tigergibb

I've been planning my CarPC lately.. so I got this idea. Instead of buying a lilliput 7" LCD which I can't really afford right now, why not use my very old Palm Vx to control Winamp? So I did. I hooked it up and downloaded the Palm Desktop software off of www.palm.com. I then went to www.winamp.com to search for a plugin for my Palm. I clicked plug-ins then portable devices. I found this great app.. it's called touchamp:

http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details.php?id=146768

It works great. After installing it with Palm Desktop, I had to shut down the syncronizer to free up COM PORT 1. I then ran Winamp and opened the app on my Palm. The app works great. The hard buttons are great for easy navigation. no stylus needed. i just use my fingernails if im touching the screen and fingers on the hard buttons.

I'm going to set this up on a CarPC with the following for a budget system in a 2003 Nissan Xterra 2WD:
mp3car rca cables - $8
opus 150w psu - $140
alpine amp - free
palm vx - free
400mhz, 96mb, 250gb computer - free
total - $148

i was going to use an inverter, but would rather not have all the crap that comes along in installing that.

tigergibb

Here's the picture of it running on my desk:

thatkidbob

hmm... creative...

the main problems i see would be related to getting the palm to start up with the computer and keeping it charged... have you thought of solutions for these yet?

__________________
'94 Honda Accord EX Sedan
.2 Kicker L7 12's
[4 cubes NET @ 35hz w/56^2 port]
.RF 225.2

tigergibb

i have an area under the stock radio where i can sit the cradle. i was goingt o make a new faceplate for it to fill in the empty space. i haven't gone so far for charging.. maybe i'll have to run an inverter. if i run an inverter just for the pda will it induce any noise into the sound system?

billmee

Good post, I heard about people using old palms and really long serial cables to control there music library from other rooms.

Check out palm VNC.
http://palmvnc2.free.fr/

I used palm vnc until I had the cash for a lili. It allows you to see the pc screen and use the touch as a mouse. If you upgrade to a PDA with a thumbboard it will work too.

As for the cradle, I mount mine right to the dashboard.

I've used an inverter for 2 years no noise.
good grounding is crucial

Power the pda off the pc or dc-dc or what ever you end up with.
What is the output voltage of the palm wall wart?

tigergibb

On the transformer:
Input: 120VAC 20 HZ 0.1A
Output: 4.1 VDC 0.4A
.......... 6.0 VDC 0.1A

That's all I know about the power requirements. I'm not really sure how I would power that. 12Watts of electricity is nothing . Say i did a DC-DC power supply. Should I :

a) cut off the end of one of those cheap 50W cigarette lighter inverters and hardware it with an inline fuse or spliced in
b) wire it to the computer?? how? dc-ac or some other modification?
c) a bigger inverter?

i'll keep searching, but i would greatly appreciate any help.