My Project (just started)

Ok I'm new and from Australia. Just started buying stuff today :) Got all computer equip for about $400US (all new), Power Supply for about $150US (new). I hope the HD and DVD work properly and don't skip/break in the car! I suppose I'll take my chances then buy a laptop HD/DVD if I need to. Any suggestions on GPS or Screen would be GREATLY appreciated :) and any other suggestions of course. I plan on making custom software as I know VB and a fair bit of C++ and am not happy with any of the current software for my setup :p

At the moment I'm running off a 250W AC-DC PSU inside for testing, seems to be enough juice so far :)

Car:
Car: 1993 Mazda MX6
Engine: 2.5L V6 DOHC 121kw
http://users.bigpond.net.au/uncocow/outside.jpg

Car Stereo:
Basic Stereo Information: Stock stereo. Sounds OK. Will upgrade later.

Computer:
Carputer: AMD Athlon XP 1800+
Case: To build :p
Power: 250W DC-DC
Storage: 80gig
Sound: Onboard Dolby 5.1
Motherboard: Asus A7N266-VM (9.6" x 9.6" onboard Lan, GeForce2, Sound)
Videocard: Onboard GeForce2
Display: To buy - Maybe Xenarc 7" Touchscreen
Extras: 16xDVD, TV/FM Tuner, GPS(still to buy)

Interior:
I don't know where I'm going to mount the computer yet I'll have to pull some things apart and see where I can fit it :) A 7" LCD should fit perfectly in the double DIN slot with slight modification. I think I have it easy seeing other people's dash's and the tricky spots they have to mount LCDs :p
http://users.bigpond.net.au/uncocow/interior.jpg

Any feedback greatly appreciated! Sorry for no more pictures I'll take some later.

By the way - The Asus motherboard is pretty sweet because for about $120US I got the motherboard with built in Audio/Lan/GeForce2 and an AMD1800. Seems good value and it's very small (well not compared to say the FV24 but still fairly small). Has 3PCI and 1AGP no ISA.

Cheers,

David

Hi,

I'm just curious about the fact that you put a xp 1800 in your car ? Why so much power ? do you wanna rip dvd's in your car :D *g*

don't take this personal just thinking this is a bit much for car entertainement system-


For the xenarc there was a thread in LCD section with people who weren't wvery happy with it -

If you have the money buy a vga LCD with controller - If you wanna cheap screen buy a 5.6" or bigger RCA screen.

where to put the screen:
RCA screen : you could try fixing the mountig thing(sorry im not english) inside the ventilation
or build part that would fit between the ventilation and speed control console ( sorry cannot express me better ) so i decidet to make a pic :D

see attachement


For GPS I just bought a little USB GPS receiver which should be great ( will receive it monday :D )

like you didn't mention OS - I did very good experiences with WInXP professional- no bluescreens and very fast boot !

Regards

Felix

this is what I would look at the Attachment

Well I put a 1800 in there because.... well... I can :) I just figured that for $130 I can get that and it would take me ages to find a second hand slower one. Just didn't want to muck around. And the faster it is the shorter boot time :)

I have a standard HD and DVD have you guys had any problems with skipping? How should i mount them?

Thanks for the feedback :)

I like the way allenruble mounted it - but that looks very hard :P

that looks like a not too bad solution felix :) Only problem is i would like to have it hidden when stopped - Damn thieves!

Yeah I'm running Windows XP

Cheers,

David

I took some more pics today when i pulled the dash apart :)

http://users.bigpond.net.au/uncocow/dash1.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/uncocow/dash2.jpg

I was hoping to get my DVD ROM maybe in that empty space and the screen in the double DIN. But seeing as there's no room I might have to have the drive above and the screen down lower. Although I've heard they need to be mounted vertically to avoid damage? So I might have to rethink the whole thing...

http://users.bigpond.net.au/uncocow/bseat.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/uncocow/boot.jpg

After thinking about where the put the workings I think the best spot might be here and I can have it so I can get at it from in the car, and have that open for cooling and stuff if I need to. Means i can hide it away when i stop so no-one will see it :D

What you guys think?

Thanks,

David

Also I'm having a lot of trouble finding a decent LCD at decent price! As you can see I have limited space to work with and i think a 7.5" by 5.5" was the biggest I could fit (which is approx 7" diagonal). The Xenarc screen has the right specs but it's expensive and as you say there's a LOT of bad reports on it. Any other ones I could look at (yes I've looked through every post here and couldn't find another one I liked... VGA input is really a must for it I think... Composite just loses too much quality for text to show up)

good to see more aussies

for a lcd you can get a 5.6" lcd from ebay or sold for less than 300 bux these days

mind you there not vga and you will need good luck to get a vga small lcd in australia

i managed to get a 12" lcd with controler card for 200 bux ages ago and have fitted it into my car even thio im still working on the pc

good luck and keep us posted

cheers
pcman

heheh i got the computer goin (well... power supply coming this week so they say) just gotta get a screen sorted :P

Shame u live in sunshine... I live in ivanhoe (near kew) so we can't really check eachother's setups out :P

Sunshine is on the way to Geelong isn't it?

Oh also, If i buy a non-touchscreen how much would it cost me to buy an insert?

yeah sunshines on the way to geelong

no idea about tu\ouchscreens never been interested in them
im trying to get a new pc for home and am gonna use it incar
been wasting too much cash on my car and havnt bothered about upgrading my pc for umm ages

you heard of melbccr (www.melbccr.com)

its a car cruise group have cruises everynow and them

i go ocasionaly mabe we could meetup on a cruise there usually out the other side of town close to you



cheers
pcman