carputer without the pc?

**hotponyshoes** · 01-27-2005, 03:26 PM

I know this sounds a bit strange but, my other half likes the look of my carputer and would like the same thing herself, she drives company cars and changes them about once a month. now i had a thought when i took apart my sky+ box, this is almost a computer in itself, a 25gig hdd and software. would it be possible to make something like this for the car? what would you need? i am thinking of a unit that would slide into a din slot and plug into the cars iso connector and have a touchscreen that could just stick to the dash. it would only be for mp3s with an external hd. if it would work like the sky box it would boot instantly, never crash and power off instantly. i know you could just use an ipod or something but it is the touchscreen she really wants! any input? thanks!

**hotponyshoes** · 01-27-2005, 03:28 PM

also, i think they may sell them at a loss but the sky+ box only costs £100..

**god_of_cpu** · 01-27-2005, 03:40 PM

Just get an xBox. Theres already media center software out for them.

**hotponyshoes** · 01-27-2005, 05:02 PM

can you add an external hard drive to the xbox? we would like to burn all our cds to the home pc then we could just sync to both of our usb laptop drives. also can the xbox run a touchscreen? thanks!

**nFiniteTuning** · 01-27-2005, 05:31 PM

yes you can if you are up for USB stuff. The controler connectors on XBOX's are redesigned 4pin USB's. Do a search for XBOX Hacking. You can also upgrade the hard drive inside the Xbox.

**GizmoQ** · 01-27-2005, 10:39 PM

Or do like I do. Just go with a tablet PC, create your own monting hardware and carry it out of the car whenever you exit. I have one with a cassette adapter that I have built several mounts for (back when I traveled a lot in rentals). a good piece of heavy guage aluminum and a 2x4 - I got good at bending metal on the fly. plug-in the cassette adapter & cigarette lighter power supply and away I go. The main systems I use are old Fujitsu 3400 tablets off EBay (dirt cheap) and with their prtable docking stations I can leave the docks in my 4 cars and just move the computer from one to another with the flip of a switch. See my more in-depth post :
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...8&postcount=12

**Tidder** · 01-27-2005, 10:42 PM

yeah, cheap tablet would be cool. Modded xbox is easy to do as well, though I don't know about the touchscreen. External drives for xbox is no prob. Just got done modding my 3rd xbox with 100gig HDD. Added Atari and Nintendo emulators and a buttload of roms... love that old school crap.

**BullCreek** · 01-29-2005, 11:28 AM

GizmoQ,

I have a full size "modern" TabletPC which I love, but obviously is too expensive to equip all my cars out. Thanks for the tip on the Fujitsu 3400s off eBay. My situation is that we live in a fairly remote area, but often have to drive long distances with the kids. I'd like each kid to have their own device with headphones, to access media off a headless "pseudo server" in the trunk. We have all our DVDs ripped as WMV. Questions for you:

1. Can the 3400s be updated to Windows XP?
2. Does the 400MHz P3 have enough power to playback 720x480 video full screen?
3. How does the touchscreen work? Do you have to use the stylus, or can you use your finder, and does it work like a mouse under Windows XP?

**zPilott** · 01-29-2005, 11:46 AM

get an OQO

**GizmoQ** · 01-30-2005, 03:25 AM

Originally Posted by BullCreek

GizmoQ,

I have a full size "modern" TabletPC which I love, but obviously is too expensive to equip all my cars out. Thanks for the tip on the Fujitsu 3400s off eBay. My situation is that we live in a fairly remote area, but often have to drive long distances with the kids. I'd like each kid to have their own device with headphones, to access media off a headless "pseudo server" in the trunk. We have all our DVDs ripped as WMV. Questions for you:

1. Can the 3400s be updated to Windows XP?
2. Does the 400MHz P3 have enough power to playback 720x480 video full screen?
3. How does the touchscreen work? Do you have to use the stylus, or can you use your finder, and does it work like a mouse under Windows XP?

ANSWERS:
1. Yes, but not worth a damn. I spent 6 months working on it and its still not right. There are several people I've talked to that have it working, but I've found out that there are several models, and several versions of each with slightly different MBs, so I'd recommend getting 1600s for the kids like I did (patience on EBay can get these for <$100 each)

2. YES (So do the 166Mhz 1600s)

3. Touchscreen is designed for a pen (since I have fingernails I use them, a finger will not work with their palm rejection). The stylus is the best way(kids think its cool), but fingernail, back of a pen, comb, ring, etc. will work. And would you believe I've actually had better touchscreens on the 1600s. My kids love their 1600s cause they each have 802.11 cards, can surf the net or play lan games with each other from their own rooms (I like keeping them apart sometime

) and we also implimented shareware voice over IP connections to talk to each other. Speaker on the 3400s is on the back - another dumb move by Fujitsu. But, it on the front of the 1600s and is decent volume. Basic I/O on both are same: mic, headphone, floppy connector, IR, and USB PCMCIA (2 on 1600). 1600 also has onboard serial and keyboard connectors.

If it sounds like I'm trying to sell 1600s, it's cause it was my first CarPuter back in 97 when cars were dumb. And I have always liked them for being rugged, self-contained and adaptable (since I bend my own metal for makind mounting brackets) I've probably installed them in 15 different cars since my first one, mostly friends and family, and never had one complaint. One was dropped 3 feet onto a shift knob square in the middle of the screen and the only damage was some dimmed LCD pixels. 10 inch screens are fairly readable outdoors (not as good as reflective, but passable) and outstanding indoors. I stepped up to the 3400s only because it came with a portable dock that could be left in my 4 cars with all the accessories hidden in-dash. One computer, four cars, same funtionality in all, and the security of flipping a switch and taking the computer out for other things like taking notes in class, surfing the web at the pool, or writhing this in bed.

Any other questions, just holla.