Asus $400 UMPC..perfect laptop install? - Page 2

tigergibb · 01-30-2008, 07:10 PM

there are plenty of people who use carputers without touchscreens. you can mount tactile buttons for your primary features like song changing, volume, gps, ect.. with a serial port connector and girder.

my touchscreen died and mp3car refuses to help without me spending hundreds of dollars for their 'repair' services, when i can just get a whole new lilliput for $260. the screen still works, but when it won't calibrate and when i touch it, the curser goes to the corner. nevertheless, i am now using a $12 touchpad from ebay.... not the safest thing when driving, but i dont interact with my carpc a lot while im driving anyway. im considering making tacticle buttons and soldering a serial connector to do my common features.

parksgm · 01-30-2008, 10:28 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by tigergibb

there are plenty of people who use carputers without touchscreens. you can mount tactile buttons for your primary features like song changing, volume, gps, ect.. with a serial port connector and girder.

my touchscreen died and mp3car refuses to help without me spending hundreds of dollars for their 'repair' services, when i can just get a whole new lilliput for $260. the screen still works, but when it won't calibrate and when i touch it, the curser goes to the corner. nevertheless, i am now using a $12 touchpad from ebay.... not the safest thing when driving, but i dont interact with my carpc a lot while im driving anyway. im considering making tacticle buttons and soldering a serial connector to do my common features.

Uh, why not just buy a new touchscreen for $40 or so and install it yourself...it's not complicated, and it would be quite a bit faster than fabbing buttons.

...and with regard to the eeePC, one could simply buy a usb touchscreen touch panel (again, for $40 or so) of the appropriate size and mount it over the existing screen. Problem solved!

bling23 · 01-31-2008, 12:06 AM

whats a 40$ touchscreen?
the cheapest i see is a lilliput 7" for about 200 on ebay

Punky · 01-31-2008, 09:26 AM

he means touchscreen controller + overlay, which is probally around 70 not 40... but still a lot cheaper.

FusionFanatic · 01-31-2008, 11:51 AM

if the cursor moves itself into the corner then the touchpanel is pressing against the screen bezel. this is very easy to fix and won't cost you anything!... you may be able to fix it just by pushing that corner in so that it's not pressing against the screen bezel. if that doesn't work then you'll have to open it up and loosen the screw that holds the screen in that corner.

parksgm · 01-31-2008, 12:17 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Punky

he means touchscreen controller + overlay, which is probally around 70 not 40... but still a lot cheaper.

Nope, I just mean the touchscreen overlay...no reason to buy a new controller when the old one is likely still good, and the new overlay will plug right in.

I think ComputerGeek is probably correct though...either the bezel is pressing on the touchscreen or some small piece of dirt/dust has wedged itself between the touchscreen and the bezel. Either problem could be readily diagnosed by removing the bezel (or even just loosening the case screws a bit and pushing the screen away from the bezel.

Most likely there's no reason to buy an entire unit.

p309 · 02-05-2008, 08:29 AM

Hi! New to the forum here, but I have been browsing quite a bit.
I recently put this Asus eeepc in my Honda, it works. I've got a USB GPS puck, and a WD Passport hard drive plugged in, and running an early version of IGuidance for mapping.
I'm new to this car pc thing, but I have been learning a lot from this particular forum!

FusionFanatic · 02-11-2008, 09:46 AM

getting back on topic...

a company called Incipio now makes a car (cig lighter) PSU for the EeePC and this site below sells it for $24.99

http://www.myincipio.com/c=20yMag4vl...PC_Series.html

if this looks like it wouldn't be enough, remember the EeePC only uses 9.5v@2.3a max

p309 · 02-11-2008, 06:20 PM

As I posted earlier, I've had great success with the eeepc as a GPS system, and it's cool having a pc in the car. I thought I would take advantage of the mp3's that I have on the Western Digital USB drive, by piping them thru the vehicle head unit via an FM transmitter. This doesn't work very well. I get good results from an MP3 player, but not from the eeepc. A whole lot of static, reduced volume, and just general noise. Not usable. I wonder what's causing this? The eeepc speakers are fine, and so is a set of headphones from the audio out jack, but not the FM Transmitters (I've tried 2 different models).
Any ideas, anyone?

pancit175 · 02-11-2008, 06:33 PM

p309,

Please dont hijack the OP thread. You may have similar components but not the same problems. This is a common problem when using FM trans, I would suggest either you search the threads or create your own thread for help in the "car audio" section.

p309 · 02-11-2008, 07:10 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by pancit175

p309,

Please dont hijack the OP thread. You may have similar components but not the same problems. This is a common problem when using FM trans, I would suggest either you search the threads or create your own thread for help in the "car audio" section.

