My 2006 Scion xB (portable) Carputer setup! w/pics!

**gabureiru.** · 01-31-2006, 03:01 PM

Look awsome, great idea in make it removable. What stand are you using on the pics???

**breaker021** · 01-31-2006, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by gabureiru.

Look awsome, great idea in make it removable. What stand are you using on the pics???

I'm not using any laptop stand in the pics. the xB has a little compartment which has a door in the front of it - if you refer to my paint drawing, i labelled it xB cubby. I open up the cubby and have the laptop resting between the cubby opening (where my laptop power supply "brick" is) and the cubby door itself! i am looking for a temp way to have this laptop "press against" the dash board firmly - that's what i described in the pic with the red lines below and around the screen of my laptop.

As someone here mentioned, i may even consider using velcro TEMPORARILY until i get my mount built - this is the mount referred to at the end of my original post w/pics.

**yamathegreat** · 01-31-2006, 05:46 PM

um really? y not get a docking station in the trunk and put a small keyboard and a 7 inch in the dash? done right the dash would still 'look' stock and if you needed the space in the trunk just pop out the laptop i know this is WAY more work but the end product would be so much cleaner. i dono if youve considered this but in a few months the laptop on the dash will start to drive you nuts. you have the intrest to put a computer in the car and at that point youll prolly want to clean it up anyway.
just my cents
-jeff

**breaker021** · 02-01-2006, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by yamathegreat

um really? y not get a docking station in the trunk and put a small keyboard and a 7 inch in the dash? done right the dash would still 'look' stock and if you needed the space in the trunk just pop out the laptop i know this is WAY more work but the end product would be so much cleaner. i dono if youve considered this but in a few months the laptop on the dash will start to drive you nuts. you have the intrest to put a computer in the car and at that point youll prolly want to clean it up anyway.
just my cents
-jeff

I just feel like any physical change in the front/dash area of my car is a welcome sign for thieves to break in. This is why I wanted to leave the dash absolutely stock for this setup.

It would definitely be cleaner. And I'm sure an in dash screen (with proper long bezel) would not cause glare like the glare i get with the laptop. The other thing is that I didn't want to run wires around the car - well, not too many anyway >=)

The other reason why this solution works for me: I live in the Manhattan and my car is in another borough. I am away from my car 5 days at a time and the only time i need it is on saturdays and sundays! This is why I can't leave my carwith a carputer inside - i dont want anyone touching my precious whip! hahaha.... While, yes, it sucks to remove/"install" the laptop everytime i get in and out of the car, i keep that to a minimum. I dont do grocery runs, I don't do errands, etc with my car. I bought it for "long trips" (washington dc, atlantic city, new hampshire runs)... so this is an inconvenience, but not so bad for me in my situation...

**AWDNUT** · 02-01-2006, 09:54 PM

Holey crap.. I was expecting a stream of like 50 people mocking this guy for such a non-mod.. You guys are so sweet.. Or the mods are totally in control! Hahaha!

Some constructive critisim.. Some thieves aren't that smart (smart people can get jobs and earn a living) and they are likely to think that laptop is still worth a bazillion $$$ and smash your window to take it. Either you're going through the hassle of swaping it in and out every single time you get in and out of the car, or you're making a compromise towards security.

Also the way it's setup right now could be seen as a road hazard by a police officer doing road checks. All those wires and the unit looking so poorly secured could be dangerous. Anything you can do to improve it's mounting will also make it more secure and avoid unwanted concern from police.

You do realize that you're only a few hundred $$ from attaching a touch screen LCD and having a totally secure carpc?

**silveralt** · 02-01-2006, 10:32 PM

A few hundred isn't as easy to come by sometimes

**breaker021** · 02-02-2006, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by AWDNUT

You do realize that you're only a few hundred $$ from attaching a touch screen LCD and having a totally secure carpc?

regarding the lcd screen, i built a carputer (with xenarc 7" touchscreen) for my hummer h2 but never installed it and thank god i didnt! i was at a macys, and i came out and someone had broken into my hummer, opened the glove compartment and center console and threw everything around my car. ******* assholes. if i had the carputer in there, that **** would have been gone like the wind.

ps - This isn't a mod - more or less the pics and description of what im doing. i am not expecting a mod of the year award, so i know, this isn't a mod.

Uh Uh Uh, You didn't say the magic word !

**scott_fx** · 02-04-2006, 03:07 AM

Originally Posted by AWDNUT

Holey crap.. I was expecting a stream of like 50 people mocking this guy for such a non-mod.. You guys are so sweet.. Or the mods are totally in control! Hahaha!

i'm shocked too.

is that safe though? how do you control your front end?

i guess if i were you; constructive crit, i would just forget the idea of having a screen in your car until you have the money to do it correctly. for now if you get gridder and a text lcd display (they are like $15 on ebay) and way to control it (maybe griffen powermate?) you can have a functional car-computer that is clean and oem looking. if you absolutely need to have a screen (maybe for gps) you can get a used non touchscreen for dirt cheap.

**partyharty** · 04-10-2006, 12:38 AM

Originally Posted by scott_fx

is that safe though? how do you control your front end?

i guess if i were you; constructive crit, i would just forget the idea of having a screen in your car until you have the money to do it correctly.

I currently do the same thing (laptop in car with a built in stand). Safe, well its about as safe as having a touchscreen built into the car, I use a 10 key number pad to control my song list and what not (so its not necessary to actually look when I am changing songs.

As for cops hassling you about it, This is a very real possibility although if they were going to mess with you over this. they were going to mess with you about something else anyways. I have had several cops that have seen my setup and have not had any issues about it. Technically depending on the laws in your area its not illegal to have them in your car (wither its a laptop on a stand or built into the car) however they can always write a citation for "unsafe driving" (which is pretty much always at the officers descretion).

Basically what I am trying to say here is this works for this guy so why tell him he needs to forget about a screen until he has the money to do it "correctly" (by the way what is correct? and who decides it?). I have a similar setup and I had similar requirements for my carputer; I wanted the install to be removable (and reversible), and I did not want my dash screwed up. Also I didnt want to pay an extra few hundred dollars for a lcd (when I had a perfectly good one on the laptop that I dedicated to my carputer).

Remember there is a lot more than 1 way to put a computer in a car

and most of them are "correct", or mabey not I dunno.

c-ya
Chris

**breaker021** · 04-10-2006, 10:28 AM

Thanks for the good words, Chris. Just an FYI - I switched to a tablet PC and have a new thread about that here:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show-off-your-project/73500-06-scion-xb-tablet-in-the-box-post794222.html

I just updated that thread with night-shots that i took this weekend. They're not the best nightshots but, regardless, you can see why I'm grinning ear to ear. 12" screen (or bigger) by the driver = priceless!

About the cops - you're absolutely right - they're going to hassle you (or shoot you) about something else anyways. my thing is - if I am being pulled over, im going to hold the power button on my laptop and turn it off and tell the cop i only use it when im not driving. if the cops swears he saw something like a light, i'll tell him maybe it was a glare or something...

that's when you'll hear the shots being fired! lol - just kidding everyone@!
- sh00k

- sh00k