hey everyone this sounds absolutely ridiculous but i know a fair bit about computers, how would you go about doing this


Have a computer and basically hook it up to your car audio. I know a fair bit about computers do you need special adapters for your sound card? Im just thinking that i can use my computer in my car and use my 20 gig of music in ma car.

I know you will need an intvertor (how much is one of those?)
and a screen what else do you need?
Any special software?

What do you want to do? control the music from your HU? Or have a computer system in the car connected to your HU's AUX input?

If the second, then you need no special connector, no special sound card, no special software. Just get a audio cable with a 3.5mm stereo connector on one end, and a RCA connectors on the other end (usually red and white). That should hook into your AUX of your HU. (someone back this up. not 100% sure on the AUX of the HU)

With pc, you just need a 1ghz system at least, with 256mb ram for a winxp system. a screen, mouse, and maybe one of those roll-up keyboards ;)

Then just run winamp... simple. Only thing is, where to put the computer? hehehe. Boot maybe...

Or just get a HU that can play dvd player HU from www.brashimports.com.au and ask which model can play mp3 from dvd's. That way you can burn 4.7gb worth of mp3 onto a disc. That's like 60hours worth of music.

If the second, then you need no special connector, no special sound card, no special software. Just get a audio cable with a 3.5mm stereo connector on one end, and a RCA connectors on the other end (usually red and white). That should hook into your AUX of your HU. (someone back this up. not 100% sure on the AUX of the HU)
You'll also need to use the line level output on your soundcard or bad things will probably happen.

Dude this is not new, and not hard.. and good on you for seeing the light :)

Headunits are old school.. unless they have usb input ;)

www.mp3car.com, especially check out their shop for cheap touchscreens etc so you don't have to mess around with a keyboard/mouse while driving to change songs! Also have carPC cases etc.. the shop on that site has everything you need.

Touchscreen also lets you do not just mp3s.. but any other media you have on your PC.. you can watch divx's, other movies, play games, whatever you can do at home you can then do in your car. Add Unwired into the mix and you have internet too.

Also.. a cheap idea but vital.. put a wireless lan card in your PC and an access point in your house so when you park your car out the front you can transfer songs over the network rather than messing with removable drives, or taking the PC out of the car.

Need any help give a shout :)

Its called a carputer... Few guys on here have them... Ascension... VRX_MY02 etc

Remember ur pc runs off 12 v... So kinda defeats the purpose running from 12 to 240 back to 12...

Just some food for thought.

Its called a carputer...
<offtopic>

Funny how people seem find it necessary to create new words for things that already have names.. :nuts:

</offtopic>

<offtopic>

Funny how people seem find it necessary to create new words for things that already have names.. :nuts:

</offtopic>
lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carputer

:P

Check out Marcs' carputer on CAA I saw it in the flesh and it is... SEXY!

Well at least his screen is...

Peace

Tim

lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carputer

:P

yeah I knew it was already a word.. didn't think you'd invented it. You're not that special ;) Just saying it didn't need to happen.. pet hate lol

If you ask me, doing something like this and running winamp, even with a touch screen, just isn't doing the technology justice. You want a custom HU style interface, or voice control, and integrated sat nav, car phone, ODB-II monitor, etc.. and I don't mean run all the individual apps and alt-tab between them either lol. Something more like =http://dashpc.dashwerks.com/?r=t

yeah i have an amd 2600+ with 512mb of ram so trhats no issue i was just wondering about the screen and sound card thing, adding this to my car will prolly end up being cheaper than a head unit (depending on how much ma screen is) with its dvd thingy plus it will be cool as. My box will fit in the boot so thats no issue. Main thing is how much r screen and is it worth touch screening (can u do it with xp?) or do you rekon mouse, keyboard setup?

get a mini mac and a 7inch touchscreen and u will be set

CARPUTA FORUMS (http://www.mp3car.com)

yeah my box is fine i have been organising this for my car for a while ill just need a new case and downgrade my graphics card. Has anyone bought a screen and put it on a computer in there car? How much hassle was it and how much did it cost?

I was thinking about doing this but i would be watching to much porn while driving.

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl: ...............same here, imagine just connecting up like 6 400 gig HDD's *drools on keybored*......*sooo much porn*

ha ha yeah. I was thinking about it last nitght (the installation, not porn lol) Basically all i need to know is how much the power cabling for the screen and the computer would cost the rest i could do myself im really not into working with electricity. Is it just an audio out from your craphics card split into a red and white cable (auxillarys i think they are called) and send them to the headunit (or is there a better way of doing this?) and then a video out from your computer to the screen is that basically the wiring?

Dude this is not new, and not hard.. and good on you for seeing the light :)

Headunits are old school.. unless they have usb input ;)

www.mp3car.com, especially check out their shop for cheap touchscreens etc so you don't have to mess around with a keyboard/mouse while driving to change songs! Also have carPC cases etc.. the shop on that site has everything you need.

