MP3Car.com - View Single Post - HP 12.1" touchscreen tablet w/killer specs for ~$800!!

OstrichSak · 01-12-2008, 10:23 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by turbocad6

oh, never played with an hp tablet

what your talking about with taking it apart & extending the wires & building everything in to the dash is very doable, but if you don't have some experience & pretty good fabrication skills & the resources this can be a big undertaking. do you have any experience with that kind of stuff? a good example of this kind of install is in my signature:"modded infiniti fx with big screen"

if you take apart a tablet & embed it in your dash, I think that makes a great carpc, but if your looking for easy I don't know if I'd really suggest that route. extending many modern ribbon cables can be a huge pain & sometimes is not even possible without specialized equipment & custom plugs, this can be a big problem. I usually try to work within the stock cables reach, & have always found a way to make that work. again, a good example of that is in my install. I've done this over 5 times with different cars, extending the cables is a last resort with some cable designs. the gateways & dells are easy to extend & the Fujitsu's are almost impossible. the older toughbooks were easy to extend...

sometimes you really don't know what your up against till you buy it & crack it open. this stuff is very delicate too BTW.

the biggest thing I'd have against the tablet you choose is the screen. definitely look for a tablet with an indoor/outdoor screen. motion, Fujitsu, panasonics & a few others all make them. this should be the #1 criteria you should use in choosing a tablet. a slow tablet with a great screen will make a better carpc than a fast feature packed one that you won't be able to use during the day.

your budget is pretty low... & not a lot of spare time don't sound too good either... if your not going to be able to dedicate the time & energy & resources needed to pull something like this off I'd say really reconsider what it is you really want to do. sticking a 7" screen & a used cheaper laptop shoved somewhere may make more sense, & modular means that latter when your budget improves you can upgrade it piece by piece

Thanks for taking the time to post. That all made a lot of sense to me and I'm afraid that that could be out of my time/skill constraints. Not to mention ideally I would like to keep the total budget under the price of just the HP posted here. Lastly, this would be going into a 1995 Toyota Supra with a targa top that is NEVER in the car so being able to see it in bright light is a huge factor since it almost always would be. Might not be a bad idea to back burner this whole idea once again (like I have so many times now over the years) and try again when I have more time.

Out of curiosity, if I were to go the route you suggested with an entry level PC and decent 7 or 8 inch monitor, what are some parts you guys would suggest going with?

01-12-2008, 10:23 PM	#9
OstrichSak Newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 8	Quote: Originally Posted by turbocad6 oh, never played with an hp tablet what your talking about with taking it apart & extending the wires & building everything in to the dash is very doable, but if you don't have some experience & pretty good fabrication skills & the resources this can be a big undertaking. do you have any experience with that kind of stuff? a good example of this kind of install is in my signature:"modded infiniti fx with big screen" if you take apart a tablet & embed it in your dash, I think that makes a great carpc, but if your looking for easy I don't know if I'd really suggest that route. extending many modern ribbon cables can be a huge pain & sometimes is not even possible without specialized equipment & custom plugs, this can be a big problem. I usually try to work within the stock cables reach, & have always found a way to make that work. again, a good example of that is in my install. I've done this over 5 times with different cars, extending the cables is a last resort with some cable designs. the gateways & dells are easy to extend & the Fujitsu's are almost impossible. the older toughbooks were easy to extend... sometimes you really don't know what your up against till you buy it & crack it open. this stuff is very delicate too BTW. the biggest thing I'd have against the tablet you choose is the screen. definitely look for a tablet with an indoor/outdoor screen. motion, Fujitsu, panasonics & a few others all make them. this should be the #1 criteria you should use in choosing a tablet. a slow tablet with a great screen will make a better carpc than a fast feature packed one that you won't be able to use during the day. your budget is pretty low... & not a lot of spare time don't sound too good either... if your not going to be able to dedicate the time & energy & resources needed to pull something like this off I'd say really reconsider what it is you really want to do. sticking a 7" screen & a used cheaper laptop shoved somewhere may make more sense, & modular means that latter when your budget improves you can upgrade it piece by piece Thanks for taking the time to post. That all made a lot of sense to me and I'm afraid that that could be out of my time/skill constraints. Not to mention ideally I would like to keep the total budget under the price of just the HP posted here. Lastly, this would be going into a 1995 Toyota Supra with a targa top that is NEVER in the car so being able to see it in bright light is a huge factor since it almost always would be. Might not be a bad idea to back burner this whole idea once again (like I have so many times now over the years) and try again when I have more time. Out of curiosity, if I were to go the route you suggested with an entry level PC and decent 7 or 8 inch monitor, what are some parts you guys would suggest going with?