New to the CarPc Game...

DevilsMentor · 03-28-2008, 02:25 AM

Hey there guys, been looking over the forum for a little bit and thought I should just join up... As the title states, I am NEW to the CarPc world; I currently have a Clarion 935VD HU, but I want to dump it because I like the idea of a HD holding my music and movies. I currently have over 500Gs of music and vids to load up so lets get to it

First off, I have a Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 and the ECU will be running off my CarPc, so not only must it be a JukeBox, it must also be my Data Logger and Tuner...

The features I would like to integrate into the CarPc would be NOTHING LESS than what a table top PC would/could offer... I know this leads to many options, but I will try to convey in a more linear request of what I am looking for, lol.

First off, I want speed and power, again I don't know much, well lets just say NOTHING about CarPc's so when I think SPEED and POWER I think of an OC'ed Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz and 3Gs of RAM with a Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX video card.

As for sound, I have the External 24-Bit sound card Audigy 2 NX which offers 5.1 and 7.1 sound...

I chose the e6600 and the 8800GTX because I would also like to be able to play video games like NFS PRO, PainKiller: Overdose, and the like when it is viable - ie; at car meets...

Other features I would like include: Internet, GPS, satt radio, TV/Cable, bluetooth, voice recognition, bio scan (fingerprint security), cell phone integration, front/rear cams that are recordable to the HD, as well as driver/pass side door cams to replace the mirrors, and of course TONs expandability... In other words, if I am missing or forgetting something now, I can add it later, lol...

And of course, the intelligent power supply...

What else is there, lol...

Oh, I was told about a new unit coming out from a company called Zenteck (spelling). Has anyone heard of this Co, I cant find it in Google...

Well I am sure I am missing something, so if you will be so kind as to fill in the proverbial blanks that would be cool...

In advance to all, THANKS for helping out this Noob!!!

Ja'ne,

DM

DevilsMentor · 03-28-2008, 06:24 AM

Have been looking around, and found some other nice mods for the PC: Speech Support and Temp Metering. So am I to assume that the speech support is a digital voice that vocalizes your actions, as in raising or lowering the volume, or vocalizing the radio station, movie name, or cd/artist/song??? Or something like "In Coming call" then mutes/pauses the music/video and passes the call through the sound system???? That would be SICK!!!

Thanks guys, and sorry for all the Questions... I am searching, but this is getting a little overwhelming for me

Ja'ne,

DM

DevilsMentor · 03-28-2008, 06:49 AM

lol, I cant believe this is aval for the CarPc http://www.roshanindustries.com/mp3pumphouse/Aircon.htm

I have a digital A/C control unit and was hoping that there was a way the CarPc could control it; I hope this works

DM

MafiaStyle87 · 03-28-2008, 07:40 AM

keep away from high power stuff, if you read threw the forums, stick to low powered stuff, such as celerons and the like. You really don't need any more than 1.5 ghz and thats just for dvd fluent playback and gps. I understand your desires for power and performance as im in I.T. and game and stuff, but this isn't in the carpc game. You need to have enough power left to run your cars major components without hurting anything.

DevilsMentor · 03-28-2008, 05:07 PM

Oooooooook!!!????

69 views and only one helpful guy???? Is this in the wrong location or something????

DM

Sal R. · 03-28-2008, 06:44 PM

I don't think of this hobby as a game. More like a relationship.

A love-hate relationship...

...and this is the right spot for this post.

Best place to start?

Here.

Welcome.

brucedog · 03-29-2008, 08:03 AM

Welcome to the Mad Obsession known as carpc'ing!

In this great country of ours, it's become difficult to choose sometimes. We have soooo many choices: 10,000 colors of paint at Home Depot, three dozen toothpastes, eighty breakfast cereals...

It's kind of that way with carpc's. The combinations of processors, memory, HD's, input devices, screens...the smorgasbord (sp?) goes on...

I'm older, surlier, and often look for the easier, softer way. Check my carpc specs, maybe look at my pictures. Look at other guy's specs and pictures, and the pics of their builds. Reeeealy do a lot of reading on this forum 'till it's coming out yer ears. Then read some more.

As you can see, I "cheated" and used a fairly powerful desktop pc, inverter, etc. I've got lots of room in my 'wagon, and don't care about electrical efficiency. It works great. Music is ripped using my own cd's using WMP (.wav format). I don't recommend music obtained online; unless they've made vast improvements, it sounds krappy (low bit rate). Rip ur own cds at highest rate - sounds x-cellent. Get a nice sound card.

I did plan a lot, and ran large enough power wiring to avoid overheating and fire. BIG issue - don't want to stand and watch Fire Dept hosing our rides down! I planned wiring for neatness, but some guys completely hide all wiring, and fully integrate carpc, hence the term "OEM install." Depends on what you can tolerate - depends on how much of your life you're willing to give to this.

It's a lot of fun. Be a pro, but try not to get too fanatical thus take the joy out of it. And help the new guys that are coming up.

blessings and best of luck.

DarquePervert · 03-30-2008, 08:27 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by DevilsMentor

Oooooooook!!!????

69 views and only one helpful guy???? Is this in the wrong location or something????

DM

69 views isn't diddly squat on this forum.
Stop expecting anyone and everyone to read your posts and reply in the time frame you dictate. We don't all operate on your schedule, so don't expect us to.

