I'm not unfamiliar to in car audio, nor computers, but this will be my first carputer.
This is my current setup
I'm going to get a new bigger car soon and want a Carputer in it. But first there are some decicions.
Windows or linux? - Windows becasue it's easier to set-up wi-fi drivers (I have a linux laptop)and I have GPS software (VIA-Michelin) which works on windows.
Motorised or fixed screen? - I've heard bad things about the mechanism not working on motorised screens, but the cars I'm looking at only have single-din slots and I'm worried about theft.
ATX or ITX?- A nice M-ATX motherboard would be great because I could have dedicated graphics and it's cheaper for more performance, but ITX runs cooler and is smaller.
Onboard sound, sound card? - I know that things are so good with on-board sound these days that I probably wouldn't notice much difference. I've got a NF7-S motherboard and it sounds fantastic!
Head-unit? - Do I need one? I could get a TV card and use that for radio, but do they pick up RDS? Would a Digital TV card be better?
DVD-Rom drive uin the dash? - How long can an IDE cable be? Ideally the carputer would be i the boot, but if I want a drive in the front (makes sense!) the carputer will need to be nearer the front.
5.1/music? - How should I run speakers? - I doubt I'd put in the sub, but I have my 10" sub already if I wanted a kick. How would I run 5.1 for DVD's and then use all the speakers for listening to stereo music? Feeding 5.1 into amps and then controlling it through softwre I assume?
That's all I can think of at the moment, what are your opinions oh modding gods
Rob