Audi A4 2004 1.8T S-Line Carputer

**sigol** · 10-30-2005, 11:54 AM

Hi, this is my finished carputer...

It's an Epia MII 12000 with 512 MB Ram, 300 MB HD, in a Silverstone case. It's fixed to the boot lining with velcro. The DIN sized unit at the top on the right is a Pioneer AVIC 9 DVD sat nav system, which is excellent.

The carputer has an Orange 3G/GPRS PCMCIA card in the back. I also have a Hauppage Digital TV (freeview) USB unit although I haven't got this set up at the moment (waiting for a better antenna)...

You can just about see the Belkin USB Wifi unit on the left of the parcel shelf...

In the glove box, there's a 4 port USB hub in the top left corner (fits really nicely). The touch screen, backup mouse and keyboard plug in here, along with a Bluetooth dongle. Went for a glow-in-the-dark mini keyboard (cool!!) and a trackball mouse.

Also, the standard factory fit Audi 6 play CD (single slot) is top right...

Here are a couple of shots of the centre console. The bottom monitor is a Liliput 7" touch screen and the top monitor is a Pioneer 8" wide screen ultra slim LCD (not touch). Sorry you can't see much of the liliput, but i just couldn't get a shot without a shadow or sunburst.

In the Audi, under the sterring wheel there's a small area which you can use to put your wallet or loose change, or in my case a touch-screen RoadPilot traffic camera system...

Sorry about the dirt in the boot and the carpets - I have a 2 year old boy who insists on me taking his muddy bike everywhere we go!

The nice thing about having the Pioneer Sat Nav is the fact that it's a dedicated unit that never hangs, never goes wrong and you never have to wait for it to boot up. It has the benefit of full TMC traffic info, etc.

I can watch movies on either screen becauase the Pioneer has video inputs/outputs.

Both the carputer and the Pioneer can play DVD movies and either/both screens can be used to watch.

The sound is fantastic - really bassy, etc. We had to cheat slightly in the install... To get the sound output, we had to fool the head unit in to thinking it is playing a CD from the autochanger. Therefore, there must be at least one CD in the autochanger for it to work.

There's a microswitch in the glovebox that lets me decide whether I want to listen to the carputer or the CD autochanger...

Other than that slight hiccup, I'm really happy with it. Top class!

Using Windows XP Media Centre Edition at the moment (until I decide on something better). It does the job ok although it takes a long time to load and it would have been nice if it automatically resumed playback where it left off.

Hope you like....

Best wishes

**sigol** · 10-30-2005, 12:56 PM

Here's a shot of what it looks like at night...

**GreenBeast** · 10-30-2005, 01:02 PM

how about hibernating...would speed up shutdown/startup times and with certain frontends the music resumes as soon as windows starts (my music plays before windows has come up)

**kevinlekiller** · 10-30-2005, 01:48 PM

3 screens , thats pretty original , I like it

**sigol** · 10-30-2005, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by kevinlekiller

3 screens , thats pretty original , I like it

Actually, 4 screens - got an IPAQ as well but didn't want to show off!! ;-)

**sigol** · 10-30-2005, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by GreenBeast

how about hibernating...would speed up shutdown/startup times and with certain frontends the music resumes as soon as windows starts (my music plays before windows has come up)

Hi yes, just figured out how to get hibernate working. That saves some time! Just like all other MS apps, Media Center takes ages to get going so I may well be looking for something new instead. Shame because it almost does exactly what I want.

Cheers!

**kevinlekiller** · 10-30-2005, 02:09 PM

Does the screen on top come off (for when you leave)?

**sigol** · 10-30-2005, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by kevinlekiller

Does the screen on top come off (for when you leave)?

Oh yes indeedidoo. Would never leave it on show for the cheeky little chavs to get their filthy hands on! It just clips right off.

The best bit about the sat nav is the remote control. Honestly, it's a work of art. You don't know whether to use it or frame it!

**kevinlekiller** · 10-30-2005, 02:15 PM

Did you think of putting the head unit faceplate in a sunvisor? Its not super practical in the trunk. (unless you have a reason for it being in there?)

**sigol** · 10-30-2005, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by kevinlekiller

Did you think of putting the head unit faceplate in a sunvisor? Its not super practical in the trunk. (unless you have a reason for it being in there?)

Hi. I never need to use it (only if I want to change the Sat Nav DVD - once a year at the most when new data comes out).

The SatNav remote controls eveything via the front screen's IR receiver.

Also, I rarely use the CD slot in the carputer. All my music/videos are downloaded from my desktop to the car via the Wifi.