The future of carputer, especially self made one?

arkadiyp · 06-28-2004, 08:44 PM

I am just curious and not trying to start a flame war. There are some pretty decent units available from major manufacturer's. These units are not carputers, but they do most jobs that a carputer is designed to do. For example take Pioneer's Avic-N1 system. DVD/MP3/WMA playback, navigation, touchscreen, remote, and now they even added vehicle telematics. I am also almost positive that you can modify the look and feel of it. So what does a carputer have on a unit like this?

On the other hand clarion did develop a full fledged carputer, except I cannot find specs on it.

hihidamon · 06-28-2004, 09:00 PM

This is like going for dinner at that famous restaraunt, or stay home and cook yourself (usually cheaper), where you can really "customise" your dinner menu to SUIT your taste. Well.. I mean as long as you are good at cooking... otherwise spend all that money on the Alpine.

god_of_cpu · 06-28-2004, 09:07 PM

The Avic is good, but is about 3 times the price of a comparable computer and still has no where near the capability of a general purpose computer. They do have a usability and ease of installation advantage at the current point in time, but that should be solved eventually by better software and more carputer specific PC hardware, i.e. more Xenarc/OPUS/ITX type of things.

The clarion was based on windows CE automotive edition, had very little power, didn't normally have a screen and was very expensive. All that being said, I think its failure was due more to poor marketing though then technical capability.

My carputer only cost a grand, is siginficantly more powerful then an AV-Nic looks way better with my directX interface and tons of visualizations, can do things like relay controls, war driving, WiFi uploading support for every media file format that a desktop has, very easy upgradability, I can cheaply and easily tie it into things like my steering wheel controls and OBD II port, wireless internet, and virtually unlimited potential to what it can do and its not limited by laws or manufacturer desires.

yunusyu · 06-28-2004, 09:38 PM

the reason I started thinkign of building a pc is because of the winamp visualizations! The poineer does not have games, or email

NoPistonPC · 06-28-2004, 10:32 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by god_of_cpu

The Avic is good, but is about 3 times the price of a comparable computer and still has no where near the capability of a general purpose computer. They do have a usability and ease of installation advantage at the current point in time, but that should be solved eventually by better software and more carputer specific PC hardware, i.e. more Xenarc/OPUS/ITX type of things.

The clarion was based on windows CE automotive edition, had very little power, didn't normally have a screen and was very expensive. All that being said, I think its failure was due more to poor marketing though then technical capability.

My carputer only cost a grand, is siginficantly more powerful then an AV-Nic looks way better with my directX interface and tons of visualizations, can do things like relay controls, war driving, WiFi uploading support for every media file format that a desktop has, very easy upgradability, I can cheaply and easily tie it into things like my steering wheel controls and OBD II port, wireless internet, and virtually unlimited potential to what it can do and its not limited by laws or manufacturer desires.

Very well put.

Dluvr22 · 06-29-2004, 12:56 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by god_of_cpu

The Avic is good, but is about 3 times the price of a comparable computer and still has no where near the capability of a general purpose computer. They do have a usability and ease of installation advantage at the current point in time, but that should be solved eventually by better software and more carputer specific PC hardware, i.e. more Xenarc/OPUS/ITX type of things.

The clarion was based on windows CE automotive edition, had very little power, didn't normally have a screen and was very expensive. All that being said, I think its failure was due more to poor marketing though then technical capability.

My carputer only cost a grand, is siginficantly more powerful then an AV-Nic looks way better with my directX interface and tons of visualizations, can do things like relay controls, war driving, WiFi uploading support for every media file format that a desktop has, very easy upgradability, I can cheaply and easily tie it into things like my steering wheel controls and OBD II port, wireless internet, and virtually unlimited potential to what it can do and its not limited by laws or manufacturer desires.

