Thread: Cold weather

solid state hard drives are going to work a little better in that kind of cold.

i am not a huge supporter of usb screens as the primary interface-- mostly because they will not display anything until after the computer loads the os. it doesn't sound like a big deal now, but when it is -1 out, your system won't boot, and you can't get into bios to see what is preventing it, it could be a problem..

most motherboard and ram i've seen works fine in -35*C. Old style non fluid bearing hard drive works, but life time is reduced, seagate automotive hard drives work down to about -25*C i believe. Some SSD work well in the cold, others not so well, check the environmental section. The other thing to look for is power supply, check most of them will work fine down to -40*C, but they're usually limited at some other value, which can be changed. I think power supply and hd is your most worries in the cold

Punky and I both live in Alberta, it got to -49 here this past winter and my computer worked fine. I have a Xenarc 700TSV from 2006 and it would usually take about 5-10 minutes of driving for the hard drive to warm up and then it would boot no problems. The drive I'm using is a regular 2.5 inch Samsung laptop drive. No other problems.

I've heard the Lilliputs don't work well at all below 0.

Thank you guys. I think I will plan my install to where I can easily take out certain items when it's going to get below zero or for trial and error fixes.
I am also planning on installing an autostart. They can be programmed to come on whenever the temperature outside dips below a certain temperature. I can also have some heat blow over the carputer to warm it up too.
It's a good thing I'm planning and taking my time.

my old lilliput 619 worked fine in -30*C, but i like my xenarc much better for the auto reverse feature. I know lilliput has it too, but you need to unlock it.

What is that auto reverse feature?

its useful if you plan to have a reverse camera in the future. if it detects video signal on video 2 it'll switch to video 2 automatically.

That's sweet!! I plan on doing that in the work van I will buy for the business I will start soon.

If I recall, I think the newer Lilliputs can be hacked to have an auto reverse. My older model EBY701 has never had a cold weather related problem even in -40C. However Ive read that the newer model EBY701 and 619 (LED backlit) might have cold weather issues so you might want to look into that.