Long time lurker (like a couple years) first time poster here. So after a few months of collecting parts I have a working PC in my Jeep. I know this forum is for finished projects, but are these things ever really finished? I figured since it is up and running this is the spot to post.
So without further ado... here's the pics...
1. First off, this is where i'm drawing my power from. Quite convienient right having both power sources about 18" from the pc itself. The plug on the left is the cigarette lighter and has power only with the ignition on and the plug on the right is simply there to plug in power adapters and has constant power. I was a little worried because both of these wires were small gauge wires and considering that they probably would be powering the pc plus and additional item such as charging my cell, but so far no problems.
2. Here is the space where I installed the PC. Two screws removed the storage bin and provided an excellent way to screw down the plexi that my via is screwed down to.
3. Here is the same space except with the plexi mounted with the standoffs for the via. Kinda hard to see especially w/ my audio cable partially stuffed under the plexi. I originally was installing this in a 98 grand cherokee and in that set up i was mounting the pc under the back seat and needed all that cable. Sure i could've shortened the wire but...well i'm just lazy sometimes and hey, whatever, it works.
4. Here is the via mounted on top of the plexi base.
5. Here is my OPUS 120 mounted on the left side of the inside of the console. As you can see it is also mounted on plexi. The plexi that it is mounted on is stuck to the side of console with velcro tape. I was worried that it might not be strong enough but i had to take it out after it was already in to get a jumper on it and dang that stuff holds.
6. Here is the Hard drive mounted on the opposite side of the console. It's screwed to a bracket for mounting it into a 3.5" bay and i have that velcroed on as well.
7. Here is the Lillput mounted. I'm using a bracket that I got on ebay that is made specifically for 2000-2004 grand cherokees and uses the same mounting holes as the head unit. I drilled a hole that is hidden nicely behind the lilliput to feed the MiniDIN and power cables. You have to look from a pretty funky angle to even see half inch of cable that is actually showing.
8. Here's a pic with XP installing.
9. Here's a night time pic using the flash. That's frodo running there.
10. Here's a night time pic with the flash blocked.
Other things not pictured...
I have a touchpad mouse mounted in the ashtray. It's pretty sweet. It fit perfectly and folds right out of the dash and at night the ash tray light lights it up. I'll post a pic of it soon.
I also have the GPS mouse mounted on top of the dash right in front of the driver seat.
Things to do...
I want to have a small usb panel mounted on the dash somewhere i can plug in a keyboard/gamepad/whatever. Simple enough, just have to decide where to mount it and find some kinda of panel to use...I'm kinda thinking i'm gonna cut a panel of the front of a pc case and use that if i can get the wiring right.
Need to get a DVD drive and figure out where to mount it. I had a slimline trayload drive crap out on me during the install before i had even decided where to mount it. I gonna order me one of them slot loading panasonics just not sure where to put it...probably in the console with everything else. For now i have been able to test the dvd functionality with a full size drive just sitting on the passenger seat.
I'm working on figuring out how to make dvd aspect ratio normal in Frodo since i've pretty much conceded that I'm not getting 800x480 out of my VIA ML8000 (sticking with 800x600). Any help here would be well appreciated. I'm using WinDVD as a decoder, and in WinDVD there is a check box in the properties somewhere called "Widescreen" that makes the aspect ratio look normal. Unfortunately this option is no where to be found in frodo or windows media player. I thought about just using WinDVD and setting it up as an external app in frodo but for some odd reason WinDVD crashes when i try to watch a DVD but they play fine in WMP or Frodo.
Anyway...thanks for looking. Leave your compliments, suggestions, and what not below.
-Al
Linear Mode
