New. Have a couple of questions I did not find in the FAQ

**ArcaneDreams** · 03-20-2008, 07:46 PM

Well, I thought I posted this, but it never showed up. So, if you see a similar thread by me, ignore it.

I have a 2001 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor

Here is what I want to do (The bold items have questions):

Have a nice carputer that can play Mp3s, videos, and connect to the OBD to give RPM readouts and the like. I really don't need internet or GPS, however google earth would be nice. (I think it requires internet connection though)

I plan on having a good sound system. An amp for the Subs, and an amp for the speakers.
Probably some JL audo 10" woofers.

Now, I have seen really small PCs for sale at gumstix.com. However, it would be much much more cost effective to buy from newegg.
Also, I want to take advantage of my large alternator.

Tell me if this would work without any significant problems.

Case: $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811108059
Nice and sleek. Will fit great in a fake floor in the trunk.

Motherboard: $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130542
Good brand, anything I need and more.

Processor: $37
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103199
Should be plenty of power to play music and videos.

RAM: $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134593
Again, don't think I need too much RAM to play music.

Hard Drive: Have a few laying around

Sound Card: $78
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829121122
Will a standard adapter would connect to my audio amplifiers and sound good?
Something like this: http://sewelldirect.com/Monster-JMAIPCMAHP-1.asp

Power Supply: $53
http://store.mp3car.com/M2_ATX_160W_..._p/pwr-015.htm
Can this connect directly to the battery, or does it need regulated 12V?

LCD: Not sure.
7" cheap as possible, as it will be the main theft target. I am going to mold it into the dash.
By "cheap" I mean around the $100 area. Any links to something like this?

**Nickwell24** · 03-20-2008, 09:20 PM

100 dollar LCDs aren't easy to come by and your best bets would be watch the classified forums, or ebay hunt. I've been watching for a few months now and still have yet to find one that cheap. You might want to increase your budget on that.

**ArcaneDreams** · 03-20-2008, 09:24 PM

I can, however I am paranoid about people stealing my stuff. Happened once...I would really rather them not steal anything worth to much...but if the cheapest I can find is over that price..it will have to do.

Any comments on the rest of the system? Should it work ok?

I was curious as to what quality the sound card puts out. Obviously it was not made for car audio in mind, so I would guess the outputs are low voltage.

What kind of sound card do you use?

**NotYou** · 03-20-2008, 11:34 PM

Somet thoughts to help you out...

LCD: You said you were going to mold the lcd into the dash. If so, then this is one theft deterent in itself -- it would take a lot more work for a their to get that out then an lcd from a factory system. That, and as compared to others who have just dash-mounted the lcd screen.

More and more cars have lcd screens, so it's not as rare as it once was to have an lcd in your car. If something is stolen, then that's what your car insurance is for as well.

Long way to say --- you're better off spending the money for a quality lcd display; something more then $100 (which will be hard to do anyways). You're going to be looking at it all the time, so you want something worthwile.. right?

Sound Card: Most people on here you'll find use the onboard audio on motherboards. You'll find that most mothers made in the last 5 years actually have pretty good onboard sound, and are just fine for car systems. If your trying to compete in IASCA or similar tournaments, or if your motherboard has a problem with its onboard audio, then I would use an add-in soundcard

Power Supply: The M2-ATX connects directly to the battery, and will regulate the power to the pc components. As with anything connecting to the battery, always place a fuse within 18inches of the batter post.

Hope this helps!

**ArcaneDreams** · 03-20-2008, 11:56 PM

I am going for mainly a sound quality system as far as audio goes. I was originally going to get an Eclipse Head unit that has 5V outputs. I was just concerned that the outputs from the sound card would be really low..like .5v or something.

But if what you say is true I could simply use the onboard audio card, and spend that $78 I would have put into a sound card into my LCD.

I just really want to be sure I can get quality audio from on board audio cards. From the FAQ stuff I read the on board stuff didn't sound very good.

**blazinlow** · 03-21-2008, 01:11 AM

My on board sound was fine and I have an eclipse as well. The only reason I upgraded to the Audigy was the need for Optical Input.

You can get a LCD for $100, but it will be something like 320x240 resolution that is non-vga and has a single yellow RCA video input.

**ArcaneDreams** · 03-21-2008, 01:16 AM

Well I will not have a standard head unit at all. It will be going straight from my PC to my amplifiers.

Are you running it from your PC to your head unit, then out to your amp?

Will that make a difference on what sound card I may or may not get?