I think im the first!

[Chrispd100]

Ok so im brand new to this site. Let me introduce myself. My name is Chris, i bought a Versa about 6 months ago and i love it to death. I have already done some things with the inside and outside of the car. What I think im the first to do though is I have put a computer in mine. I took my LCD monitor that i bought off a friend and mounted it on my dash and i modded a computer to fit under the pas. seat very nicely. Here are some picture... maybe i can get some better looking ones aswell. P.S. i also added my own fog lights and replaced the head lights with some nice Xeon wanna be lights but they look good... Thanks guys good to be part of this site and tell me what you think!! TAKE CARE!!

[Legacy40k]

So.. uh.. why is there a computer screen there? whats it for? and isnt that a bit of a problem if you want to take a passenger?

[Chrispd100]

I can use it to watch movies, listen to music and that stuff. Its wired to my stereo so it goes through my car speakers. I have a huge WiFi attached to it that picks up signal half a mile away and i have a GPS chip attached to it as well for navigation. And as far as leg room. Anybody that owns a Versa should know that there is exceptional amount of leg room both in the front and rear. So its not a problem at all. they can jump in and out like nothing was there. Its really pretty cool. You can do anything on it you would a normal desktop.

[MiXMa5TaMaX]

that's sick as hell

that's the perfect solution to navi, multi cd changer/ ipod hookup, and movies is a bonus too

[sixdgrees]

Very Nice! But doesn't that make your car a prime target for break-ins? Or do you pop out the monitor?

[Chrispd100]

Well the monitor slides on and off and i can put it under the dash... But for now, yea it kind of is.. but i have plans for a alarm system with remote start aswell. but for now. yes.. a 10,000 song libary, 100 movies, and a lot of "ooo's" and "awwww's"....

[versabbo]

looks real nice, may i ask, how did you mount the monitor, im thinking of buying a low end laptop just for that purpose. thanks.

[cireecnop1]

thats insane, I do the same thing just without a desktop computer, I use a laptop for my navigation, and just use the AUX input So i can have all my music on the laptop, as well as the voice guided navigation heard through my speakers. Have you had any problems with law enforcement in your area? I know in Colorado atleast its illegal to have a monitor in drivers view if it wasn't a factory item.

[AZhitman]

VERY cool - Welcome aboard!

How'd you find us?

[Chrispd100]

1) I found this site through Google actually just looking for stuff for my car.

2) as far as law enforcement, all i know is that you can be ticketed if it faces the driver. Its one of those they will only ticket you for that if your being an *** type things i think.

3) i used to use my lap top but i got teird of it sliding around and it sitting on my seat, plus i thought it would be kool to actuly just mount it in my car.

4) and how i mounted it, was that i took the took the stand that the monitor origanally used and cut the back off of it and screwed that to my dash.

Yes i know, i SCREWED IT INTO MY NICE CLEAN DASH. but hey its worth it.. i can always take it off and cover it with some mickey mouse stickers or something

[cireecnop1]

True, you would have be acting like an *** for the officer to ticket you, but Im sure he will make you take it down right there in front of him. I think its any monitor thats forward of the rear of the driver seat that is illegal.

[landonb16]

i put a carputer in mine back in late October, will post pictures tonight.

[cyberdeity]

Fantastic! I would like to do something similiar eventually with mine. You mentioned installing a special wi-fi ant that has good reception - would you mind sharing what the make/model of that is? Also, can you give some spec's on the PC? I know there are a few aftermarket 'car PCs' that already have a modded power supply and stuff, but I dunno if you went that route or built your own, so I'm just looking for some details! :-)

[Justforfun]

Nice additions! What brand fog lights did you end up going with? I don't think I will pay the dealer price to go with oem, but have found some PIAA lights that I think will fit in the space. Let me know what I am facing with the installation (problems, etc.)

Thanks

[Chrispd100]

Well as far as the computer i put in. I had an oldish computer that i made sitting around so i updated it a little bit and threw it under my pass. seat. It runs Windows XP pro with 512 ram and a 1.7 GHz processor. its a excellent computer for what im doing. but yea its a computer i put together by myself and it was perfectly fine. i also have it powering off a 300 watt power inverter with very few problems with that, mostly only because i had it taped into some other stuff i was running aswell... well excuse me but i am going to go and clean up my V now. and maybe put up some more pictures in a bit!!! THANKS GUYS!!!

[Chrispd100]

And i went to pep boys for you guys and took a picture of the head lights i bought... here they are... and i was off with the price.. they are 29.99 which is still not bad at all....

[Justforfun]

fog lights......... what kind of fog lights?

[landonb16]

So here are the pictures, its running windows xp on an epic board, laptop hard drive, and 512mb ram (small ram = faster boot times), Has GPS, XM Radio, dvd, and also mp3 player. Next task is to hook my phone up to it via blue tooth for internet. The computer is in the glove box. and the screen is touch screen.

Here are the pics, click to enlarge.

[weems84]

landonb16

if you could please post a how to on how you fit the sreen in so nicely, looks stock. I have a screen but don't just want to throw it in there. I would love to be able to put my screen just like yours. I would like to put my PS2 in the car.