Touchscreen also lets you do not just mp3s.. but any other media you have on your PC.. you can watch divx's, other movies, play games, whatever you can do at home you can then do in your car. Add Unwired into the mix and you have internet too.

Also.. a cheap idea but vital.. put a wireless lan card in your PC and an access point in your house so when you park your car out the front you can transfer songs over the network rather than messing with removable drives, or taking the PC out of the car.

Need any help give a shout :)

have you ordered from this joint before, do they ship overseas to australia as i assume all the prices are in american dollars, and is there anywhere is australia i can buy this stuff from at a reasonable price, more looking at the touch screens, cheers
jaz

Got friends that have ordered from them.. yes prices are USD.

Screens depends how much you wanna spend.. brashimports.com.au, cheapies but got friends who've bought from there with no issues at all, jaycar sometimes has touchscreens i think? otherwise just hunt around on ebay.. i've personally bought touchscreens off ebay for my old ride and got a pretty decent 7" motorised for like $450.

ha ha yeah. I was thinking about it last nitght (the installation, not porn lol) Basically all i need to know is how much the power cabling for the screen and the computer would cost the rest i could do myself im really not into working with electricity. Is it just an audio out from your craphics card split into a red and white cable (auxillarys i think they are called) and send them to the headunit (or is there a better way of doing this?) and then a video out from your computer to the screen is that basically the wiring? Wiring for sound and whatnot is basically the same as if you installed an amp.. for my money I'd use a short 1 x 3.5mm into 2 x RCA at the computer end running in to long shielded twin RCA wires down the side of the car in the wiring ducts to the auxiliary in on your head unit.

For video though.. you've got two options. You can either use a video card with a composite TV-out and run another RCA down to your screen, or you can use a really long VGA cable. The RCA approach is simplest and cheapest but your picture quality will suffer and you won't get sharp images or high resolutions (think 768x576 at full overscan PAL max). To run a cable from the boot to your screen using VGA is going to be costly. The cable will be expensive and hard to work with because it will be thick and heavily shielded to avoid ghosting over such a long distance.

If you can find a way to mount the PC in a slimline case under your passenger seat you'll make life easier :D

Wiring for sound and whatnot is basically the same as if you installed an amp.. for my money I'd use a short 1 x 3.5mm into 2 x RCA at the computer end running in to long shielded twin RCA wires down the side of the car in the wiring ducts to the auxiliary in on your head unit.

For video though.. you've got two options. You can either use a video card with a composite TV-out and run another RCA down to your screen, or you can use a really long VGA cable. The RCA approach is simplest and cheapest but your picture quality will suffer and you won't get sharp images or high resolutions (think 768x576 at full overscan PAL max). To run a cable from the boot to your screen using VGA is going to be costly. The cable will be expensive and hard to work with because it will be thick and heavily shielded to avoid ghosting over such a long distance.

If you can find a way to mount the PC in a slimline case under your passenger seat you'll make life easier :D

or just wire up your own VGA cable, wouldnt be that hard if you can solder just need to shield it decently after you wire it up.

And shouldnt be too hard to wire it straight up the centre of the car
cheers
jaz

Okai, this is my field, im a self proclamied carputer expert lol
Heres a pic of when i just finishing molding my screen into my dash.
http://www.members.optushome.com.au/hyper24/IM003059.JPG

Now for starters, lets clear some things up.
If your going to have a real carputer, and will be using it to read text and not just watch movies/play games, then you want an LCD screen with VGA. Because as cthulhu said, the quality will be not be anywhere near as good with vga and you will of have just wasted your time. So why not do it right.
Now running a VGA cable from the boot to the screen isnt as hard as it sounds, an extension vga cable only cost bout 40 bucks and hard to work with? i dont think so.
My one was as easy to work with as normal power wire. Infact it was HEAPS easier to run then my 4gauge wire. I would say its as easy to run as 8gauge. But then again it prob matters on how much sheilding there is in the wire. (but im not getting any interference)
So quickly, for the screen, there are no advantages in using RCA because you will have to buy a video card with composite out that will cost like 200 bucks. If you use the VGA way you can use the onboard video from the motherboard so you save yourself buying a new video card and you get better quality, easy choice.

Now for the audio, all you do is run a wire from the sound card into your amps, or into the aux in, in the back of your headunit. Easy as that.

Now just to let you all know, you dont need flashy equipment, i was running my first carputer (bout 5 months ago) with a Pentium II 233mhz, it was running windows XP with winamp. But thats with tweaks to bring the system memory use down.

Go over to mp3car.com and in the software section they have free front ends, designed by carputer users FOR carputers users. You couldnt pay for better software then the ones these guys have developed for everyone for free.

Now running a VGA cable from the boot to the screen isnt as hard as it sounds, an extension vga cable only cost bout 40 bucks and hard to work with?
Fair enough then! lol

I'd have expected interference/ghosting with 2-3m low quality VGA cables, but if it all works nicely then that's a bargain.

