This idea has been bugging me for a while now

[sanioll]

Ok, being a PC hardware/software geek i am, I wanted to do the obvious.

Integration of mini factor PC into my lovely 240SX.

I had to open the front panel and all that stuff couple weeks ago, and under the cd player theres a lot of space. more than i need for a small size completely custom designed PC.

I saw WinXP media center edition 2005 other day, and i tell ya, as much as I hate too much GUI in OSs'; it looks good. it deserves a shot in a vehicle.

========================================================================================================So what will it give me?? well heres the list:

1. controls mostly will be thru touch screen display sitting in place of cd player. i can get a foldable keyboard and/or wireless mouse with ball tracking.

2. DVD-player

3. FM radio-yeah gotta add that fm tuner card.

4. GPS navigation (maybe most advanced in the world?? we'll see)

5. all music will be stored on hard drive of course

PLUS benefits of anything a PC can do, copying music off radio, or integrating Digital cameras into my car, to record onto hard drive every time car moves, and video data is kept for a week or so. all right, i'm getting carried away. But its possible, piece of cake.

All design specification is ready in my head. Just gotta put it down and make some drawings. Also, thres decent amount of space under dash for PC itself only, and as for thermal designs I dont see any problems. I'll just throw in a compressor cooling. just kidding.==========================================================================================================

==========================================================================================================So its all ready but i do have some issues that dont feel comfortable with.

1. how and where i'm gonna fit the PC's power supply. It has to be outa view, while not interfering with the driver/passenger comfort level. Simplicity and elegance is my goal here.

2. when i connect to car's speakers, or how do i do that. Motherboards have stereo out connection for your earphones or speakers. How do you convert it to car's speakers. Theres a huge difference in voltage etcc...So i need help with how to convert signals from earphone out to cars speakers at acceptable levels.

3. 240sx dashboard in the middle, plastic thing that snaps ontop and around of CD player. I need the one with somekind of cover on it. So i can cover the touchscreen when i park. It costs $700 ^. people gonna steal it.

4. 300Watts of power supply wouldn't hurt my cars alternator and battery, will it?? this pc will mostly idle really. so it would use let say 150Watts max.

5. usage in very cold temperatures. like below 30F. (HD, touchscreen, etc..)========================================================================================================

So, what do you all think. Any suggestions/ideas/technical drawings is welcome.

P.S. i know someone has done this project already, and i've seen the pic of s13 in NICO forums. I searched for it, but couldn't find it. any of you know who did it??

[sanioll]

As you see thres a lot of space under the cd player, cd player will be gone, also that paper/pen holder empty slot also will be gone. touchscreen will occupy both slots.

but whre to fit power supply? under the hand rest probbly., but under there is a control box for automatic seatbelts.

[cardboardbox]

Neat idea. Not sure about everything else, but there are power coverters available that you can use to convert the 12v battery to whatever you need for certain applications. Ebay has a list of them if you search for "car power converter."

[mikeh16]

This sounds like a really cool idea, I would love to have my PC in my car. The only thing I am thinking is that you definately not want the computer to just boot up every time you turn the car on because it wil also turn off with the car. You would want to keep the power switch from your computer and just move it to a spot where it wouldn't be bumped all the time. You probably already thought about that. Oh, and one other thing. Hard drives don't like to be jostled around, you would have to have some sort of suspension or cradle for it so it wouldn't be damaged from hitting pot holes.

thanks,Mike

[xekushnr]

in order to get sound from the pc to the speakers i would use an amplifier. get a 1/8 stereo jack to rca cable and stick it in the line out of the comp. run the rcas to a 4 channel amp powering your interior speakers. this will get the audio out and will boost the volume level just in case it ends up being too quiet.

[underground57]

Hey here's a link I posted over in the audio forum not too long ago. It's a friend of mine's site who did something comparable to what you're planning. His basically serves as an audio system so it might not have all the capabilities that you're looking for, but it's pretty nifty.

http://andrew.cmu.edu/user/pst...o.htm

I'm also thinking about integrating a comp into my car, but not to the degree that you are. I'd love to see how it turns out. If you have the time and energy, a write up would be sweet. If not, that's cool too, as long as there's pics. Good luck.

[98s14inaz]

It has been done numerous times. My friend jeff has this awsome touch screen set up in his s14. When you turn the car off the screen tucks itself back into the dash. Pretty tight. He goes by the handle (brage) on a couple of car forums.

[onosqv]

also done in police cars , but those are also more laptop like.

Well, MSI carries their juke-box, which is more audio oriented, but is a complete system that either contains touchscreen or whatnot.

Anyway, if you decide to power ur car w/ pc + inverter, you may also want a deep cycle battery, like an Optima Red or Yellow top.

If you don't care about AC, you can have A LOT more room.

I'd personally hide the power supply + misc stuff in the passenger side dashboard above the glove box, I think there's quite a bit of space there last time I checked.

to expand on xekushnr's jack->rca cable, make sure you have a head unit that has auxilary input, then you can use car speakers.

instead of fold out keyboard, y not just go w/ gyration mini wireless keyboard that can be custom tucked under the under dash below the steering wheel? .

To cover your stuff so ppl don't steal it, you can buy some abs plastic and put a hinge on it or magnetically hold it in place or something.

Or make your life simple and just get a laptop mount and be like the popo's .

[Dragon240]

Look around for DC to DC Power Supply, I've seen some that are about the size of a stick of ram and plug straight on top of an ATX power connector. Also look into the Mini-ITX stuff if you haven't already, very small. The problem with Power Inverter to standard power supply to computer is basically your voltage is gonna be ****ty and unstable by the time it gets to the very voltage level critical pc components because it goes from DC (Your battery) to AC (Inverter) back to DC (pc power supply), makes more sense to go straight DC-DC and much better for the pc. If you have a large stereo and amps you might wanna look into a better alternator soon as well Just my thoughts.