Thread: 2003 AcuraTL PC...finished! w/ pics

Hey everyone, been real busy getting ready for fall semester and finalizing this installation but now its DONE!! Thanks to everyone on the board for the great information and advice....

The PC is built around a barebones system, the ePOX MiniMe . I threw in a 2.4ghz cpu, geforce FX 5200, SBLive! PCI card, as well as an 80 gig primary drive and a 100 gig secondary (for all the stored movies/music/TV shows..etc)....all purchased from www.Newegg.com ....an OPUS 150 watt power supply mounted externally allows me to move and use the PC inside the house by swapping just a few wires, since the bundled 120volt AC power supply is still installed inside the case itself...

After serious frustration, i decided to have the box made at a local shop, as you can see they did a pretty good job, and it ran me $90. The box was designed with concealed screws, a mounting bracket in the rear, and two holes for a cable lock, which, when used, will prevent the PC from being slid out the rear of the case, while simultaneously keeping the entire case secured to the chassis of the car itself...

As far as the screen is concerned, I picked up the newly released XENARC 700TR , a touch-screen drop-down 7" VGA. This allowed me to retain my stock headunit which was something i wanted to keep

I'm using the Gyration Wireless RF Compact Keyboard & Mouse Suite....The hotkeys on top of the keyboard can be mapped to winamp actions (play/stop/next...etc).....Utilizing the GyroTools software and Winamp 5.0 Global Hotkeys option, an action like double-clicking the scroll wheel or shaking the mouse can perform actions within winamp.....very good bundled software!!

For all the emulation fans, Ive added a USB -> Playstation 2 converter, coupled with RF wireless PS2 Controllers, specifically the Pelican Chameleon. I picked up both controllers off eBay for $60 shipped. Using emulators on the PC, these controllers can be used to play console games for just about any system (PS2 controllers were always my favorite, and despite that these are third party, they look and feel exact to the original, but they lack the rumble function ....something not needed for wireless anyways)

In the back of the car, a firewire webcam (ADS Pyro 1394) sits facing out the rear window. The small box next to it is a WAAS-enabled GPS Mouse, which i picked up off ebay for around $60 shipped...

For the software, I'm using DesktopX, simply for the IconX feature, which allows you to alpha-blend and enlarge your desktop icons. Additionally, visual feedback, such as a smooth zooming (enlarging effect), or changing its transparency can be seen when touching the desktop icons. StyleXP is being used for changing the visual styles within windows (taskbar, dialog boxes, buttins, etc). Winamp 5.0 controls the music, and is shown with a skin called "LAYER ONE", in "Stick" mode.....a very easy to use skin with touchscreen friendly buttons, pop-up song notifications, and title display even if the playlist editor isnt open. It consumes the same amount of space as the winamp modern skin "Rolled up"

Any feedback/suggestions/questions/improvements are greatly appreciated!!