I was picturing heavy duty cables. I mean the ones you get with up-market KVM switches is a good 1-1.5 cm thick and it's heavy and inflexible which would have been a bastard to run neatly.

Did you get by with just one extension cable or did you need to join it to another half way down the car?

mm yeah i know the ones your talking about, but i guess there overkill in this case.
The extension cable i have just runs straight from my boot to the LCD screen in the dash. All the one cable.
This is the way everyone does it over at mp3car.com and i havnt seen any threads bout interferance in the cablining yet, so i dont think its a problem to worry about.

I guess its better but, one less problem to worry about :P

i was thinking of possibly a pentium 3 450, 512 mb of ram,, put in a 80 gb hd and a dvd player should be all i need. What happens with the power supply? Do you needa rewire the cable that connects into it that comes from the power point? Does anyone know how to do it? how hard is it. I was thinking of putting the lcd in the gap where the headunit should have been but so its not actually IN the gap but in front of it. Do you need nething special for the soundcard in the pc? What connectors you recon i would need?

Im most likely going to have the box either under the passengers seat or possibly just inside the boot so i could run the cables under all the seats

questions about audio connectors have been answered, man.. check above.

PC specs are fine.

Power wise you have two options..

1. use an inverter to go from car supplied 14-12V DC to 240V AC which your PC power supply will turn back into DC current.

2. buy a specially made "carputer" lol power supply that takes the car's battery/alternator output and filters and regulates the power to provide what the computer needs.

Option 2 is the most efficient and makes the most sense. You can buy some pretty clever power supplies with auto-off on low voltage, or auto-on/off with ignition, etc.

yeah i saw them carputer power supplies, do you rekon they would draw enough to run all this stuff? My pc's power supply has 400w but thats excessive how muhc watts you rekon you would need to run it? Can you just run that power supply in a normal box? Or do you haveta buy other special crap

I had a look the power supplies arent even like a normal box they are similar to a card, how do you mount these? It seems like i might just need a convertor

is it just me or does all this seem needlessly complex? i mean you can just buy an mp3 compatiable cd player, this gives you 700meg of mp3's per CD, now if you have a 6 stacker.. thats more music then anyone would need at any one time... and so far i am yet to see a normal headunit "perform an illegal operation" or give me a blue screen error and require me to reset my headunit...

just my 2 cents :D

is it just me or does all this seem needlessly complex? i mean you can just buy an mp3 compatiable cd player, this gives you 700meg of mp3's per CD, now if you have a 6 stacker.. thats more music then anyone would need at any one time... and so far i am yet to see a normal headunit "perform an illegal operation" or give me a blue screen error and require me to reset my headunit...

just my 2 cents :D
Yeah, man, it's just you.

car computers aren't just about playing mp3s. They're about playing more mp3s than you can fit even in a 6 stacker. They're about having multiple custom playlists depending on mood or environment. They're also about playing movies, watching tv, playing games, doing gps sat nav cheaply, having a car phone, shorter range CB style stuff with wireless networking, and so on.

Broaden your mind :P

This is my reasoning for doing it. think of 160gb of dvd's, film clips, movies...wireless internet, not worrying about ever getting lost again and doing it in a car thats worth under 100 grand. I personally think its good, and i mean is doing a turbo worth the hassle? Yes because you get something after it all and thats what im getting. Does anyone know about the power supply issue i posted above?

for power supplies, use the OPUS brand.

Theres a sub company in NZ that sell the power supplies... just gotta find that damn number...

do the OPUS branded ones come in the nice little box that power supplies come in or are they those stupid ones that dont have a box?

http://www.google.com

or the mp3car url that's been mentioned a hundred times already.

the OPUS for the single DIN unit is not enclosed. but the one for the 'desktop' are...
if thats what you were askin,.

Think of wireless networking from ur car, running a business from ur car... GPS, Sat Nav, movies, music, games, car performance options are endless...

i had a look at the opus its 150w and it rekons my compuers going to use 150w what does everyone rekon use and invertor or run this power supply to its max?

When a psu is rated at 400W, it just means that it can provide 400W of power. I doubt you will be using that much anyways.

I reckon even a 80W psu should be enough to run a motherboard, dvd rom and a hard drive.

Its called a carputer... Few guys on here have them... Ascension... VRX_MY02 etc


Now for the audio, all you do is run a wire from the sound card into your amps, or into the aux in, in the back of your headunit. Easy as that.

Go over to mp3car.com and in the software section they have free front ends, designed by carputer users FOR carputers users. You couldnt pay for better software then the ones these guys have developed for everyone for free.
Fair enough then! lol

I'd have expected interference/ghosting with 2-3m low quality VGA cables, but if it all works nicely then that's a bargain.

I was picturing heavy duty cables. I mean the ones you get with up-market KVM switches is a good 1-1.5 cm thick and it's heavy and inflexible which would have been a bastard to run neatly. Ascension and cthulhu have basically covered everything.

Only thing I will add from my experience is the following.

