2002 Saturn SL2 install

**Yuriy** · 06-12-2004, 01:31 AM

Hello,

My name is Yuriy. I just registered here, so I thought I'd give you a quick intro to myself before showing off my car

I come from Russia, have been living in US for 1.5 years. I'm 16 years old, a poor college student on a tight budget, so please don't laugh too loud when you see this

Well, with that said, here goes..

Here're a few shots of my car's exterior:

Well, here's my 11" LCD

Nice little radar sitting right next to the speedometer and a Toshiba e740 Pocket PC that I use for GPS navigation

The system is plugged into a cigarette lighter. Lots of wires around as I have not yet found time to hide them.

Because the CD player is behind the screen now, I had to re-locate the volume control to another spot. Well, now it's even better since I can reach it without stretching my hand out.

Backup buddy. This thing keeps my computer from restarting when the engine starts and it also lets me to put it to sleep for weeks so that I don't have to wait for it to load each morning.

I'm using Windows 98 SE. As you can see some of it is translated into Russian. The icons are three times the normal size so that they are easilly seen from anywhere within the car.

Well, and at last - this is the way it usually looks when loaded. This is latest WinAmp player. I have 4 GB of music on there, that's around 800 tracks with 192 kbs quality. I got around 50 various albums, so scrolling can be a pain sometimes. I have not yet organized the playlists.

As you can see, everything is very cheap. Actually, here's how much I spent on the whole thing:

Pentium 133 laptop (under the seat) - $85
11" LCD screen - free (came with the laptop

)
PS/2 numeric keyboard - $16
Radioshack rechargable battery - $30
Misc. expenses ~ $30
-----------------------------------------------
Total - $161
Like I said - I'm just a poor college student and I don't have a lot of money to throw around on touchscreens like you guys do

That's about the same price as a hi-end car CD player today, by the way

Well, the system is not yet complete.
Some things I plan on adding:

- CD-ROM drive for MP3 and regular CDs
- Webcam through the back window so I can see what's behind me without turning my head

That's about it for now

Oh - one more thing: this is my second car.
My first car was a 22-year-old Nissan Maxima which I also put a computer into

If anyone is interested in seing that freak show, I can open a new thread

**Supermike** · 06-12-2004, 07:56 AM

$161!!! Man, I have stopped keeping track of my Carputer related expenses - too scary

Nice system, but what do you use for a mouse?

**carpcnoobie** · 06-12-2004, 11:28 AM

Privet,

Sorry, that's of the little Russian I know.

Talk about a low-budget setup. But it works, so kudos for that. As you said, a little clean up is in order.

That's an interesting idea to use the 'back-up buddy' to keep it asleep.

I assume you use the pocket PC because your car pc can't handle nav.

Very good job keeping it on a budget.

Poka,

**Yuriy** · 06-12-2004, 07:24 PM

Yeah. Well, part of it is also because I can't find any good GPS software with maps for it too. I mean "free" software because, like I said, I can't spend some $150 on a Routis package.

About the mouse - the laptop had a trackball built in. I was able to extract it and mount on the side of the seat, close to where the "power" button is. You can't see it on the pics but it's there. Although I really don't need a mouse. I upload music to the car via LAN (I have a 2.4 GHz laptop that I didn't dare to waste on a car) and I use remote control software called RAdmin whenever there is a need to type something up, change a skin or do pretty much anything.

Anyways, looking at all the other quality in-dash setups here I have decided to spend the weekend finishing up and polishing my own system - I feel so jealous

At the same time I feel like my system is probably the cheapest here, yet it's very much functional

PS: Thanks for not hurting my feelings - I expected much worse!

PPS: so, is there anyone who wishes to see the setup on my very first car that was 22 years old?

**Batmanatthenewb** · 06-13-2004, 09:05 AM

Yuriy,

Everyone has to start somewhere. Keep your priorities straight, finish college. Then the world is open to you. You can then build the "dream system" you want. Vary functional setup. Work on the presentation a little, and you have a great system. But remember, school first.

Batman

**Yuriy** · 06-13-2004, 10:15 PM

Heh, thanks

Well, since I'm already officially on a summer "vacation" I did spend some time cleaning up the exterior and removing all those wires. Here are the results:

Before:

After:

No more ugly wires!

And I also organized the playlists and re-arranged the windows for a fresher look:

Looks much better this way

**mp3mike05** · 06-13-2004, 10:25 PM

waaaaiiiiiiiiiit a minute, your 16 and your in college?!?! Damn boy im 16 and I just finished my junior year of high school

**Yuriy** · 06-13-2004, 10:34 PM

Originally Posted by mp3mike05

waaaaiiiiiiiiiit a minute, your 16 and your in college?!?! Damn boy im 16 and I just finished my junior year of high school

You bet! In Washington state we have a program called "Running Start", if you're a junior and your GPA is above 2.5 you can study full time in college and get high-school + college credit

Also - it's free for two years!
http://www.oc.ctc.edu/GetStart/Admis...art/index.html