*almost* Completed Car computer

I took on this project because being 16 in Edmond, Oklahoma there isn't ***** to do. I like computers and cars so this kind of fits into my catagory. This install process took me a weekend.
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...866_5_full.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...66_25_full.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...66_30_full.jpg

Goals:
<>Play MP3's
<>Wireless Internet
<>GPS

Pros:
<>Music doesn't skip
<>GPS so I don't get lost
<>Watch movies (not while driving ofcourse)
<>Store thousands of MP3's
<>No more CD's
<>The 'cool' factor
<>Orginal (atleast where I live)

Cons:
<>Waiting for boot (doesn't really affect me because I have remote start)
<>Hard to see in the day time
<>Sometimes too much to mess with while driving
<>Thief magnet.

Install:
<>The first thing I did was wire all the coaxial speakers to a 4ch amp I bought off ebay for $39
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...866_1_full.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...66_18_full.jpg

<>Then I installed an OPUS power supply into my computer.
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...866_7_full.jpg

<>Then I put the computer in where the spare wheel used to be.
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...866_9_full.jpg

<>This is it covered back up...
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...866_8_full.jpg

<>Then I had to install my screen. Originally I was going to have someone fiber glass it into my dash because I don't want it to look crappy and I have never messed with fiber glass before. When I got my screen in I couldn't wait for the fiber glass job so I came up with an idea to cut some sheet metal to fit into the old head unit slot and then bolted the Xenarc screen to that. I'm still considering getting it fiber glassed into my dash but then I'll have to move my air conditioning controls into my consol and I won't be able to move the screen around.
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...66_17_full.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...66_16_full.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...66_14_full.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...866_2_full.jpg

<>My desktop:
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...66_10_full.jpg

<>Play movie(very clear)
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...866_4_full.jpg

<>Passenger view
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...866_3_full.jpg

<>This is my Keyboard and Mouse setup...
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...66_13_full.jpg

<>The next thing I did was install my GPS.
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...66_11_full.jpg

<>I wanted to see what GPS was like so I ran up to Best Buy and bought a Delorme GPS unit. I'm buying CoPilot because I think it'll be alot better than Street Atlas USA crap.
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...66_12_full.jpg

<>No more CD's!
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...866_6_full.jpg

Computer:
<>P4 2.2Ghz
<>512 DDR
<>16x DVD-CDRW combo
<>80gig 7200rpm
<>External Sound Blaster MP3+

Future:
<>I'm in the process of buying CoPilot 2003 (on ebay unless one of you guyswant to sell :))
<>Fiber glassed screen (maybe)
<>Yellow Top battery
<>TV/FM/XM tuner
<>External USB powered DVD-RW (might have to get an inverter)
<>My next car is going to be a 02' T/A with Ram Air so everything will transfer nicely over to that car because it's all the same interior.

That's about it, any comments or suggestions would be appreciated...

Sound good, but I couldn't view your pic. I don't think AngelFire let you link the pic directly though.

Hope you fix it soon so we could view.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nthai

Sound good, but I couldn't view your pic. I don't think AngelFire let you link the pic directly though.

Hope you fix it soon so we could view.

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Hmm, it works on my computer... Is anyone else having this problem? If so then I'll switch my pics over to a geocities site and hope that does the trick.

I can't see the pics either

Quote:

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The Angelfire site you are trying to reach has been temporarily suspended due to excessive bandwidth consumption.

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Should work now. Slowly but surely... If anyone has an idea on getting a faster free host I'd appreciate it.

Damn I wish I had a car like that when I was 16

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aleromaster

Damn I wish I had a car like that when I was 16

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You can drive a car alone with 16??Cool....I have seen a lot of Post from people under 18 who already owned or drive cars....
Great looking car to bad that in Europe they are very rare to find.

Couple things to say/ask:

1. Nice car
2. Good power supply
3. Good keyboard, the logitech wireless-- but isnt that too big?
4. Good LCD screen
5. Can you see the sheet metal with the LCD in place?
6. Does your case move or shake having it in the spare tire space?

Last....good job so far, just need to work on the LCD and maybe trying to custom fit in your dash or converting your xenarc to in-dash

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BrUTaL

Couple things to say/ask:

1. Nice car
2. Good power supply
3. Good keyboard, the logitech wireless-- but isnt that too big?
4. Good LCD screen
5. Can you see the sheet metal with the LCD in place?
6. Does your case move or shake having it in the spare tire space?

Last....good job so far, just need to work on the LCD and maybe trying to custom fit in your dash or converting your xenarc to in-dash

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I was planing on getting a smaller keyboard like THIS but I've noticed that I use the volume control feature on the my Logitech keyboard quite a bit. So untill I find a small keyboard/mouse combo with volume control I'm going to stick to what I have.

You can't see the sheet metal at all unless you lean your head over to look behind the LCD.

AFAIK the computer doesn't shake around. I've turned the volume off and listened to my car and didn't have any movement in the trunk. It's pretty snug in there. Although, my computer has restarted a couple times but I'm not sure what's causing that.

When going into this project I was sure in getting the LCD custom fitted into the dash. But to do so (unless y'all have another suggestion) I will have to move my air conditioning controls into my consol. Which will be kind of a pain to reach while driving. Also, it will make it so I can't adjust the screen up-down-left-right like I can right now. I will have to dish out some money for the fiber glass work since I wouldn't be doing it my self. I'm still really considering the fiber glass job but just can't seem to find a good enough reason to get it done, maybe you guys can convince me? Also, one of the main goals of this project was to make nothing permanent. I will be transfering this all over to the car I'm getting next which has the same interior as my current car.