If you plan on using your head unit aux and still want to install the PC in your boot, instead of running an insulated RCA from front to back, use a USB sound card and install it close to your HU, then run a short insulated RCA lead to connect them.

This will give you the best possible SNR, therefore giving you a much clearer sound and the least interference possible.

Some pics of my old Carputer in my TS....

http://img351.imageshack.us/img351/9127/ts011jt.th.jpg (http://img351.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ts011jt.jpg)http://img351.imageshack.us/img351/8453/ts022fr.th.jpg (http://img351.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ts022fr.jpg)

And some pics of the un-finished system in the VRX...

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/3986/10027127sw.th.jpg (http://img250.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10027127sw.jpg)http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/337/imgp15642xt.th.jpg (http://img250.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp15642xt.jpg)http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/9637/imgp15734fe.th.jpg (http://img339.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp15734fe.jpg)http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/3329/imgp15603ou.th.jpg (http://img339.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp15603ou.jpg)

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8213/imgp15829tf.th.jpg (http://img339.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp15829tf.jpg)http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8720/imgp15853gv.th.jpg (http://img339.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp15853gv.jpg)http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5047/imgp15897su.th.jpg (http://img269.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp15897su.jpg)http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/9931/imgp15909va.th.jpg (http://img269.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp15909va.jpg)

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/1118/imgp16031bx.th.jpg (http://img267.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp16031bx.jpg)http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/7116/imgp16042dv.th.jpg (http://img267.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp16042dv.jpg)

that is ****in awesome!!!!
questions....
how did u mount your headunit,
wat did you do about a cover around it..or is it just bare?
wat program are you runnin for the sat nav, and wat hardware do you need, how much etc..

cheers
sean

that is ****in awesome!!!!
questions....
how did u mount your headunit,
wat did you do about a cover around it..or is it just bare?
wat program are you runnin for the sat nav, and wat hardware do you need, how much etc..

cheers
sean
Thanks! :thumbsup:

I removed the ash tray and built a custom mount for the headunit, there is currently no cover around it - this is one of the "unfinished" components ;)

The program I am using for Sat Nav is called CoPilot Live Laptop 7. As for hardware, I am using a Haicom USB GPS.

wat OS your runnin on it mate?

Thanks! :thumbsup:

I removed the ash tray and built a custom mount for the headunit, there is currently no cover around it - this is one of the "unfinished" components ;)

The program I am using for Sat Nav is called CoPilot Live Laptop 7. As for hardware, I am using a Haicom USB GPS.

where can i buy the coPilot and the Haicom from. Does this give all of the aussie maps? How good does it work, i desparatly need one so i stop getting lost in sydney

where can i buy the coPilot and the Haicom from. Does this give all of the aussie maps? How good does it work, i desparatly need one so i stop getting lost in sydney
http://www.travroute.com.au/copilot/laptop.htm

also, VRX_MY02 a few questions.

-where hav u got ya mic mounted?
-how did u mount the screen
-where did u get the screen n how much?
-could you please get some more detailed pics of the screen and how the edges look
-could you please get some more deailed pics of the headunit mount thingo
-how did you power your carputer?
-and, how good is the voice rec. on it, like does it understand all your commands
-oh and, how the freakin hell does it know the speed your currently doing, and is it accurate?

cheers

sean

http://www.travroute.com.au/copilot/laptop.htm

also, VRX_MY02 a few questions.

-where hav u got ya mic mounted?
-how did u mount the screen
-where did u get the screen n how much?
-could you please get some more detailed pics of the screen and how the edges look
-could you please get some more deailed pics of the headunit mount thingo
-how did you power your carputer?
-and, how good is the voice rec. on it, like does it understand all your commands
-oh and, how the freakin hell does it know the speed your currently doing, and is it accurate?

cheers

sean I have two mics mounted in the centre console, one for the voice control on my CD changer and the other for the Bluetooth mobile phone kit. I haven't yet mounted one for CoPilot. I have, however, tested the voice feature in CoPilot and it does work very well.

The screen is mounted in the original bracket that housed the stereo and storage bin. The gap between the bracket and front surround was a perfect size for it to sit snug. I still plan to organise a custom surround for both the screen and head unit to make it appear stock.

The screen is a Xenarc 700TSV 7" Touchscreen. I purchased it from a store in Melbourne called CDT. If you are adventurous, you can try and purchase one new from an overseas seller on Ebay.

My Carputer is currently powered by a 300W inverter that I already had in the car. I plan to find a DC-DC supply though that has a shutdown timer I can run of the ignition.

Speed in CoPilot is calculated by the GPS. Speed = Distance/Time. The Speed figure is very accurate, more accurate than the speedo. The only downside is the time it takes to update, it is about 1-2 seconds behind - this is a limitation most GPS receivers have though.

