Pocket PC-based carputer idea.

**Yuriy** · 10-05-2004, 05:12 PM

I will

My PPC is currently experiencing some technical difficulties - broken touchscreen and no backlight.
But I plan on buying a new e740 or e755 within the next few weeks since I need it for GPS.

**dexy** · 10-05-2004, 05:22 PM

You know come to think about it a pocket PC device, is actually a very good option costwise. b4 I went in to carputing, I used to use my pocket PC for in car video and audio, but navigation was hard b/c of the small screen. But now the revisit the issue, the problem waesn't really the screensize as much, b/c if you have it sideways like this

the Video is pretty ok for in car use(I mean thats the size of come car tv screens, that people bought when screens were expensive).

I think what we need on PocketPC end, is an interface software like mediaCar or frodoplayer e.g that has support for the horizonal position like video above, and lots of large buttons to navigate things around.(i.e audio and video).

As for memory, these things have the 1gig CF cards available, all you need is to really power them up with car charger, while still not as powerfull as CAR PC, they still pack a punch.
Oh also one thing I enjoyed was the instant boot time vs carPC, and well no need of shutdown controller for this guy too.

what do u guys think?

**Don 944 LA** · 10-05-2004, 05:56 PM

Well they have CE.net thats the developer apps for a pc OS but for a PPC OS

Maybe some of these VB apps can port to PPC....

Maybe something to push, once some of the final releases of back end apps get done.... ATTN: Frodo

**Don 944 LA** · 10-05-2004, 06:01 PM

Originally Posted by Yuriy

I will

My PPC is currently experiencing some technical difficulties - broken touchscreen and no backlight.
But I plan on buying a new e740 or e755 within the next few weeks since I need it for GPS.

There was site that had all those replacement parts pretty cheap..I'll try to find info

Also, there are some new models coming out that have CF & SD slots with Wi-Fi and bluetooth..,

It seems my 4 year old IPAQ is still pretty modern, with the exception of integrated Wi-Fi ( Ipaq 3970 , 400 mhz , 64mb ram, 48 mb rom, upgraded OS - bootleg ). I paid like $450 for it way back, and I'd like to find another cheap .

**Yuriy** · 10-05-2004, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by Don 944 LA

There was site that had all those replacement parts pretty cheap..I'll try to find info

I would really appreciate that. I have fixed Pocket PC's before so it's not a problem. The reason I want to buy a new one is because I couldn't find a replacement LCD for my current device.
By the way, a PPC could be molded into the dash!

If any of you are looking for an interface, I can make one, although I only do interfaces that launch other applications, I use Flash for all my applications and unfortunately Flash isn't easilly integrated with other apps. But a nicely designed "home page" with all your GPS, MP3, DVD, etc. shortcuts is exactly my thing

The rest can indeed be ported. The biggest obstacle are the drivers for certain hardware, like the Lilly touchscreen driver. The drivers aren't very hard to port, I think, but we'll need somebody (read Frodo) with the correct skills to do it

**deadweasel** · 10-05-2004, 08:40 PM

I have an iPaq 3650. From what I understand, there is a PCMCIA external audio card out there, that, when used with the adapter jacket, will provide audio on par with any Creative Labs card below Audigy 2.
I had been thinking along the same lines about a PocketPC-based carputer, although for it to be very effective, I would still need a mini-pc to drive a decent-sized harddrive.
My solution to THAT particular nightmare was to install a version of Linux on the unit, then use NXserver (thin-client remote control app) to control the PC over wireless. This would pretty much rule out video, but those of you who know me here know how I feel about in-car video anyhow.
The biggest issue I would have with this setup is that I would be basically using the iPaq as a touchscreen, and not much else if there's another PC in the car. Why go through all that hassle if I could simply cut out the iPaq and install a Liliput instead?

Anyhow, the idea posted here seems pretty sweet. My thoughts on the same type of project would be radically different if I had an adapter like that available to me, methinks.

**Don 944 LA** · 10-05-2004, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by Yuriy

(edited) I would really appreciate that. I have fixed Pocket PC's before so it's not a problem. The reason I want to buy a new one is because I couldn't find a replacement LCD for my current device.
By the way, a PPC could be molded into the dash!

funny circumstances...

My old business parter just called me and we were talking, and he said that his battery was dead in his PPC. I talked him into buying one and he doesn't even use it ( technically challenged ).. So, I have (2) people to find the info for..

If I remember, you can send the unit to the guy or just get the parts. I would be afraid of breaking something, so I would just send him the unit...

Anyway, off to look at 3 systems ago Favorites listing ( 1 of 40 DVD's for a 2k file )

Don

**electron** · 10-05-2004, 09:36 PM

I guess I will be the first one to say that this is a bad idea if you are going to use the e740. I am a former e740 owner, and I was one of the lucky ones, there are so many flaws in this unit, I won't even bother with those, but one of the main issues will be that the external VGA output is SLOW. I loved my PDA, but the many issues forced me to return it back to CompUSA to get my money back after owning it for 1.5 years (TAP plan). Toshiba left the US PDA market less than a few weeks ago because it was a disaster. Check out the forums on brighthand.com if you are serious about this, to learn about to issues and see if you can work around them. Good luck!

**grahamrb** · 10-05-2004, 11:33 PM

I too am very interested in this idea of using a pocket pc as a car pc, I currently have a car pc installed in my car but I am using a keypad and a 40x2 character LCD as the interface. It would be really good to be able to use my pocket pc (HP IPAQ 4150) to interface using wireless or bluetooth with the car pc... or even better, to remove the car pc all together and just use the pocket pc with some sort of external hard disk (I am yet to find a way to attach a an external hard disk to my ipaq, anyone know how?).