....As i have heard them called.

I have been looking at a few sites, but none have really gone into full detail about how to build one, ie you need certain power supplies etc, which will auto swithc the computer off after a certain period of time.

Just wondered if anyone had done such a thing. Am looking at hooking it upto a Touch screen Tft panel aswell, so info on this would be good.

I have built many home/office based PC's but am a bit unsure about this area of computers lol

Thx for any advice you may have,

Lee

places like itx warehouse and mini-itx do loadsa stuff, 7" touch screens, mother baords that are tiny and silent, running off 12V etc . . .

I have one of these as my home machine (in a well cool cubit 3 case by hoojum) as they are so small and quiet, no idea what use it would be in a car . . . .

If you have any q`s pm me and I'll do my best to answer later in the day

places like itx warehouse and mini-itx do loadsa stuff' date=' 7" touch screens, mother baords that are tiny and silent, running off 12V etc . . .

[/quote']

Mini-ITX is definitely the way to go - low power consumption, low heat emission, runs off 12v and is small without being overly expensive.

Check out the above places, decide what you want, then send a PM to sihorton on here and he should be able to do you a better price.

Topic has been discussed here and for details of a typical system have a look here.

Rob.

no idea what use it would be in a car . . . .

Watch movies, take ur entire music collection in the car with you everywhere you go? Watch the entire 15 seasons of simpsons? Show off to all ur m8s and go "My car is better than urs"? Use it for sat nav? Surf the web using ya mobile phone just coz u can? ...... plus many more useless random things for no apparent reason

I have had one wired up for a few months now...it's good and bad. No use for short journeys (i.e.

I have a outstanding todo of taking pics and writing it up. It's actually not that hard...especially if your used to self builds. The hardest for me was breaking into the car for cable runs.

I feed mine into the AUX on a different to OEM head unit. MY grand plan was to replace the HU, but as mentioned in the thread Rob linked to it has it's issues.

More later as I keep saying...time will be made this week.

re sourcing, talk to Si Horton, you may need to source a OPUS or ITPS and a few bits from maplins. The case inc 12v supply that I sourced from Horton was a good while back so he may of got these in by now.

To summise I use mine for mp3, dvd's, various vid clips, maps, sat nav and APR's v-tune to tweak the car

It will be used for interweb/email/other things online interactive.

I was also wondering if you can get any motorised touchscreen tft units, then i wouldnt have to take the panel with me, but i suppose for the thieving scum the fact that it is hidden in a din slot wouldnt put them off, hmmm.

Thanks for the sites guys, am looking at the 2.4GHz P4 Itx warehouse has got along with the P4 itx board - any good?

What case would you guys recomend? and has anyone sorted wireless networking? this would be an advantage to be able to upload files to the car pc i guess.

Thx again,

Lee

P4= power consumption and heat. Don`t do it. Go for the VIA fanless 12V jobbie. can't remember number of it now!

Or just buy a decent spec Ipaq that does all the above and is ready to roll?

I'm using the M1000...Epia is the way IMHO...you don't need much more than a Ghz to sit in the boot. Feed it 512 of Ram and your laughing.

Si Horton will be a good price...

Wireless an option for sure, a USB dongle is the easiest...wonder how many wireless networks are on the M6...I digress, TBH I used dvd media and copied stuff to it.

You can get the motorised touchscreens, I think they are quite alot for what is a few moments of glove box work. However if I could source one I would get one.

Presently using the 7" tft as found on cartft.com, good but not the best...again intial costs were the issue. Mounted on the central fans via a bent bit of metal...although it's bent very well by a swedish company...I'll get the link (was

re heat I use the epia and in over 8 hours of driving it never crashes through heat, or atall actually

It's been tested to still run reliably at 105^C...how it would get this hot I don't know, my passively cooled 500 and 800 never go above 41^C!

Rob.

Or if you are feeling adventurous, you can get DriveSoft - basically all done for you but with a price tag on it. The via one is the EPIA and just look for the fanless one

Right this is what am planning, and i still do have one or two queries .....

