Thread: A few questions

Hey

First off.. I want to thank the people who maintain and contribute to this forum. There is an abundance of knowledge here!! I have been reading it for the past couple of days and was instantly amazed at what alot of you have done with your cars (sama, and bimmerstyle's bezels looked better then factory! I have a e39 aswell).

Now onto the "goods"! I dont think I need anything too fancy or powerful. I want it to be able to do
-GPS
-music (willing to pay extra for this )
-touch screen
-my MID functions and more (iBus like stuff which I have a very vauge understanding of)
-let passanger watch the odd movie
-have sirius radio adaptor (or beable to integrate one in some where)

Now for the nub questions.. I will post what I think I think I should get 1st, then add the questions. Oh I live in central Alberta Canada, so COLD winters are to be expected (-30C or colder)

-mobo/cpu- 1ghz-2ghz (havent made up my mind on what VIA EPIA-N700 Nano-ITX Board looks good with the 1.5ghz)
-PSU- Uhm.. the m2 or m3 but dont really know what
-Screen- xenarc 706tsa (I chose this because it says it is good to -30C.. however it looks very thick.. dont know if this will be a bad choice because of that or not)
-GPS- BU-353 or 355 (I havent really looked into these, just seem to be the top choice on the forum, not very worried about it ATM)
-Ram- 512mb or more.. Leaning on less for faster boot times, however I do not know how ram efficient the new programs are)
-HD- either a ssd 64gb or an automotive grade one.
-Optical- A slim dvd to hide somewhere, it might not even have to be slim depending on the hiding location.
-WIFI- any will do (just for VNC at home and the odd update remotely)
-Ibus! (oh the fun this thing is going to be )
- keyboard/mouse- some small ones
So there are some of my concerns, and the parts that I can think that I want right now.

Here come the barage of questions!
1) how much do the programs actually need to run? I was thinking of being able to tab between a screen for music, gps and one for car stats.
2) How much does the need for power(cpu/ram wise) increase in these programs? Is the req'd consumption held rather low? Pretty much Im asking how long this comp will work till I have to scrap it and get a new one.
3)Transflecive screens.. are they worth the rather large jump in price? Are there even ones that can handle the cold of a canadian winter?
4) Is it a better idea to get a mobo that doesnt have a cpu sodered on to it, and get a cheap c2d?
5) Am I missing anything in the pieces that I need?

Thanks for your time reading this, and thanks for the wonderful threads full of info