Hey guys. I' fairly new on the forums here and just wanted to say its good to see such a good magna community going!!

I've got a TJ Solara which is great to drive but unfortunately is completely stock (other than a reasonable sound system) I'm thinking of exploiting my head unit's rear auxillary input by installing an eeepc or similar mini laptop somewhere in the dash and using it as to store music etc for the car, but also be removable to use as a basic portable pc.

So far i'm thinking of an ASUS eepc 1000 as you can pick up the 160 gig version from msy for about $600 bucks. the 1.6 atom processor is good enough for what i intend on using it for and the 10.2" screen is also quite nice!
http://www.cnet.com.au/laptops/laptops/0,239035649,339290898,00.htm

The other definite addition is a usb gps receiver similar to the one below, as well as probably an external hdd
http://reviews.cnet.com/gps-kits/garmin-gps-18-usb/4507-9337_7-31886966.html

I'm currently tossing up some mounting ideas as i want it to be mounted properly, but also removable. installing a rail or something similar in the glove box is currently looking like a good way to go however i'm very open to any ideas on this. The 10.2" screen makes it a bit big for an in dash install, but i'm also trying to figure out some cool, places to mount it where it will be practical. Obviously for gps and ease of use i want it accessible from the drivers seat but as i said, mounting isnt going to be a picnic!

anybody else done something similar or got any ideas?

That particular Eee-Pc has a VGA port, simply mould in a 7" touchscreen and use that to interface with the eee-pc.

This would allow you to store it anywhere (even the boot).

That particular Eee-Pc has a VGA port, simply mould in a 7" touchscreen and use that to interface with the eee-pc.

This would allow you to store it anywhere (even the boot).


Im with Life. Im thinking of doing something similiar. Get one of those 7" touchscreens, you can set up the screen like i did if you like : http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?p=981444#post981444
and then run cabling down the central console/under seats. Glovebox might be a bit limited in space if you add the harddrive, mount etc.

Running wiring through the car to the boot where you can set the actual EEE-Pc up might be a good idea, considering you will have more space to store the PC.
Be wary of vibrations with the Eee Pc hard drives. I work at Harvey Norman, we get a lot of returns on those due to faulty Hard Drives. Mind you, that price is below cost, as the 1000H cost price is about 614 dollars ;)

hope this helps and welcome to the forum...im pretty new too hehe

Beware of power and heat issues.

That won't last 5 minutes on the cars 12 volt supply.

Look at a dedicated pico-ITX PC or similar with a decent DC/DC converter.

My main job is repairing Car PC's...(well mobile CCTV actually) based around Win XPE.

Why would that not work on the cars 12v? Continue to use the battery pack and have a car charger wired to acc somewhere.

That won't last 5 minutes on the cars 12 volt supply.

Look at a dedicated pico-ITX PC or similar with a decent DC/DC converter.

My main job is repairing Car PC's...(well mobile CCTV actually) based around Win XPE.

Cant see why that would be a problem.

People run full size laptops off inverters all the time.

Dont know if it helps but I had one of these in today for repair, they use a 12V 3A 36W Ac adapter.

Hope thats useful for somebody....

yeah i definately think i'll be going the touch screen route. Current idea is to use a double din touch screen and relocate the head unit to where the ash tray/ciggy lighter socket usually is. I've got a mate who's done it so shouldnt be too hard to copy (amc user anesse). his looks great so that seems like a good way to go.

just thinking of relocating the 12v jack to the armrest/storage box thingy in the centre console for easy use and installing another one in the glovebox. Then just run a stereo cable, usb cable, gps usb cable, vga cable into the glove box and use an eeepc car charger. Should all fit in there and will take about 20 seconds to set up and remove the eeepc.

sound decent? if anybody can see any problems here let me know. surely i'm forgetting something

air flow

I ran a desktop p4 off a dodgy dicksmith 300w inverter in my verada for ages. My cabling was shotty and my cars power spiked and drained like no ones business. It ran perfectly and out lived my car. I also now run my laptops off a $49 targus inverter with no problems. Its normal for people working in the field of electrics to be over cautious on this stuff but lets face it they couldn't sell it if it was that hit and miss. :cool:

air flow

yeah, thought of that, open glovebox if its a problem.