Potential carPC noobie

**1drum** · 04-10-2010, 10:18 PM

I have put a turbocharger on my car and switched from the stock ECU to a MegaSquirt which controls the fuel injection and ignition. The MegaSquirt needs to be tuned for the unique differences each car has and that is done with a computer usually a laptop. Well that has given me the incentive to do something I have thought about for quite awhile; namely put in a car PC. The only good spot I can see to put the monitor would eliminate my receiver; which I could live with as I could store a lot of MP3s on the hard drive; but there are times I want to listen to the radio especially HD radio. I have tentatively picked out a ToughBox 15 Chenbro Based Intel D510MO Mini ITX System, 7'' Sunlight Readable Touchscreen Monitor, and 3-Axis Accelerometer. I was thinking about getting it with Centrafuse navigation 3.0 software; but upon searching I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off with RR. I don't want to buy one piece of hardware only to find out it's incompatible with something else I want. I'm hoping I can have my entertainment, GPS, Tire pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), 3 axis accelerometer all consolidated into one easily navigated system that hopefully won't cost a king's ransom. I already have a TPMS and wouldn't have to integrate it into the computer but if there is a way to use my sensors with the computer it would look cleaner without the extra screen.
Do you have any recommendations for me?

**t300** · 04-20-2010, 02:04 PM

Make any decisions? I am looking into the same thing.. running a megasquirt (using TunerStudio for tuning) and thats my main focus, secondary is car audio and third is GPS.

**1drum** · 04-21-2010, 02:46 PM

Still exploring my options. I think the D510MO is a good match for my needs; but would I be better off to build my own using a board like the Foxconn D51S instead of using the assembled Toughbox 15. One advantage of the D51S is it has a serial port. I have been using a serial/USB adapter with my laptop and it works; but seems like it adds another source of problems.

PS The Asus AT5NM10-I is also a possibility.