VIA EPIA M-II 12000 (Graphic integ.CastleRock with MPEG-2, MultiMediaChip / CardBus+CF-Slot, TV-Out)

Casetronic Travla C134 (DIN-Size VIA ITX case) - can someone verify that the above M/B will fit this case

80Gb 2.5" HDD - but maybe at some point try out a *cough freebie 3.5" large one from work

Slimline DVD from CarTFT again

512MB DDR low profile 0,8" inches high - to be able to fit the above case

PW-120M 12V DC/DC (200 Watt)

700TS -- TFT 7" -- VGA -- with Touchscreen USB

2 x Wireless LAN USB

Also GPS Receiver(mouse) -but not sure which as yet

Oh and MediaCar to help bring it all together

anything else apart from cables etc??? Am getting there lol

Lee

Oh and how would i be able to run to more(in headrests) screens *maybe in the future when i have some cash again.

Thx

Lee

Casetronic Travla C134 (DIN-Size VIA ITX case) - can someone verify that the above M/B will fit this case

IIRC this is designed for the M-series' date=' and you need the C137 for the M-II...

Slimline DVD from CarTFT again

You might as well get it all together from SiHorton...

PW-120M 12V DC/DC (200 Watt)

In a car you'll need a regulator, or I seem to recall seeing a "modification" for this somewhere which allows if to work in a car...

With regard to running other screens...there's probably a way to split the TV-out signal easily enough, though it's not something I've looked into...

Rob.

But is the C137 Din sized Rob mate, as at first i was thinking in the boot, but when i saw the C134 i thought hey why not pop it in the spare Din ive already got in the dash on the octy, plus then if i do want to connect it to speakers via Aux in on a *new HU it will make it much easier

The only added bonus is heat transfer is better in the boot than in the DIN.

Open boot, look at spare...bring gaze back 12" to large piece of formed foam...take empty case mark out...open stanley knife...20mins later you have a colind paten pending carputer safety mount device...protects from impacts and makes for convient removal tray system.

Pics later I promise.

No, the C137 is bigger...

You might as well go for the M10000 board in the C134 then - it's a very good board, and will do all you need it, and it's quite a bit cheaper...

Rob.

re regulator, ITPS or OPUS power supply. Opus is neat but pricey, the ITPS bascially takes feed from battery and filters the spikes. It does drop the voltage slighlty, more so if you have a crank battery circuit diode, but ine IIRC was pushing 11.6v, the half volt drop mainly from the diode protecting the crank battery.

ITPS is about 25, it's not a power supply, but a regulator.

Opus is a power supply and regulator IIRC and would replace your 12v case supply.

Wattage, add it up and see what you need. 200 is quite alot.

Other than that, it's looking good.

I am using the utra slim case, space for a single 2.5" drive and a bit of fluff...fits easier but again using the space described (I was going to fit behind netting till ffelan sold me his HU with CD changer...not sure why I need the cd changer anymore...)

ack anyway...Quite a bit of room in the foam to mount a deeper case and thus expose the 3.5" drive sector and more capacity, plus larger format ram so a bit cheaper again.

I have the m1000 board and it copes with infomap navigator, mediaengine (which there are better alternatives to, but not installed in car yet.)

More later

When you get pricing sorted, post it up will ya fella, I have a VIA system at home, but If I can fit one in the car too, I would be up for it!

Was looking at PDA+GPS for sat nav, but if can be done with an auto boot pc, I`m interested!!!

Don`t forget a 802.11g card and a bluetooth dongle, for ultra networking options

GPS for an auto/boot can be done if you have mappoint installed and mediacar installed this will direct you. Oh you also need the GPS dongle

So as anyone tried a 3.5" HDD, and did it survive lol? I dont mind paying the price for the 2.5", but for a larger storage disc obviously the 3.5's are bigger

I'd be reluctant to use anything which wasn't designed for laptops, due to energy consumption and shock protection...

Rob.

Densions use 3.5" drives in there but then again they use them momentairly and are designed to have great power management. I will second the laptop kit, or if you can get something solid state (a bit more expensive yet shockproof)