has anyone hardwired a laptop to thier car? what i mean is..

ZoomBy · 03-16-2009, 07:13 PM

...has anyone seperated the monitor of a laptop from the keyboard section and then just extended the monitor cables to the keyboard section mounted under thier seat/trunk/etc?

hopefully you understand what im trying to describe. what i want to do is get an acer one netbook....apply the touchscreen kit....mold the monitor into my cars dashboard and mount the pc portion of the netbook under my passenger seat. Is that a possible option?

does any company make cables that would extend a laptops monitor? is it possible to extend the touchscreen add on kit as well?

PaulF · 03-16-2009, 07:20 PM

The touch screen kit's wires should just be USB so that should be pretty easy to extend.
The monitor on the other hand.... you may need to just solder wires together to make the cable longer. I would probably use some Cat 6 Ethernet cable to do it. There may be a longer cable you can purchase though so I'd wait for some more responses. I doubt it would be long enough for what you want to do though.

rodweb · 03-16-2009, 10:45 PM

Have a look at my worklog (follow link in my signature bleow) for a similar setup to what you propose. I used a Xenarc 706TSA monitor that had a separate controller box that is mounted back with the laptop with a 5 metre interconnect cable to the dash.

The Xenarc handles up to 24 volts, so based on advice from Xenearc tech support, I uesed the regulated 19 volts from my Opus to power my HP laptop and the monitor.

I had to mount a USB hub under the dash to get my GPS receiver (under the windscreen wipers in front of the windscreen) to work as the 4.5 metre ccable was too long (even though it was within the USB spec).

Do your homework on the monitor, mine went back for a warranty repair (faulty input box).

Bugbyte · 03-16-2009, 11:31 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by ZoomBy

...has anyone seperated the monitor of a laptop from the keyboard section and then just extended the monitor cables to the keyboard section mounted under thier seat/trunk/etc?

hopefully you understand what im trying to describe. what i want to do is get an acer one netbook....apply the touchscreen kit....mold the monitor into my cars dashboard and mount the pc portion of the netbook under my passenger seat. Is that a possible option?

does any company make cables that would extend a laptops monitor? is it possible to extend the touchscreen add on kit as well?

If you mean to extend the Acer's monitor, it is a bit more difficult than you may think.

Most laptop monitors use LVDS, not VGA. The chips that drive the monitor are designed specifically for the laptop itself. You can't simply open up the laptop and expect to see a VGA port on the bottom of the monitor. It will look more like a plastic ribbon cable.

I have seen (quite a few years ago) a case where someone extended the LVDS but it requires soldering extension wires to the laptop and screen. There are concerns about how far the wires can be extended without interference.

That said, it may be easier for you to buy a VGA monitor and plug it into the laptop's VGA port and extend it that way.

ZoomBy · 03-17-2009, 10:37 AM

thanks for the replys. Im not really to concerned with having to make my own longer lvds. I dont think it will be too hard - just have to solder in some extra wires (if i understand that correctly)

has anyone done that? i did some searching and it looks like there was a guy on here who confirmed that as long as you dont extend the back light there shouldnt be too much of a prolem, but his thread for his buildup no longer has working pictures

Bugbyte · 03-17-2009, 01:15 PM

Did you see this thread on using a laptop monitor in the car?

ZoomBy · 03-17-2009, 03:11 PM

no i did not see that thread, im checking it out now, thanks

turbocad6 · 03-24-2009, 02:50 PM

I've done what your proposing several times including my latest install, but I keep the laptop or tablet motherboard also in the dash or in the immediate vicinity of the screen... the netbook is small, why can't you just install it behind the screen? so much easier. extending lvds is very tricky & very susceptible to interference, only do it if you have to & keep it to a minimum, also, some laptops are much easier to extend than others, many modern ribbon cables are almost impossible to extend... if it is extendable cat5 is a good cable to use in twisted pairs for each lvds channel... again, extending sucessfully is very tricky...

sargeants · 04-23-2009, 10:43 PM

I've extended my video cable for my tablet PC that I'm using in my car.
it's functioning fine, just a damn lot of wires to extend.... that's the task and a half.
cat5 cable works wonders, just a bit larger gauge wire than what was originally used.

I'm re-fabbing things, but has been working flawlessly as a touchscreen in the car for about 2 weeks now... can't say the same about my skinning and temp power solution

GizmoQ · 04-23-2009, 11:24 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by sargeants

I've extended my video cable for my tablet PC that I'm using in my car.
it's functioning fine, just a damn lot of wires to extend.... that's the task and a half.
cat5 cable works wonders, just a bit larger gauge wire than what was originally used.

I'm re-fabbing things, but has been working flawlessly as a touchscreen in the car for about 2 weeks now... can't say the same about my skinning and temp power solution

I know I've been out of the loop lately, but I thought the TC4400 had an electromagnetic pen to the Tablet XP standard, i.e., "pen-enabled" not a touchscreen. BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!!! Please correct me if I'm wrong.

sargeants · 04-24-2009, 07:50 AM

no... you're right...it's pen driven
maybe I like to convince myself that it's better than it really is

I do plan on taking a look at one of those Fujitsu's and seeing if the touch interface can actually just be rigged up to USB and using that.

GizmoQ · 04-24-2009, 04:50 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by sargeants

no... you're right...it's pen driven
maybe I like to convince myself that it's better than it really is

I do plan on taking a look at one of those Fujitsu's and seeing if the touch interface can actually just be rigged up to USB and using that.

I only mentioned it cause I'd hate to hear some noob read this thread, ran out and bought one and was sorely disappointed to find out he couldn't use his finger on the screen. Gotta stress correct terminology around here, Enforcer is watching.

vdubvan · 05-08-2009, 11:17 AM

I have just picked up an Asus 901 for cheap on eBay and I'm planning on doing just this. But I'm not extending the monitor cables, simply housing the computer behind the monitor and disconnecting the hinges and turning it around behind a bezel.

My main reason for doing this is I'm planning on running a second screen so I figured it was one of the cheaper dual monitor solutions.

This is my first post, btw, and if anyone can see problems with this setup please let me know. I will be using the touchscreen kit for the primary and a second touchscreen monitor (which I've yet to decide which kind) for the secondary, in mirror mode.

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