Thread: Help with parts list for carputer newbie

My Recommendations:

Screen: 7" xenarc touch screen, the new ones are bright, well built and made specifically for a computer in a car. The normal warranty is one year, but if you take it out of the housing to mount it, they still warranty it for 30 days. http://www.xenarc.com/product/700ts.html I will turn on/off automatically when power is supplied/taken away.

For the power supply, get an OPUS. If you have the money, dont bother with anything else. They are made just for carputers, have built in protection from completely draining your battery and automatically start up and shut down with the car. http://www.opussolutions.com

The quality of the CD/DVD/radio are probably all gonna be about the same. I don't have any specfic recommendations other then to go with external USB devices so they are easy to mount where you want. Since these are all hooked into your computer you can easily control them with the built in equalization features that come with windows and your sound card drivers.

For the sound card I would go with the external Phillips aurillium, its sound quality is awesome, just as good as the external Sound Blaster Extigy NX, but doenst come with the infrared remote and the big plus, powered completely off of the USB port. If you have the space inside your computer case I would go with an interal Sound Blaster Extigy.

For the iPod just run the output into your computer's sound card's line in and you can just control the volume form the computer's volume control.

XBox: The easy solution would be just to put in an AV switch to switch between the computer input and the XBOX input. If your the type with too much time, money, and computer skills on your hands you could probably get a video or TV card with video in, run the XBOX's output to it, then get a relay card http://www.mpja.com/productview.asp?product=6074+KT that would be hookup up to the xbox power switch to turn it on. This would require some code to work the relay and switch the video input on, but you could then do it completely through touchscreen control.

GPS: CoPilot is my favorite, I think it has the best interface for in car use, but it is expensive.

Have Fun!

Originally Posted by h22lude

I started a thread asking if what I wanted is possible and now that I know it is I would like some help with what I need to do what I want, where to get it and how to put it all together. Here is a list of what I want it to do:
-touch screen probably 7 inches in dash not pop out
-radio (controlled from touch screen, something that sounds really good and is good quality and can be controlled like a normal HU; front back, side to side, treble and bass etc)
-cd player (same as radio, good quality, bass and treble control, all controlled by the touch screen, I want it up front so I can put the cd without moving)
-dvd player (same as cd player)
-ipod (the only thing I want controlled from touch screen is volume, the rest will be controlled using the actual ipod)
-gps (touch screen gps)
-xbox
-I want the pc to be able to turn on and off when I turn my car on and off and also the lcd if possible
-I also want it to be safe for my car and the pc, as in I don't want it to ruin my carputer when I try to start my car or run my battery down really quickly
-I want the sound to come out of a 5.1 surround sound system (when it can like dvd) with amps and subs and I want it to sound really good
-I am willing to pay for better parts to get better quality

What will I need for my carputer to do all I want it to do? I have searched this forum night and day, when I can, over the past week or so and I have gotten some good info but I know there are a lot of knowledgable people on this forum that can help me out. Thanks in advance. Joe

With that sound card, will I be able to turn the treble and bass level up and down from the touch screen?

I don't understand the cd/dvd/radio. What type of cd/dvd player do I get, a computer 2 in 1 cd/dvd player combo or do I get one made for the car like a normal HU? What about the radio, do I get a regular HU that is just a radio or get one that is a radio and cd player or do I get something special for the computer?

Sorry for my ignorance but I am new to this and trying to figure it all out.