I agree with Sal's suggestion.
Rather than waiting in front of the screen pressing F5 repeatedly to see if there's a reply to your questions, start doing some research on your own. Learn to do it well, as you'll be doing a lot of research in putting together a vehicle computer.

The FAQs are a great place to start and I'll link you to them again: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/advfaq.php
When you're done there, check out the FAQ Emporium: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=106
And possibly even the mp3car Wiki: http://www.mp3car.com/wiki/

We're here to help, but most of us are loathe to help someone who isn't showing enough initiative to at least make an effort to learn some things on their own about this hobby. This isn't as simple as "buy X Y & Z and install it this way". There is no one-size-fits-all solution.
So you need to do some research, come up with a plan and go from there. We can't (and won't) plan your setup for you, at least not for free.

DevilsMentor · 03-30-2008, 04:51 PM

Wow, aren't you quick with the Attitude... Apparently your reading comprehension is on par with that of a Dyslexic 5th grader... Instead of me reiterating what I said, I will just lead your attention to post #2... Yeah I am just sitting here with out doing ZERO research

"Super Mod" or not, I will not be attack for NO Reason... No one else felt it necessary to do the same... They were friendly and offered advice; so I guess you just had something to e-prove... I simply asked if the thread were in the wrong place since I had 69 views, but if in all you glorious e-wisdom wish to find something hidden within my post, like all of your D&D books then go right ahead...

If you want to spread and look like some kind of e-badass, then go to 3SI.org, you'll be at home with all of those Asshats!!!

Thanks for making my introduction and first time experience ****!!!!

I await your reply

DM

DarquePervert · 03-30-2008, 05:25 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by DevilsMentor

Wow, aren't you quick with the Attitude... Apparently your reading comprehension is on par with that of a Dyslexic 5th grader... Instead of me reiterating what I said, I will just lead your attention to post #2... Yeah I am just sitting here with out doing ZERO research

If you're doing research and figuring it all out, why are you complaining about the lack of responses?
That leads be to believe that you are either misrepresenting the research & planning that you're doing or you're trolling for attention. Neither will get you very far in this hobby, although there is a certain segment that will cater to the attention whoring.

Quote:

"Super Mod" or not, I will not be attack for NO Reason... No one else felt it necessary to do the same... They were friendly and offered advice; so I guess you just had something to e-prove... I simply asked if the thread were in the wrong place since I had 69 views, but if in all you glorious e-wisdom wish to find something hidden within my post, like all of your D&D books then go right ahead...

That was an attack? Please explain to me how that was an attack. If suggesting that you spend time doing research and planning and providing a few links to help you do just that is an attack, then I guess I'm a bad man... Shame on me.

Quote:

If you want to spread and look like some kind of e-badass, then go to 3SI.org, you'll be at home with all of those Asshats!!!

Spread?

First of all, I don't look that good.
Second of all, I'm a guy.
Third, if I did look good and were female, porn wouldn't be my career choice. I have far more self-respect than that.

Quote:

Thanks for making my introduction and first time experience ****!!!!

Another suggestion:
Wear a full set of leathers to protect that thin skin of yours.

DevilsMentor · 03-30-2008, 05:42 PM

While you make it toooo easy for attack on your coolness, I did not come here for that... I am sure you are completely happy with the successful endeavor to derail my thread, so I will move on to something new...

Ciao,

DM

amiturbo · 04-27-2008, 01:23 PM

hey dm wow bro you ****ed them off quick. Anyhow, if you need any help with anything with mp3car let me know. I'm going with an OOOOOLLLDDDD set up but it'll work for me and anything i need it for. It's a 350mghz pentium2 processor. I'm just gonna run a power invertor,mp3 player,roadrunner skin,and hand held halo. for datalogging. why go with a desktop you may ask. well it has 2 serial com ports 1 in which i need for my nitrous set up and the other i need for my datalogger plug.

P3D4T0R · 04-27-2008, 06:28 PM

It always helps me to check out the worklog... gave me ideas as well as a list of what not to do. Learn from other peoples mistakes so you don't repeat them, research pays off in the end

peecee · 04-30-2008, 02:37 PM

<In my best Yoda voice> Thin skin, this new person DevilsMentor has... </yoda>

Seriously, read, read, read. Then read some more. Spoonfeeding in here doesn't happen. On to the relevant information...

You don't need a super-powerful pc to tune your car. If you do, it shouldn't be done with the carpc - that job should be left up to the serious machine. Using the carpc for a data logger is fine, as long as you have some way of offloading the data onto a machine that can run crystal reports or whatever else you use to analyze the performance of your car.

Getting power to that huge processor will be a challenge. Your car's electrical system is not designed to provide that much power to something not critical for the car's operation. Measure how much your car is putting out and work from there. You may find that you need a second battery if you want to run such a power-hungry cpu. There's really not much reason to run that, but I'm sure you have your reasons.

In addition to this site, check out http://www.the12volt.com to learn exactly what you need to measure to ensure the electrical system is up to par.

It is far easier to build a PC for home use than for the hostile environment of a car. I've done both, and continue to do so. I have yet to see a reason to run much more than a mobile processor or some other low-power CPU.