The Original Poster's Title --Asus $400 UMPC..perfect laptop install?
To pancit175- thanks for the suggestions, but why should I make a duplicate thread in the audio section of the forum? I don't have "similar components", I have the exact same computer, regardless of the USB addons, it's the same exact PC.
And, by the way, I did do a search. There are not many results for the ASUS eeepc. Thanks for the help, anyway, even though it didn't amount to much.

parksgm · 02-12-2008, 02:31 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by p309

The Original Poster's Title --Asus $400 UMPC..perfect laptop install?
To pancit175- thanks for the suggestions, but why should I make a duplicate thread in the audio section of the forum? I don't have "similar components", I have the exact same computer, regardless of the USB addons, it's the same exact PC.
And, by the way, I did do a search. There are not many results for the ASUS eeepc. Thanks for the help, anyway, even though it didn't amount to much.

Because this thread was orginally about whether or not the feature set of the eeePC would make a good carputer, not specific problems related to using the eeePC as a car computer.

It's not just a matter of semantics...you'll probably get much more help if you'll start a thread with the title describing your problem. This forum (Laptops, Tablets, UPMCs, etc.) is probably ok, as would be the Car Audio forum.

That said, your problem might be related to interference with the FM modulator's signal from the eeePC. If you have a short (3') minijack audio cable, you could try moving the modulator away from the eeePC and see if that improves the sound. You might also try turning off any WiFi or BT radios on the laptop. Finally, consider buying a headunit that has an AUX in. The sound from either wireless or hardwired FM modulators is not great in general (although it may be sufficient for your needs), and you can get a reasonably good deal on an aftermarket headunit with AUX in online (probably <$100 if you look for clearance deals, etc....Crutchfield.com clearance section would be a good place to start).

Good luck.

p309 · 02-12-2008, 09:16 PM

@parksgm- thanks for the help. You put me on the right track. Turns out it's the Radio Shack DC to DC converter that was supplying the unwanted noise. The further away that I get it, from the eeePC, the less the noise. After I plugged it into a backseat 12v socket, the noise lessened considerably, but is still evident. With the thing not supplying power, the sound is actually pretty good. I'm not an audiophile, I guess.
I'll study and search on different methods of supplying the eeePC with external power in a vehicle. Thanks again for the suggestions.

quantum · 02-13-2008, 12:02 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by bling23

ASus EEE doesn't come with touch screen does it?
and so, how do u expect to use it as a carputer

You can get a touch screen and mod an Asus EEE to accept it. There are a bunch on e-bay right now, all from the same seller. They sell for between $35 - $65 at auction end, plus $25.00 shipping from Taiwan. The auction also has a link to a video showing a step by step install. I think it's the same dude that made that YouTube video a while back.

I don't see any reason why a 7" touchscreen and controller from the store or any of the other supply places wouldn't do the same thing. Quality and price I suppose would be the only shopping-around factor.

On a different note, I wonder if Webmaster Steve's laptop auto-on controller would fire up the EEE? I mean, I know it CAN, but did anyone try it or see if the switch circuit / soldering points are accessable on the main board? Some laptops can be tougher than others for this mod from what I've read...

outcastrc · 02-17-2008, 12:13 AM

I currently am having a blast with my Eee. I made a mount for the truck and am using a 353 puck for GPS duty. Its a bit frustrating using the touch pad but I am not playing with it when driving anyways. I have the stereo output of the laptop hooked into the auxiliary of the stereo. Works great for a temporary setup.

My end goal is when the Eee 2 or equivalent comes out with a 9" screen I will pick it up and this one gets chopped up to be put in the dash with a touchscreen overlay. Simple and effective.

Its running on a nlited xp, no pagefile and 2gb ram and I couldn't be happier with its performance. Loaded with everything I want its about a 20 second start up. I've had it much faster but ran into assorted issues not having all the components I needed to run everything I wanted (I am a nlite noob) so I was generous on this nlited disc. Ended up with a 500mb install.

Edit: I just ordered a Eee touch screen kit out of Hong Kong for it. What the heck... It willl still be in laptop form but will be one more step towards a carpc...