Newbie - Questions

husseinj3 · 11-01-2007, 09:05 AM

hey all, been looking around for a while, and finally decided to put the pc in my car, a 98 prelude.
i have a spare desktop amd 1.2 ghz, with all the stuff still in it. I was thinking of taking everything out and putting it in a nice plexiglass case, putting it in the trunk, and running a usb extension, keyboard and mouse extensions, and dvd drive to the front dash.
i found out that a need about 60w, so i need the opus 150 12v 5 rail or something like that, lol
anyways, does this mean that i have to get rid of my power supply thats in my computer right now, and will the new one have the plugs to connect to all the components in the computer?
also, since my PSU is only 260w max, can i just get an inverter, something like this, and use my PSU plugged into the inverter, thats connected to my battery, something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/BRAND-NEW-1800-35...QQcmdZViewItem

also, i heard that liliput screens start acting up after a year, is this true?
and is ebay a good place to buy a tft screen from, or should i go to a local future shop (canadian) or best buy?

RedGTiVR6 · 11-01-2007, 11:00 AM

A DC-DC PSU replaces any other PSU your computer already has.

I would recomend reading this FAQ:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/advf...iew&advfaqid=2

and this one:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/advf...iew&advfaqid=3

Why would you want to use an inverter to convert 12v DC to 120v AC to only have it converted back to 12v DC?

Regarding the screens, there's an entire sub-forum dedicated to monitors on here including some stickies for each brand of monitor. I'd really recomend reading up in there about the different monitors.

As for purchasing your monitor, why not: http://store.mp3car.com?

husseinj3 · 11-01-2007, 12:54 PM

thanks
so the new DC-DC PSU would plug into my HDD, DVD, and the rest of everything, is that right?

Nickwell24 · 11-01-2007, 12:57 PM

Yes it's just like any other power supply, you would hook into your computer. It just uses direct current rather than alternating current.

husseinj3 · 11-01-2007, 12:59 PM

thankk u
and also, can i use a monitor with s-video input and hook it up to a vga with a converter or something?
will i get less picture quality?
anddd
my car has a swapped engine, and is OBDI, is there any way to connect it to read from my ecu?

Nickwell24 · 11-01-2007, 01:31 PM

you can hook it up that way, but the quality won't be as sharp as it would be from a VGA

I'm not sure about the OBDI i'm sure there is a way to connect it, have you checked http://store.mp3car.com yet?

RedGTiVR6 · 11-01-2007, 04:13 PM

husseinj3 - this forums has loads of information.

While there are people who are willing to spoon feed others, it's not a very good way to learn about this hobby and it's abilities/technologies.

In the same area where I linked you before there was a FAQ about screens that would have answered your question about s-video and inevitably would have answered future questions you didn't even know you had right now.

I would really suggest that you spend some time researching your questions as they have been covered many many times. OBD-I functionality has been covered in detail in the OBD forums. Screen connections in the screen forums, etc.

The thing is, by doing this research on your own, you are truely learning about this stuff, which makes it much easier to trouble shoot and understand just what it is that you're doing.

Good luck with it all!

husseinj3 · 11-01-2007, 06:01 PM

i c
thanks for the little push tho

will get on my way

Nickwell24 · 11-01-2007, 10:12 PM

I will definately back up RedGT on that one, these forums are an amazing learning tool. This forum is my main learning tool about CarPcs and i've learned a lot, granted i've spent too many hours on these forums too, if that's possible. Looking stuff up, even if it's not exactly what you look for you'll still gain invaluable information.