P.S The computer is running Windows XP SP2 with Media Engine as the main shell app.

yeah i looked around aprently invertors are the go for carputa's. Im getting a 250w PSU so that should fine. Basically i thought i might run this by you VRX_MY02 but your setup might be a little different to what im planning

Hve to box in the boot, have an external dvd drive mounted in the glove box via an extension USB cable so that i dont have to go round the back to change my dvd's all the time. Im assuming this will be ok as long as its USB 2 am i right or is the distance too long? I was thinking of having a trackball mouse so i have the ball on the top, i would be able to mount it easier in my console. Is there even any need for a touchscreen i just dont see why i need it :S Maybe im just dumb and i do. Same as a keyboard how often do you actually use your keyboard? Im thinking of having the pc put into the same kinda box as a sub goes in in the boot except have a mesh kind of grill on each side to allow the heat to escape. would this be enough? Im open to other ways to do this as well. Did you do yours into your amp VRX_MY02 i have been told and someone can correct me if im wrong that all you do is plug a cable from your speakers out in your sound card into your amp as audio in? Is that right, you use those white and red cables? Except i dont have them on my soundcard can i just use the same connector that i use to plug my current computer speakers into? My last thing is video stuff what did you use on yours im thinking of using sVideo because the cables are less chunky, is this fine for the whole ghosting thing?

Thanks everyone for reading my eassay even if you only have one thing to say go ahead because i know as little as you and i dont want to go buy all the stuff and realise ive missed something!

Hey i came across this DVD ROM a while ago. I think it would be great for a carputer.

http://tekgems.com/Products/et-13265-dvd-vpc1000b-n.htm

http://tekgems.com/images/large/DVD-VPC1000B-N-unit.jpg

Its cool cause it has a built in FM tuner and you dont need the PC to be on to use it :)

yeah i looked around aprently invertors are the go for carputa's. Im getting a 250w PSU so that should fine. Basically i thought i might run this by you VRX_MY02 but your setup might be a little different to what im planning

Hve to box in the boot, have an external dvd drive mounted in the glove box via an extension USB cable so that i dont have to go round the back to change my dvd's all the time. Im assuming this will be ok as long as its USB 2 am i right or is the distance too long? I was thinking of having a trackball mouse so i have the ball on the top, i would be able to mount it easier in my console. Is there even any need for a touchscreen i just dont see why i need it :S Maybe im just dumb and i do. Same as a keyboard how often do you actually use your keyboard? Im thinking of having the pc put into the same kinda box as a sub goes in in the boot except have a mesh kind of grill on each side to allow the heat to escape. would this be enough? Im open to other ways to do this as well. Did you do yours into your amp VRX_MY02 i have been told and someone can correct me if im wrong that all you do is plug a cable from your speakers out in your sound card into your amp as audio in? Is that right, you use those white and red cables? Except i dont have them on my soundcard can i just use the same connector that i use to plug my current computer speakers into? My last thing is video stuff what did you use on yours im thinking of using sVideo because the cables are less chunky, is this fine for the whole ghosting thing?

Thanks everyone for reading my eassay even if you only have one thing to say go ahead because i know as little as you and i dont want to go buy all the stuff and realise ive missed something!
An inverter that has a modified sine wave output will work fine with a standard computer PSU, but it is terribly inefficient. You are basically converting a 12V DC current to 240V AC then the PSU is converting it back to 12V and 5V. I suggest that if you want to buy the right components from the word go, get a DC-DC power supply built for car use, OPUS is a good brand as previously stated.

Your idea regarding the DVD drive will certainly work, I suggest buying a USB2 5.25in drive bay, and then you can use a normal PC DVD drive. Mounting it in the glove box will be possible with some work. If you have a 2nd Gen, I suggest you source a spare dash face and mount above your glove box between the air vents.

A trackball mouse will work; I actually used one with my old set up. A touchscreen is so much easier to control though and has many more advantages! A keyboard definitely comes in handy for certain tasks. I have a small USB key'b that fits snugly in the passenger map tray. Have used a wireless one before, but found it difficult to store as it was larger. A small wireless RF key'b would be the best solution, but it is also the most expensive.
I have yet to build a custom enclosure to hold my PC in the boot, but do plan to build something similar to what you have mentioned.

I have a USB sound card mounted in the centre console storage bin that connects directly to a Pioneer RB-20 Aux adaptor which is attached to my head unit. This allows me to still use the Radio, in-dash CD player and CD changer. I also have my mobile phone car kit connected to the head unit so it automatically mutes when a call is made or received.

The screen I am using is a Xenarc 700TSV. It is a 7" touchscreen with VGA, Composite and S-Video inputs. The screen connects to the computer via a shielded VGA cable, there is no ghosting at all, and the image quality is perfect. The screen will support resolutions up to 1600x1200! I run it at 800x600 or 1024x768 depending on the program and it works great, small text is very clear and very readable.

