Australian Supplier

**AussieSPL** · 11-28-2005, 01:10 AM

Hi Everyone,
Been reading these forums constantly for the last couple of months as I get ready for my first ever car pc.

The computer is going into a Subaru Forestor, so far I have tried fitting a laptop in the glove box and was toying with the idea of a false floor in the passenger footwell to put a pc/laptop, both of which just don't fit. There was plenty of room under the seats till I filled them with a couple of monster footprint amps. Same goes for the boot until i filled it with a sub box.

So...
That leaves a Double Din hole to try and squeaze a pc and monitor into.
I am looking at a din sized monitor and a din sized pc case available from this site.

I have one simply question.

Is there a Australian supplier (or any way to optain this stuff without currency conversion). I would love to just buy it off this site and be done because it has everything I need, but I hate having to muck around with payment for things.

MP3Car Custom Car Computer (C134)
- Power Supply M1-ATX
- Build Customer Build
- CD/DVD Drive Panasonic Slot Load DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo Drive 24x24x24
- Hard Drive 2.5" Hard Drive 80GB Samsung 5400rpm
- Wireless None
- Memory Ultra Low Profile 256MB DDR RAM
- Bluetooth None
- Operating System None
- Keyboard None
- Monitor No monitor
- Motherboard VIA VIA EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX Mainboard

**meddler** · 11-28-2005, 07:49 AM

you can buy most of the hardware in Australia, but it is cheaper to get the PSU and the monitor from the US / ebay. I think Jaycar is selling VGA monitors now if you want to pay extra for it. I can't remember the name but I am sure there is another company importing screens as well. They too are expensive as far as I can remember.

**tja** · 11-28-2005, 07:52 AM

i bought my xenarc from cdt. They are in melbourne.. good service, a bit expensive but u dont have much choice, other than ebay or yeh like said above, the jaycar ones.

**AussieSPL** · 11-28-2005, 06:08 PM

Thanks Guys.
I checked out the CDT site.
I was always planning on getting my monitor from ebay, I haven't been able to find any dc-dc power supplys on the australian section of the site though.

I am particularly interested in this case but it looks like its a custom mp3car.com case?

C134 Mini-ITX Case Black
[T-C134]

http://www.mp3car.com/store/product_...0f1faa083b6491

**meddler** · 11-29-2005, 08:53 AM

buying from the mp3car.com store is good. I bought an opus150 and was very impressed with the service,t he promptness of the delivery and the amount of stamps used

Just make sure that whatever you get sent from overseas it is sent through the postal service. Customs duty limits through the post office is A$1000 whereas if it goes through a courier ie. UPS or Fedex the duty limit is A$200 and you will get charged duty on anything above that A$200

**AussieSPL** · 11-29-2005, 05:08 PM

Looks like I will go with mp3car then, because i really want that din case.
Meddler, How did you go about paying in US$, did you just pay with a credit card?

**meddler** · 11-29-2005, 06:13 PM

credit card from memory. But I believe they take paypal as well. There is a paypal icon under payment methods.

**AussieSPL** · 11-29-2005, 08:40 PM

Cheers Meddler you have been a great help.

**meddler** · 11-29-2005, 09:00 PM

np. anytime.

**tasteItheIvalue** · 11-30-2005, 12:47 PM

subaru's are by far the easiest cars to work on IMO.

If i where you i would get a liliput 7" touch off ebay, and get the dash kit from the mp3car.com store. I did this in my 02 impreza and it looks beautifull. (almost positive foresters are the same)

with the screen mounted in factory hole, that cup holder that pops out above the screen is useless (when drinks in it, u cant read screen) so... hack it apart. I mounted an external slimline dvd drive where the cup holder used to be. mine has a tray, so now when u push the cup holder, the tray ejects instead of the cup holder. with a slot load, im sure you can just cut a line in the face of the cup holder. Keep that stock look!

as for a case for the pc, i used plexiglass; very cool looking/inexpensive/customizable <--- wheres the spell checker?

you can mount the case in a couple of locations:
under seat
under trunk mat
anywhere in trunk

I personally do not recommend under the seat; i found that my carpets are occasionally damp and water is not your friend...

good luck, any questions feel free to PM me.
hope this helps.