (which turned out to be a widescreen on so is too small but big enough for the software I'm using).

Case I got was nice and although a tight fit all is in there. Am going through the process of testing bits and pieces - currently cant get the bluetooth to work propoerly - mainly because bluesoliel want me to purchase thier drivers!!

Am using a trial of Centrafuse - seems very nice although it is expensive so I will have to go elsewhere when the trial is over.

Webcam works well, navigation software works but need a usb gps (these are not cheap, got a bt one but that means chargers etc!!) PSU seems good but cant check this till everything is working and I am mounting in the car. Next is to test the sound and figure out how to connect the engine monitoring (which cable etc)


Eventually will mount in car and have the screen removable (not so much for security but I will want to sell the car soon and re-transplant the carpc!).

Will get some pics up soon - one thing is, I forgot I had an old laptop which I could have used so may well be able to use the screen in either car if all works well.
 
update - got a usb GPS from a competitor - £20, works fine, everything is almost ready for the time to install in the car - wish I could figure a way to use a couple of av headrest monitors but, as there is no video out on the mobo its not going to work!

Need to see if the mobo will take one of those vga/av splitters but cant find one to test!
 
I have just removed my carpc from my E46. I used Centrafuse and found it to be very user friendly. It also supports home made apps to be added to it. I used the supplied Satnav package, which I admit is not the best, but did what was needed of it.

If you have any questions on any part of the build just give me a shout, I'll be more than hapy to help.

One word of advice, be carefull with HD placement. I would strongly recommend a 2.5" as appose to a 3.5" purely for the higher 'g' shock rating. Also, it is best to have it mounted at 90deg to direction of forward travel. This gives the minute clearance of the spindles a greater chance of avoiding the disk surface when hitting pot holes etc.

You will not go wrong with a screen from Xenarc. Very high quality and clarity.
 
fantastic, thanks for that - I am also probably going to go down the Centrafuse route but with a seperate sat nav prog (many people seem to agree that destinator isnt that good).

I will now mount the pc upright to get the 90 deg to travel and do have a 2.5 inch HDD - thanks for the advice for that.

How much was your screen? cant google search at work.
 
I paid about £90 second hand for mine. Its a shame really, I only sold it the week before last. I have been selling all my carpc parts.

What car are you doing the install in?
 
If ever there was a good use for an old SSD this has to be it - see if you can pick up one of the old crucial/corsair/samsung drives and you'll have no problems with the potholes that now seem to blight every road!
 
Installing in a BMW 520i (E39 on a V plate) - dont suppose you have any bits left - am really looking for the OBDII/sensor cable (USB) if you have one and a usb radio that can receive the traffic.
 
TBirdUK said:
Installing in a BMW 520i (E39 on a V plate) - dont suppose you have any bits left - am really looking for the OBDII/sensor cable (USB) if you have one and a usb radio that can receive the traffic.
Click to expand...

I think I might actually still have my OBDII BMW reader somewhere. It was RS-232 connection which is much more stable and quicker than USB. However, I do have a RS-232 to USB converter with it. I will try and look it out if your interested.

I still have a Atom mini-itx mb with 2gig of ram installed if you havnt sourced one yet.
 
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