Thread: 1st post here, CarLap working Already. (Long)

Hello All,
This is a great site for all the geeks out there that have a dream to have computer or laptop in their cars.
Well first post here, been lurking around for a while. I am an IT professional and one day I got the urge to put a computer with a touch screen in my car. I am surrounded with computers at home and at work so why not in the car

Well for first project I decided to go the Ghetto low budget install. So here is the equipment.
Car --- 2005 Chevy Monte Carlo LS
I am using the factory head unit and speakers. It came with XM radio so I wanted to keep it. It did not have a audio aux. so I had to get:
PAC Audio AAIGM12 and install it. gives me 2 aux inputs. Very easy to install and use. It costs $30.

Laptop---Compaq HP nx9030 well had it for a while do not use it much, got better ones so it gets car duty.

Touch screen ---cheapo TM868 from ebay $125 shipped. Other than the native res being a bit low it works great with road runner at 800X600.

Power Inverter---- $30 300W max well until I get an ITX mother board later on this will do.

The reason for the low budget is the wife hehehe, I spend way too much on my home gaming machines

Ok so I went for the out of dash install I used a mounting bracket and swivel bracket from www.proclip.com combined cost $75 shipped.

So I installed the screen I put the laptop on the back seat in a harness made out of an old laptop bag. I will post pics this weekend by the way. I have two cables going in between the front seats you can see am if you really look and they do not get in the way. One cable to the screen the other to Audio aux.

Well I power it all up flip the switch on the aux unit, start road runner crank up the volume and play a tune well PROBLEM #1 is here.
Horrible interference noise. So I try to see where it coming from and if I unplug the power from back of the laptop the noise stops. So I try to ground the inverter again noise is there, so i am thinking I gonna have to cut the laptop power supply and ground that somehow, but then a crazy Idea hits me cuz I really dint want to cut the Laptop power supply cable. So off to get a 6ft USB cable $10, USB Sound Card $30 Turtle Beach, 4-port USB hub $8,

So What I did was ran the 6ft USB from the laptop in the backseat to the front, There I plugged in the USb hub to the cable and in the HUB the sound card, the Aux unit into the sound card. Now this is nothing new I have read this on this board people have tried it, but what I did was wrapped a wire around the metal parts of the connection between the 6ft USB cable and the 4 port HUB and i wrapped it with electrical tape, the other end of the wire is grounded underneath the passenger seat to a bolt.

Well let me tell you how happy I was when I cranked the tunes up, crystal clear sound came out of the speakers. I called the wife over and off we go for a ride, well she had more fun than I did lol. play all her songs
and telling me to concentrate on the road lol.
Well all I have to do Is create my own RoadRunner skin right now I am using the MMI skin, but I want to make a Monte Carlo skin, I have not seen one yet.

Oh Second Problem I had was my USB GPS receiver is dead, it was two years old so it served me well, I am using streets & trips 2006 by the way.
Well that is for now I'll post some pics this weekend.