Welcome!
You've spotted the right thread right out of the box! Congratulations!
With the recent influx of individuals becoming interested in the whole CarPC hobby, I've decided (with the help of a select few individuals listed blow) to start this thread to help you out.
This site exists for the sole purpose of helping YOU to help yourself. There are thousands of us out there, just like yourself, who had the wild idea at one point in time to put a PC in our rides (or boats, or planes, or what have you). We all share at least one thing in common, we found this place. Well, that and a bit of geekyness too...lol
Anywho, I've compiled a few basic questions that seem to come up over and over in this forum. Things that most newcomers seem to think of right off the bat but are unsure where to go for answers, or, even to help themselves find those answers.
I've taken the time to write out some VERY BASIC outlines here for you. Click on the links and explore.
Many of us who have been successful in implementing our CarPCs have spent months reading and posting questions before we ever started to consider buying products. I suggest you do the same...well, at least read up quite a bit before purchasing...you might be a quicker learner than some of us...hehe
Aighty - so here's what I have so far, if you're a noob and would like to see something else answered, feel free to ask. If we feel it's been a question that has come up quite often, we'll include it in here. If you're an old timer, that sees an error, or would like to add, feel free, lets just try and keep this thread on topic and free of discussions if possible.
How can I get the most out of the mp3car.com forums?
The mp3car forums are a wealth of information about putting a computer in your vehicle there are some subforums for specific information that are very useful:
- Mp3car.com forum rules: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/announcement.php?f=12
The Administrators and moderators use these as a guideline. Violation of these rules is dealt with swiftly, but fairly. Please read them. Please note that some subforums have their own sets of rules that are included as a stickey post at the top of each forum. These are in addition to the general forum guidelines. The two subforums that have specific rules are FAQ Emporium and Review Palace. The Review Palace is also moderated, meaning that any posts in that subforum will not be visible until approved by a moderator or admin.
- Forum etiquette: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=66940
This is a set of guidelines to follow to help keep the peace here at these forums. It's mostly common sense and courtesy. This should apply not only here at mp3car.com, but at any forum or bulletin board.
- FAQ Emporium: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=106.
A lot of people have put a lot of effort into compiling information about many different topics related to carPCs. Many of us old-timers have that forum bookmarked for easy access. We ask that you not post questions in the FAQ Emporium, as it's meant to be a source for answers. If you have a question that doesn't have an answer, feel free to ask it in the appropriate forum.
Alternately, you can go to the forum's main FAQ, which has links to a lot of informative post. They both get you pretty much to the same storehouse of information. Forum FAQ: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/faq.php
- Show Off Your Project: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=25
This forum is for finished and functiona carPC projects. It's not to show off your ride's before pictures or post a worklog.
There is a subforum for worklogs here: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=84
Feel free to add your worklog and keep everyone updated on your progress. It's also a good place to look for procedures or methods for accomplishing specific tasks, as most members include lots of photos.
- The Classifieds: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/vbclassified.php
If you have something you have for sale or something you're looking for, please post it here. Links to ebay auctions are welcome, as are offers to barter. Please title your ad appropriately.</br>There are specific rules for the classifieds. Please read them before posting any classified ad.
- Search the forums: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/search.php
If you can't find any threads that relate to what you're looking for, search any or all subforums to locate information. This isn't a guide on how to search effectively, but the key is to break down your seach into keywords. Be forewarned that if you're too specific with your keywords and you may exclude threads with helpful information. Conversely, if you're not specific enough, you'll get a lot of results that have nothing to do with your subject.One last note about searching these forums: For common topics and questions, you're likely to get a lot of results with little or no information. There are a lot of reasons this happens and is explained in detail here
- Search the forums: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/search.php
If you can't find any threads that relate to what you're looking for, search any or all subforums to locate information. This isn't a guide on how to search effectively, but the key is to break down your seach into keywords.
Be forewarned that if you're too specific with your keywords and you may exclude threads with helpful information. Conversely, if you're not specific enough, you'll get a lot of results that have nothing to do with your subject.
One last note about searching these forums: For common topics and questions, you're likely to get a lot of results with little or no information. There are a lot of reasons this happens and is explained in detail here: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=53307