Thread: HP e-PC's aren't good carputers

Hey everyone. After I fried the mobo/hd of my old carputer, I saved up a few bucks and bought some newer stuff. One of the things I bought was an Hp e-PC from a member here. Great price, and it was a good deal. However, just as a warning, these don't make the best carputers.

Let me list the Pro's and Con's:

Pro:

• DC input, for high-efficiency
• Small Form Factor
• Hard drive is mounted on rubber feet
• Has a slot for a slimline cd-rom

Cons:

• Uber-long post times
• No expanability
• Standby issues (read below)

My e-PC is an older e-Vectra. It takes 19v at 3.16 amps. Nice if you can make/buy a dc-dc adapter for it. My biggest concern is startup. It takes appro. 10 seconds before the machine even posts! Even then it's another 5-10 seconds. Half a minute to wait isn't too good for a carputer.

The second thing I noticed today: The standby/shutdown. When the machine is shut down completely, all the USB devices still have power. I have my wireless mouse plugged in right now, and accidentally bumped it. Sent the dongle into a nice blinking fit. Could be an issue if you don't cut power completely.