If you have any more questions, fire away, I am happy to help! :)

ok, so to connect up the sound from the computer to the headunit you use the Pioneer RB-20 Aux adaptor, how does this work, like wat r the plugs on it?
also, what is the sound quality like, do you use it to play music or just for the gps? and how does it play throught the headunit, like does it mute the CD or radio etc,

cheers

ok, so to connect up the sound from the computer to the headunit you use the Pioneer RB-20 Aux adaptor, how does this work, like wat r the plugs on it?
also, what is the sound quality like, do you use it to play music or just for the gps? and how does it play throught the headunit, like does it mute the CD or radio etc,

cheers
if its like an AUX-IN, it will be like switching sources. LIke, when u switch from radio, to CD, to tape etc etc.....so you won't hear the radio, and cd at the same time if thats what you mean:bowrofl:

dunno about quality...should be pretty good.

It pretty much defeats the purpose of having a CD player then.............................unless u buy CDs....:roll:

if its like an AUX-IN, it will be like switching sources. LIke, when u switch from radio, to CD, to tape etc etc.....so you won't hear the radio, and cd at the same time if thats what you mean:bowrofl:

dunno about quality...should be pretty good.

It pretty much defeats the purpose of having a CD player then.............................unless u buy CDs....:roll:

nah i actually want it for the gps side of things eek and well may as well hav a cd/mp3 headunit dere

wat i mean by the sound is, when the GPS is directing you where to go and i have the sound goin into the hu via AUX-IN will it mute the CD/radio or wwat?

and eek wat r u doin at home bludging?

nah i actually want it for the gps side of things eek and well may as well hav a cd/mp3 headunit dere

wat i mean by the sound is, when the GPS is directing you where to go and i have the sound goin into the hu via AUX-IN will it mute the CD/radio or wwat?

and eek wat r u doin at home bludging?
lol, bludging? hahahah
i started uni at 8am today! had to wake up at 6.

guess when i finish...................................8pm:cry:

Wednesdays are a freking long day for me...i'm currently in a 5hr break:bowrofl:

I"m not sure....if u have the GPS on PC as software, then you'd sorta need to connect it up to the AUX, and have the headunit playing AUX in order to hear it...unless u install a freak speaker somewhere.

I doubt youd hear GPS talk with like, 3000wrms of subwoofar going anyway

hey everyone this sounds absolutely ridiculous but i know a fair bit about computers, how would you go about doing this


Have a computer and basically hook it up to your car audio. I know a fair bit about computers do you need special adapters for your sound card? Im just thinking that i can use my computer in my car and use my 20 gig of music in ma car.

I know you will need an intvertor (how much is one of those?)
and a screen what else do you need?
Any special software?

I dont know if you know the 200sx with the number plates TTL, well he has done that, but not just audio but hooked up with the engine to, show boost and other things 2... so yea great idea man would look mad...

but i dont know prices on things u need so sorry couldnt help u dare...

VRX_MY02: How is the Xenarc screen like during the day?

Have been tossing the idea of buying an NEC screen, but they are much more expensive then the Xenarcs.

nah i actually want it for the gps side of things eek and well may as well hav a cd/mp3 headunit dere

wat i mean by the sound is, when the GPS is directing you where to go and i have the sound goin into the hu via AUX-IN will it mute the CD/radio or wwat?

and eek wat r u doin at home bludging?
The RB-20 will only work with Pioneer head units that have P-Bus control.

Most newer head units have AUX inputs built in to the actual head unit.

The sound quality is great. As I mentioned before, I am using a USB sound card located close to the head unit, so noise and interference is virtually non existent.

VRX_MY02: How is the Xenarc screen like during the day?

Have been tossing the idea of buying an NEC screen, but they are much more expensive then the Xenarcs.
The Xenarc screen is great, day or night. Certainly, if it is in direct sunlight, viewing becomes difficult, but this is the same for any LCD panel.

hey everyone my thing is im planning on not buying a head unit (from memory the second gens dont even have a cd player?) thats why im getting all this stuff instea dof buying a good head unit. Can you go from your soundcard in your boot and plug it straight into your amp?

A few questions, im going to run windows xp media centre thingo can you run touch screen on that? Is touching the screen the same as clicking the mouse?

hey everyone my thing is im planning on not buying a head unit (from memory the second gens dont even have a cd player?) thats why im getting all this stuff instea dof buying a good head unit. Can you go from your soundcard in your boot and plug it straight into your amp?

A few questions, im going to run windows xp media centre thingo can you run touch screen on that? Is touching the screen the same as clicking the mouse?
Yes, you can connect the computer directly to your amp[s]. If you have multiple amps, you will need one that has a "Line out" feature or use a line splitting device to connect both.

The only issue with connecting directly to your amps is volume control. Adjusting the volume on the PC will create varying input levels on your amp and can affect the sound quality. A solution for this is to buy an amp that has a remote gain control and use that to adjust the volume.

A touchscreen works exactly like a mouse, you can drag and left click and through the use of an application you can even right click.

Ive got exactly the same screen, xenarc 700tsv.
The problem with this screen and all the other touchscreens ive seen with VGA in is that there only 400nit brightness.
This means, on a sunny day your screwed, viewing is very hard and some times its impossible to see (screen nearly complety washed out)
There are of course ways to improve this, eg where you mount the screen/ tinted windows, shade cloths bla bla bla...

