No display?

KyleYankan · 03-30-2005, 10:49 PM

Hey has anyone used a computer without a display? I have everything I need, but the screen, and I won't have that for a month. Would you recomend a program that can read the song title to me, and also have a simple keyboard control?

FishPony · 03-30-2005, 10:59 PM

what in the hell. by the time you figure that all out you'll have a screen.

Peoples · 03-30-2005, 11:00 PM

lol....you want it to read the song title to you?........car mp3 player for blind users....
hey thats a good idea........i should make a brial reading board for the car....it can describe traffic conditions

KyleYankan · 03-30-2005, 11:04 PM

Nah - it's going to be about a month - I have to save up my money for it. :-/ I hope to borrow $$ from parents. If I get the Tview - which I am going to go with if I stil lget good review - ill be ordering it i naobut a week (check next week) I hope. So 3 weeks? I'm so excited - and I want to get this underway.

Question · 03-30-2005, 11:22 PM

Look at my setup: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/worklogs/46359-1999-plymouth-voyager-computer-console-between-seats.html

It is display-less right now, except for the palm. I would recommend buying a 4x20 character lcd (search for hd44780) to display song info and temperature. They cost about 20 bucks or so. You can use Winamp with either a plugin (lcdisplay, lorty's, etc.) or a dedicated lcd program (lcd smartie, others).

You don't really need a display, as long as you don't need a text display to tell you what song is playing. Use Winamp for this.

Oh...and here's a plugin called DJamp for winamp to use Microsoft Agent to speak the titles of the songs before each one. There was a better one that I tried out, but I deleted it, since I didn't plan to use it...and winamp.com's search function SUCKS. http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details.php?id=18039

KyleYankan · 03-30-2005, 11:40 PM

Aww man! you stole my idea. I just bought the console from wal-mart today. I couldn't find anyone else with that. I was also looking into the long headunit that extends to the back seat. I didn't think aobut the LCD thouogh - where did you buy it from? I'd like to run that into the "garage door opener" section of my overhead. N/M found it online. I'm gonna get 802.11g and GPS first.

Also: Have you considered raising your console? I want to raise mine so the "cooler" section is right at my hand - and isntall the screen into the coller part.I just wish I could put some more electronics back there. Can I install a CD-ROM next to the TS?

Awesomme to find someone w. a setup similair to the one I want/am working on.

Bugbyte · 03-30-2005, 11:49 PM

I often run my system with the screen folded down (closed). I use Frodoplayer and enable the voice. It announces the name of the song and plays it. If I leave the keyboard on the passenger seat, it has special media keys on it that I've mapped to the "next song" function. I don't have to look at it to advance the song.

I also have a microphone installed and using Centrafuse, can simply say, "Next Song" and it will advance to the next song. However, it doesn't announce the name of the song.

KyleYankan · 03-31-2005, 12:34 AM

I played with frodoplayer - im going to try and map the media keys on my keyboard to work with that. I can live like tht for a little bit.

:-P

Question · 03-31-2005, 12:44 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by KyleYankan

Aww man! you stole my idea. I just bought the console from wal-mart today. I couldn't find anyone else with that. I was also looking into the long headunit that extends to the back seat. I didn't think aobut the LCD thouogh - where did you buy it from? I'd like to run that into the "garage door opener" section of my overhead. N/M found it online. I'm gonna get 802.11g and GPS first.

Also: Have you considered raising your console? I want to raise mine so the "cooler" section is right at my hand - and isntall the screen into the coller part.I just wish I could put some more electronics back there. Can I install a CD-ROM next to the TS?

Awesomme to find someone w. a setup similair to the one I want/am working on.

I'm a little confused by the second paragraph. I decided to keep it down, because I have a 120mm fan blowing straight at the processor. It is kind of annoying, actually, because the air escapes out of the top, and if it is cold outside, this only worsens things. It's not that bad though, and nothing turning on the heater for a little bit doesn't fix. I like the level it is at. It is perfect for typing commands to winamp, and also allows me to hold hands with my g/f on top of it (aww, ain't that cute.) I'm going to install my screen where my radio is now. I thought about having it attached to the console, but I realized that that would be way too low, even if I raised it. I am also quite concerned about theft, and a built-in screen would be obvious to a thief, as most consoles don't have anything resembling a screen, and if they do, hey..easy money. I bought my console off ebay. One word of advice: Make sure you have enough room (in the console for the computer, and in your car for the console), make sure it's sturdy (think about how it's going to be in a few years. Those cheap thin plastic ones they sell at Walmart will crack from the sun in a few years, and might not survive construction). I got a deal on mine, for about 30 bucks. I did a lot of shopping around, and even considered building one. Luckily, all my planning paid off, as everything fit (almost) perfectly. The one issue I have is cooling. I am looking into ways to solving that problem

(/thread hijack)

Question · 03-31-2005, 12:49 AM

AHA! Found that plugin for winamp. It's called Tellmewhatsplaying: http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details.php?id=134332. Works pretty well. Try it out.

KyleYankan · 04-01-2005, 06:58 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Question

I'm a little confused by the second paragraph. I decided to keep it down, because I have a 120mm fan blowing straight at the processor. It is kind of annoying, actually, because the air escapes out of the top, and if it is cold outside, this only worsens things. It's not that bad though, and nothing turning on the heater for a little bit doesn't fix. I like the level it is at. It is perfect for typing commands to winamp, and also allows me to hold hands with my g/f on top of it (aww, ain't that cute.) I'm going to install my screen where my radio is now. I thought about having it attached to the console, but I realized that that would be way too low, even if I raised it. I am also quite concerned about theft, and a built-in screen would be obvious to a thief, as most consoles don't have anything resembling a screen, and if they do, hey..easy money. I bought my console off ebay. One word of advice: Make sure you have enough room (in the console for the computer, and in your car for the console), make sure it's sturdy (think about how it's going to be in a few years. Those cheap thin plastic ones they sell at Walmart will crack from the sun in a few years, and might not survive construction). I got a deal on mine, for about 30 bucks. I did a lot of shopping around, and even considered building one. Luckily, all my planning paid off, as everything fit (almost) perfectly. The one issue I have is cooling. I am looking into ways to solving that problem

(/thread hijack)

By raising it I meant Adding a base - so it doesn't sit like 6 inches off the floor, but rather 2 feet off the floor. This gives plenty of space for components. Also - by adding a screen---

My console has a cooler built into it. It slides open to let you play with it. I want to modify this so it slides back and the screen is mounted flat in there, right at the surface. This would let me simply slide the cooler close to hide the screen. I want to keep the console looking semi-stock. I don't want cables hanging out of it - though a USB hub and a RJ-45 jack will be installed.

User Name		Remember Me?
Password