My thoughts exactly

brandon · 06-29-2004, 01:02 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by arkadiyp

So what does a carputer have on a unit like this?

pr0n! And lots of it!
Seriously, anyone with money can have someone install a high-dollar propretary piece of work such as what you listed.
But not everyone can build their own from scratch, using the components they want, with the aesthetics they want, and be happy with what they have.
This is like asking a person who built his 1963 GTO from the ground up why he didn't just go out and buy a Viper.
What I plan on doing with my carputer I doubt any of the major manufacturers of car audio will ever design, and if they do I'll have 50% of the money they are charging left in my pocket to enjoy other things in life.... plus I'll have bragging rights! And I bet to alot of us on these forums, this is worth more than anything Pioneer or Clarion can offer.

arkadiyp · 06-29-2004, 06:48 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by brandon

pr0n! And lots of it!
Seriously, anyone with money can have someone install a high-dollar propretary piece of work such as what you listed.
But not everyone can build their own from scratch, using the components they want, with the aesthetics they want, and be happy with what they have.

Well its not really that high priced compared to how much money people spend here on their ideas, but functionality differs.

Quote: Originally Posted by brandon

This is like asking a person who built his 1963 GTO from the ground up why he didn't just go out and buy a Viper.
What I plan on doing with my carputer I doubt any of the major manufacturers of car audio will ever design, and if they do I'll have 50% of the money they are charging left in my pocket to enjoy other things in life.... plus I'll have bragging rights! And I bet to alot of us on these forums, this is worth more than anything Pioneer or Clarion can offer.

I see your point there.

Marsupial · 06-29-2004, 10:01 AM

Also... a big point of building it yourself is... building it yourself.

I mean, I could have a TIVO, I still prefer having a homebuilt HTPC...

its something to build, its a hobby, its interesting and on top of that it does more for less.

brrman · 06-29-2004, 10:20 AM

The self made carputer is for the person who likes to do things himself. The person who can;t stand to see someone else do something for them, and then have to pay for it, especially when they can do it themselves. Especially when they can do it the way they want it. The satisfaction I get from modding my own car (carputer, or anything else) is huge. The fact that I can say I did it all myself is something most people marvel at, because on average most people can;t even change a tire.

There's nothing wrong with buying a premade system. It all depends on what type of person you are. But don't knock the peeps that make their own. It's these people that got the carputer rolling in the first place.

eugenen · 06-29-2004, 04:42 PM

The assembled desktop/home pc isn't a dead market despite the fact that Dell, Compaq, whomever all sell premade pc's. There will always be someone who wants better.

bblackRVR · 06-29-2004, 06:20 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by god_of_cpu

The clarion was based on windows CE automotive edition, had very little power, didn't normally have a screen and was very expensive. All that being said, I think its failure was due more to poor marketing though then technical capability.

Clarion has a much better version for the Japan domestic market. It's still WinCE but nicely and aesthetically integrated. Wish we could get the case and screen

http://www.clarion.co.jp/english/technology/cadias.cfm

Cris · 06-29-2004, 06:28 PM

About the ones that have developt a business out of carputers, does anyone know if they are succesfull? The reason I'm asking this, is becouse I've seen units already made, and they seem prety overpriced (almost twice as much).

craashmann · 06-29-2004, 08:14 PM

I'm actually considering installing carputers for people that can't do it themselves. I own a small computer business anyways and since people have been seeing mine they want one, but don't have the technical know-how... Only thing is, mine will all be customized installs, not a boxed system.

Also, mine will be moderately priced instead of outrageous. I like doing it. That's the reason I'd get into it. There's no need to charge 2000-3000 dollars for something that you could build for 500. Corporate greed... /sigh

mhorton · 06-29-2004, 09:38 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by eugenen

The assembled desktop/home pc isn't a dead market despite the fact that Dell, Compaq, whomever all sell premade pc's. There will always be someone who wants better.

That's true. It is getting hard to build a system for less than a Dell, etc, but I would still build my own just for the fact that I can choose the motherboard, video card, etc rather than an unknown motherboard with cheap integrated video.