If you compare these lcds to something they use in say a fishfinder (you know those screens the fishermen use on their boats) the fishfinder is about 1800 nits, which means even in direct sunlight on the most sunniest day you can see the screen fine.

When youve got only 400 like the xenarcs, and 300 i think on the liliputs, at night time its amazing, when its overcast its good, but when the suns out, its bad.

Now i just pulled my carputer outta the car and bout to install my fm/tv tuner card. So ill finaly be able to listen to the radio in my car once again and when i buy an antenna i can watch tv in it to :p

im just going to use my craphouse stock souncard would that be ok, use it from speaker out from my sound card and do it like that or do you suggest one of those wicked as soundblaster ones? Or just something in between. So if you buy touchscreen theres no need for a mouse :D Solves one problem! Im still going to do the dvd dont know wher ei would mount it. This is kinda off topic but can you use on amp to run one sub and your front splits? (not 6x9's!!) Becuase i dont really want 6x9's for a while

Okai, your stock sound card should do the job fine. But if you want a better one, DONT BUY SOUND BLASTER.
You see, sound blaster, even their top range the audigy, is GREAT for playing games, but for music? not the best, why? because of the DAC they use.
Theres even a class action suit against creative about their resampling rate because it does an unnecessary conversion which degrades quality (cant remember the exact details but if you look for it youll find info about it)
The guys over at mp3car all pretty much say this card here is better then even the top audigys. Because it uses a different DAC, GREAT for music, not so good for gaming compared to sound blaster.
http://www.hometheatrepc.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=31&products_id=121

Anyways im gonna buy this card. If your gonna get a new card and not going to do any serious hardcore gaming in your car then this is prob the best card you can get unless you wanna speand big loads of money.

Also, you can use an amp to power anything. An amp simply gives you outputs you can hook up to anything, you can run just one speaker from an amp if you want to.

ha ha 7.1 thats ****in ridiculous to run 2.1 sound lol Im thinking of just buying a 4.1 card for around 40 bucks unless you guys really reckon that buying this 7.1 is really worth the extra 50 bucks!

By the way has anyone used brash imports, are they any good? Im thinking of investing in this
Model V007

7 inch TFT LCD In-dash Monitor

Standard Din Size

PAL & NTSC System

Aspect Ratio 16:9

Image Can Be Changed Up/Down, Left/Right

Full Function Remote Control

Video Input for DVD, PS2, Xbox, GPS, Reversing Camera etc

DC 12V Inputs

All connections - Easy to install

Panel resolution: 1440x234 dots,

Viewing angle: (left/right)60, (up)30, (down)10

it seems pretty good and i really want a stealth install so folding away would be a good one. Has onyone bought any of the motorised ones, is there any difference in picture quality etc

Dude this is not new, and not hard.. and good on you for seeing the light :)

Headunits are old school.. unless they have usb input ;)

www.mp3car.com, especially check out their shop for cheap touchscreens etc so you don't have to mess around with a keyboard/mouse while driving to change songs! Also have carPC cases etc.. the shop on that site has everything you need.

Touchscreen also lets you do not just mp3s.. but any other media you have on your PC.. you can watch divx's, other movies, play games, whatever you can do at home you can then do in your car. Add Unwired into the mix and you have internet too.

Also.. a cheap idea but vital.. put a wireless lan card in your PC and an access point in your house so when you park your car out the front you can transfer songs over the network rather than messing with removable drives, or taking the PC out of the car.

Need any help give a shout :)


hahahaha how did i know u would be here mr i mod everything in my house... j/ks

what about xboxs running the media centre... if its just songs why not, or like alot of people have just mod your xbox to run movies and games that are stored on it, becomes a entertainment centre.. just a thought..


[ if it was mentioned later in the thread im sorry i only read upto here and posted sorry guys]

Heh .. yeh as tu1337 says, Xbox's are suprisingly good for in-car stuff. Chuck in a 200+ gb harddrive and mediacenter or your choice of custom software, and you got DVD player, MP3s, and the added bonus of Xbox games (plus chuck an emu on for other games)..

That's what i'm doing anyway. With a few added twists :P

hmmm xbox media centre thats an idea i hadn't played with. wonder if they can be controlled via a touch screen

or a computer with an xbox emulator cos u get GPS cannot do that on an xbox

....and you cant do xbox on a computer. You can run linux and you have usb ports so there would be a way to get gps going.

ha ha sorry mate but you deserve this :gtfo:... its called an emulator

ok man....you get an emulator for an xbox going on the computer that actually works and I will take it back.

get a car before you come on car forums and stop acting like you know **** when you know absolutly **** all.

plus change you sig there are heaps of people that have carputers or are going to get them, on these forums.

