Carputer!! Is it reliable ?

**PORTUGAL** · 10-24-2003, 08:37 AM

Well this is my first post and i have a few doubts.I`ve been folowing several carputer sites particulary the vauxhall vectra carputer and this forum.
I know that its possible to make a caputer system to work in a car ,but has anyone completed a system and have it completly working (just the hardware ) for a long period of time.(+/-6 months ) without any problems.(mother board runingok/hdd not heating/overal temperatur ok/touch screen always woking / hi fi quality sound ok / etc)
Do any of you guys who are way ahead of me maneged to keep a carputer in the car and keep it working without always cheeking for some problems.(the carputer is based on home computer parts/most of them are made not to be mobile )
Hi hope that the carputer is something that can be buid,enclosured,and enjoyed on the road with features such as : (gps. navegation / 5.1 sorrund sound / mp3 / games / radio / internet / vheicule diognosis / dvd /etc ) and enjoy the carputer for about 2/3 years befora the next technology leap make us think of other things...

How long can a carputer be on without the ignition of?
how much does the opus dcdc 150w cost? Is it the best solution for the epia boards?
Had anyone instaled the carputer in the trunk and sucessfully managed to hide all the wires? ( factory clean look).

Well sorry for the long post...

Keep up the good work , it shows to the automotive world how cars should be equiped in the future...not to distant i supose.

**Rob Withey** · 10-24-2003, 08:47 AM

Mine has been working just fine for 4 years with little trouble. Carputer mostly stays in the car doing what it was built for (playing MP3s). Never tried running it for long periods without the car running - I got better things to do than sit in my car listening to music all day. The system only draws 2A though, so it would last some while.

Rob

**SiGmA_X** · 10-24-2003, 09:05 AM

Hiding wires was perhaps the easiest part of the install for me

I just opened up the side panels on the car, and started running wires. For my power, I ran a 4-gauge wire to the trunk for the battery (With a 60-amp fuse inline about 8" into the line) and that went under the car and we drilled a hole under the back seats (Now filled with silicon) and it works great.

The OPUS 150w is about $190. I left my car PC on for about 4 hours last night, with no problems. I am not sure what the maximum time is, and I don’t want to learn yet

**PORTUGAL** · 10-24-2003, 09:51 AM

"The OPUS 150w is about $190. I left my car PC on for about 4 hours last night, with no problems. I am not sure what the maximum time is, and I don’t want to learn yet

"

Four hours ??Thats great.
What about if put mp3 playing and leave the volume to medium/high.
With the car radio, you can hear music for hours, but with the extra weight of the "carputer" on the bettery what can i expect ?

thanks for the info

**shakes** · 10-24-2003, 10:11 AM

i don't think that's an easy question to answer ... it depends on the quality of your battery ... what extra software you have loaded on your pc ... what OS ...

have a good battery (like an optima) and keep your PC lean and mean and you should be able to run for a while

**tbdombrosky** · 10-24-2003, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by Rob Withey

Mine has been working just fine for 4 years with little trouble. Carputer mostly stays in the car doing what it was built for (playing MP3s). Never tried running it for long periods without the car running - I got better things to do than sit in my car listening to music all day. The system only draws 2A though, so it would last some while.

Rob

2a? Wow, that's unbelievable.

Tom

**samc** · 10-24-2003, 11:23 AM

Ive been running one for 6+ months and Ive never had major problems. The only problems I have right now is a little static on the screen, video isnt perfectly aligned to the composite out screen and I get a little alternator noise. All these I can live with.

Ive never had memory go bad, or HD burst, or..ANYthing. Your carputer is just as reliable as your home computer.

But the last few questions, try the search feature. Oh the opus only draws a MAX of 15A, compared to everything else you have in your car thats nothing. Ive easily run my system for 4+ hours at a time with no problems. And the OPUS is rated with a life of 150,000 hours I believe, running your carputer 24/7 thats about 17 years.

**Rob Withey** · 10-24-2003, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by tbdombrosky

2a? Wow, that's unbelievable.

Tom

It's a P233 clocked back to 210MHz with a laptop hard drive. Didn't see the point of having a monster machine, only causes headaches with heat and power. This way I get to have a small system with the minimum of power issues.

Sometimes I get to sit back and giggle at everyone struggling with monster powerful machines and trying to cool them and power them. I even slowed my processor fan down to make the system quieter and the temperature was just fine.

Rob

**ose-ml320** · 10-24-2003, 11:32 AM

I travel some pretty rough roads, so I've been wondering if anyone does anything extra to help protect their hard drives from head crashes, like rubber mounts for hd or the case.