Thread: Sound system with MP3 Display on LCD

Originally Posted by telekineticfool

Welcome to the site!

Um...I think...you should get a Car PC!

...is that what you were asking? I'm confused...can you be more specific?

I think that's exactly what I would need. Unless there is a way of connecting an MP3 player (IPod) or something to my HU, and being able to display it on the LCD screen.

To be able to store a large amount of MP3's and be able to play them in my car and have them display on the LCD (Just like Winamp) I guess I would need a harddrive, some software program that would be capable of displaying the Winamp skin on the LCD and I do not know where to go from there.

I really need help in this area, and I did search this forum and there is so much info, just a lot of technical terms and other things that make no sense to me. That's why I'm asking you guys to help me out with this. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Defiler

Look through the software section and download and try out all the options. Also, try myHTPC and YOU make the choice as to which front end you want to use. You might even try WinAMP v. 5 with a diferent skin and scale it up a bit to fit the screen. As far as finding a cheap setup...Do you have a spare computer? You won't need a ton of power to do what you described. Check out some of the EPIA motherboards or another cheap option is a micro ATX MB with a lower speed AMD CPU.

I think I have pointed you in the right direction. Now go my son and SEARCH and READ 'till you can't take no more!!! Good luck.

Wow! I looked into myHTPC.com and that got me excited! That is defenitly something I would want, to be bale to store all my MP3's along with movies is too cool, plus there is so much more you could do.

I do have an old machine laying around, but it is old! I think it's something like 233Mhz with an old motherboard and only like an 8 gig hard drive. I don't think that will cut it.

Now, if I wanna go with this myHTPC setup, what sort of components would I need to put it all together. I would need a computer, but would I really need a huge machine in my car like I have at home? Would I need a keyboard and mouse? And would a receiver be even needed if had a computer? Thank you so much!

Actually, I would defenitly go with the Media Engine over myHTPC, I think it would fit me better.

Can someone please help me out. I dont know what the big deal is here, but at other forums that I participate in, we share knowledge with each other and try to help each other out as best we can. Here it seems like some people have huge egos and when it comes to helping someone out, it's too big of a deal to them and they don't think newbies or 'wannabes' should be allowed. I don't think that's cool at all, and I think we should all help each other out. If someone came to me with any questions that needed to be answered and I knew the answers, I'd be happy to assist them.

I'm fairly knew to this 'carputer' concept and would really like someone to just help guide me the right way so I can put together a simple carputer. That's all I ask, and is that really too much?

I want a simple machine that will be able to store movies and MP3's. I have a 7" Farenheit TFT LCD and hope that it will be compatible with a carputer, if not, please let me know and I can exchage it for a different model that will work.

I assume I will be needing software and I think I will get the Media Engine. I also have a spare 80 gig hard drive and I need help with the rest of the computer. So if someone could help me and let me know what other components I would need to make this machine work, it would be greatly appreciated! And if I really need to, I will pay someone simply just to help me out and guide me. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by bjm2020

Its not that they people don't want to help you, its that these questions have been answered before. Take a look through the forums and you will find a lot of useful information.

That lcd will work for you fine for mp3's and dvd as long as your computer has tv out. The epia mini-itx boards have this onboard or you can get a video card with tv out. If you wanna get gps then I would go with a vga screen.

PM me if you have any more questions!

I understand why people would be mad if they heard the question a million times, it's like that in any other forums too. But I don't think it hurts to answer it again. I did search this site and all these things are relatively new and I don't understand all the terminology. And if I did have a lot of time on my hands, then I probably would search by myself and hopefully get all the information but as it is right now, I don't have very much time on my hands and I would like to put a carputer in my car asap since I'm working on it right now. And if someone could help me out, that be greatly appreciated.

But I thank you for your input and the useful information.

If your only going to disply mp3 lists you might be able to use that LCD screen you have. In order to use it you will need a video card with TV out. that old p233 computer will play mp3's just fine, but i would look for a much smaller case to fit under your seat or in your trunk. as far as contol some people use keyboards, some little usb Infred remotes and some touch screens. Its up to you to decide what works best for you. hope this helps. the rest you should be able to find searching the fourms.