[landonb16]

I can’t do a step by step right now, but I can tell you how I did it overall.

I first took the screen out of its casing and measured the length and width of the screen, I then got some balsa wood ($1) from the hobby shop down the street and made a draft of what I wanted it to look like in the car. That type of wood is thin, light and very flexible. The best part about it is that it is very good to work with you can use wood glue and you can cut it with scissors so you can build it in your car with out any big tools.

Once I made the form the way I liked it I went to the local car store and got some fiber glass ($6) and some fiber glass mat ($4) and put 2 layers on top of the form that I made.

I then sanded it down, made it look nice and then I covered it with Bondo ($5 Wal-Mart) Bond gives it a really nice smooth surface to paint, you want to get all of the pin holes filled, I didn't get all of mine out before I painted it and I really regret it.

I then went to the local car store and got some spray paint ($4), but I got the fake leather paint to give it the same look as what is in the car. It came out really nice for the first time; I plan on doing another one in the spring when the weather gets a bit warmer.

A really good site for this is http://www.mp3car.com, everything you ever needed to know is right there, I have been reading this forum for over 5 years now, and it is great and the people are really nice and helpful. Just make sure you do a search before you ask a question.

The total cost for my project was a little less then $700 and is worth every cent, you would pay that much for just a decent GPS device, this way you get a lot more for your money.

If you need any help send me a message and I will be more then willing to help you.

[Chrispd100]

wow.. you paid $700? I ending up spending around 50 bucks for mine.... very nice though.... I used everything people have given me over the years...

[landonb16]

What are you using for a power supply? when you turn your key on does your computer come on? does it start up in less then 3 sec.? and when you turn your car off, does your car properly shut down? Is your screen a touch screen? and can you see it with direct sun light? To do this properly it cost some money; 700 is actually really cheap for a properly installed carputer.

For example, some times people will use an inverter to take their 12 volt power that they get from the car batter and alternator and convert it to a 120 volts 150amps and then they will use a PC power supply to convert that 120 volts and 150 amps back down to 12v, 5v, and 3v for the computer to properly operate. The problem with this set up is that it will kill your car battery after some time and then it will also kill your alternator in your car in due time. Some will also notice an annoying buzz in their speakers when listening to music as they reach higher RPMS.

I have no idea what your setup is, but i have learned that when you go cheap you end up paying big in the end.

[Clipsed]

lol carputer's are so easy to build, exactly like a pc with a few differences, and there are ways to set them up where the comp can stay on all the time and just hibernate when the car shuts off or even have it safely shutdown when you turn your car off w/o touching the comp. I would have a 12 volt PS since comps run off of 12 volts why change the voltage twice to run the comp??? waste of money if you ask me! I think $700 is too much to spend on a carputer, but then again I get everything except the monitor for free! My comp is worth over $1000 and all I paid for was $15 for a Microsoft wireless mouse and keyboard brand new and $250 for my Gateway 21" WS HD monitor, and my $80 case.

[kc5f]

Just curious - how easy is it to take the computer out of the glovebox? When you have 15000 mile service they need to take out the glovebox to replace the cabin air filter...

[landonb16]

All is needed is to disconnect the video, the usb connections, and the power cable. and the 6 screws that connect the glove box to the the car. It is nice, because when i want to work on the computer and add some software, i just pull the glove box out and take it inside my house. Takes about 2 min to remove the glove box.

[kc5f]

Sounds like you could request a discount on the cabin air filter replacement, since removing the glovebox is the excuse they give for the high price and you could bring the car in with it already removed!

[landonb16]

I didn’t say that I did, I said that some people do. I have a 12 volt power supply with a shutdown controller that puts the computer in suspend mode, and monitors the battery. Once the voltage drops to 11.5 volts, the shutdown controller cuts the power so you can still start your car.

I am really having a hard time getting by that $700 is a lot. You have spent ~355 for your case, monitor, and keyboard. You then got your CPU, ram, hard drive, maybe video card and sound card all for free. If you did have to buy those parts you would $345 ($700 – $355) to do it with.

A cheap motherboard with processor is about $100, RAM ($40), decent laptop hard drive ($80), cheap sound card ($40), and a cheap video card ($40). All of that is about $300 and that is going with some cheap components. So now I am left with about $45 for a USB GPS SiRF Star III device ($70), and a XMD1000 XM Direct radio Receiver ($40)... oh yeah, and software.

I have a stable system that I haven’t had to touch since I placed it my car 3 months ago which all fits in the glove box of a Nissan Versa. The Versa may be spacious but that glove box is not, try putting your car manual side ways in that glove box; not going to happen.

[landonb16]

I plan on buying the filter myself online $14.80 http://www.courtesyparts.com/M...-C11X

It shouldn't be too hard to do.

[kc5f]

I guess not, after you've done the hard part! The service manual makes it look pretty straightforward once the glovebox is out.

[Chrispd100]

well actually. before you start accusing me of things that i don;t have.... my computer does turn on and off when the key is put in and out... you can see mine in day light and i have a functional glove compartment and the case above the stereo as well... I used all parts i already had and i still have my car almost exactly the same way i got it... plus i don't have plastic hanging out under my monitor... mine is clean cut everything....