I'm the proud owner of a new Acura TL w/ built in navigation. I installed an aftermarket video selector & put a switch on the dashboard to switch between factory nav and aux-video.
So, next step is putting in the CarPC. It's a relatively simple install because I'm not doing any mods to the dash (except the selector switch) or putting in a screen. (yes, text is not readable on the factory screen, but any frontend software designed for TV viewing is fine)
What I currently have
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- A spare laptop (Dell Latitude D600) wating to go in, and ordered one of the laptop-auto-on modules found in the power supplies forum.
- A universal auto/air/wall adaptor w/ a tip for my laptop (it's a Kensington 120W) that works through the cigarette lighter.
My questions/problems are:
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1. How to power the laptop.
I really want to just use the cigarette lighter, but I've seen numerous cautions against doing so. However, I THINK I will be OK, since this is just a laptop & I don't have to power a screen?
I would like to tap into the fuse block using a mini Add-a-Circuit found at AutoZone, and wire in a new Cigarette power outlet to the trunk, where I'll connect universal power adaptor to the laptop. This is to avoid tapping into any existing wires, which I know is a bad idea.
2. Noise on my screen.
I've tested my setup by connecting the laptop's video out to my screen & everything is great when the laptop is running on battery. However, when I power the laptop by plugging into the center console or dash power outlet, I get wavvy horizontal lines on my screen. I have no idea how to fix this.
Please help a newbie!!!