waiting for thread to be closed

Its called learnging mate...its what forums are about and u know what people like you wreck it. Im 17 and im learning about cars so im not one fo those dumb**** people who go dad my cars broken what do i do? Im trying to learn and people like you cant accept that people arent born with knowledge. So maybe you should let me advertise that im doing something different and if your gonna pick on me for having my number one for a carputa have alook at the people with things such as L-plater im sure theres more than one lplater on the forums! So just get of ur mighty knowledge horse and let people have a go at learning things for themselves
end rant

(waits for another one week ban :doubt: )

....and you cant do xbox on a computer. You can run linux and you have usb ports so there would be a way to get gps going.

hmmm the xbox idea is looking to be a better option for me plus cheaper :D must be doing some more research on xbox's (never touched one so have no idea of what they are capable of :redface: )
not really after it to play games in the car more to watch dvds and play mp3s plus perhaps a view photos

If your still going ahead with this and are wondering about audio loss because of long cables from the soundcard in boot to the headunit up front DSE have this lil product
UsbSoundCard (http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/431d16d50d069a78273fc0a87f9c06df/Product/View/XH6314)
its a lil USB soundcard not to sure of the quality as i havnt had a chance to test it yet but for a cheap alternative its worth a look. (probably sucks but it could suprise).

most people use a USB soundcard becuase its easier to setup.

Personally i would rather use a 2 RCA to 1 3.5 Aux plug lead it would be much easier than a USB soundcard and usb cable. But as said before those leads arnt shielded very well so you would loose signal along the way and going to a hu thats the last thing you want as an amplified dodgy signal can get distorted easily. Hence the USB soundcard is a good alternative because you will loose less signal using USB cable. How is it easier to set up?

Most people Do have Carputer sound systems usually Called Laptops !!

Most get a Deck with the Standard AUX imput and use the Laptop for MP3 sound and Movies via the Headphone Socket on the Laptop..

Yeah i realise that dude lol i do comp sci at uni i hope i know that. Just that the normal RCA/Aux leads arnt very good with shielding and someone mentioned usb soundcards so i thought id mention this one as its relativly cheap and quite small and easy to place. Id probably end up using the rca leads for ease of use in the end but incase anyone wanted to go down the usb route.

go over to mp3car.com i guaruntee you more people that have done it properly have used real computers. And they use USB sound cards, dunno why. Laptops are crap as value for money and they have very average performance, thats why it seems people use real computers

I would think the reason they use the usb soundcards is the reason i posted earlier but there could be another reason (more expensive USB soundcards give out quite good quality sounds eg. extigy but their pricey) . True laptops are bad value for money first hand but if you can source a second hand one off a mate or a business assosiate they are also a lot smaller and have 12v auto adapters easily accessable on the market so you dont need to deal with specialists. Imagine just strapping one under your seat it would fit easily be light (petrol prices) and inconspicious to car thieves and save on boot space. The one for sale on here with a cracked screen (with a lcd on the dash theres no need for the lappy screen) is a great example i know of many people who have cracked their lappy screen and instead of getting it fixed just bought an updated laptop. And to get around the cd drive in the dash problem with lappys you could just use a usb cd/dvd drive and create a mount and face for it. Probably already done but you could hook up a cheap webcam as a reversing camera would be cool.

Hi,

Sorry to drag up an old thread but it seemed a good place to ask this.

I am putting together a car PC and already have all the bits (in-dash VGA touch screen, VIA EPIA M10000, M1-ATX power supply/sequencer etc).

Now, the only thing I am having problems with is getting the thing powered. I plan to put the PC in the boot of my 2003 AWD. The PC has a 60W (12V) power supply and so will only draw 5A max. How do I get 12V to the boot? Most people seem to suggest running a 8ga cable directly from the battery, but since 8ga has a 100A current capability it seems like way, way overkill!! I only need about 8A max (allowing for expansion).

My question is, are there any (unswitched) spare power circuits in the AWD magna that I could use? (how are multi-disc CD changers powered for example).

Any suggestions welcome.

Warren

I would personally run 8ga, even if it is overkill! 8ga is reasonably cheap, well shielded, easily hidden along the sill panels and will guarantee a nice power supply for the PC. 8ga will also allow you to easily fuse the system at the battery to prevent any short circuits.

As far as unused power supplies existing in the boot I am pretty sure there arent any. CD Changers are usually powered by the head unit using one cable for both signal and power (similar principle to a USB powered device).

Thanks for the reply.

Are there any good sources for the battery connectors/fuse holders/distribution boxes (either online or otherwise). The only ones I've seen are at Jaycar and are all rather too bling for me!

Isn't replacing the battery connector rather difficult? I think the current one I have is crimped on so would need to be chopped off.

Warren

very easy to put new terminals on, personally go for something that has alot of outputs, i have 2 gold plated battery terminals which have 1 x 2ga, 1x 4ga, and 2 x 8ga. so theres always room for upgrades or something later on.
I would go Hi-Fi supermarket /JB HI-FI, they have an awesome range of Aerpro/Stinger stuff which is sure to meet your needs.
My Aerpro Terminals Were only $22 Each.
bling!