Henk Bos

Hi all,

After reading tons of stuff (mostly here), I have narrowed by choices down to the folowing three. Would appreciate some comments.
The carPC will run in my Mitsubishi Pajero, equipped with dual battery system. Driving is mostly in desert heat, lots of bumps and the occasional whiff of sand coming in.
Desired functionality (most of it already tested and working)
- GPS (running OziExplorer and Mapsource via shared GPS using GPS gate)
- music (Windows Media Player)
- GPRS (hands free use with Zoltan's program) for mobile and internet
- occasional movie
- storage of pictures
I already have an 8" Xenarc, non touch screen and the PC will be controlled by keyboard and trackball (mounted on the left of the centre console). May be later a small touchpad will be added.
Price is not really an issue and I prefer to have everything assembles and tested at the factory, since it needs to be shipped to the United Arab Emirates.

Although I love the design of the Ampie, I'm slightly biased because:
- ITX has expansion slots and seems easier to change/clean
- has extra 12-V power on the back
- OPus power supply seems to be better?

Would appreciate your comments/suggestions.

Henk

Choice of Three:

ITX Vehicle PC
- CD / DVD Drive None
- Hard Drive 2.5" 40GB 5400RPM
- Memory 512MB
- Motherboard Epia MII-12K
- Riser Card Via Compatible
- Shock Protection Vibration Mount Kit
- System Discount MB/HD/RAM must be included
- Testing&Assembly Labor
Price: US$770

Opus Mini
- Additional Connectors RCA Stereo Jacks
- Hard Drive 2.5" 40GB 5400RPM
- I/O 2x USB & 12V Output
- Memory 512MB
- Motherboard Epia MII-12K
- Shock Protection None
- Testing&Assembly Labor
Price: US$662

MP3Car Custom Car Computer (Ampie)
- Motherboard VIA EPIA SP13000 Mini-ITX Motherboard [MP3CAR-0047]
- Memory Ultra Low Profile 512MB DDR RAM [MP3CAR-0061]
- Hard Drive 2.5" Hard Drive 60GB Samsung 5400rpm [MP3CAR-0067]
- Hard Drive 2 None
- Operating System None
- Monitor No monitor
- CD/DVD /w External Enclosure None
- Wireless None
- Bluetooth None
- Sound On-board
- Vehicle Power Supply M1-ATX [MP3CAR-0008]
- Build Build+Test+Preload OS [MP3CAR-0114]
- Keyboard None
US$715

d2.n

look into panasonic toughbooks, rugged machines worthy of the desert.

This is cheap:http://froogle.google.com/froogle_cl...ring=mrd&hl=en

Henk Bos

Thanks, have looked in to these. Great machines, but a laptop is not really the best solution (as I have found out). The Toughbook CF18 is a convertable tablet with the best screen I've ever seen. Price tag is around US$3500 as tough as the Toughbook itself.

Henk Bos

Come on, guys, there must be people who have the time for aline or two?