Finally my 2000 Toyota 4runner google earth equipped car puter - Page 2

dwrobnett · 05-27-2006, 11:47 PM

dude, seriously take the keyboard off the steering wheel it looks really ghetto, and it's gonna smash you in the face even with your seatbelt and there is no way bigger bumpers will reduce the force of the impact of stop the airbag from deploying. THIS LOOKS HORRIBLE!!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TAKE THE KEYBOARD OFF OF THE STEERING WHEEL, someone should smash that stupid keyboard over your forehead and and knock out all of the keys and your teeth! this is the single stupidest install I have ever seen, EVER, loose the keyboard!!!

eacarrender · 05-28-2006, 08:42 AM

The keyboard fits perfectly on the steering wheel and it folds up, it looks everything but ghetto, in fact its fricking sweet, and I love it, ,, however, yes if the airbag goes off it will hit me in the face, I understand that, I may disable the airbag sine I wear my seatbelt all the time anyway,, will this affect my insurance?

Silentbob343 · 05-28-2006, 09:25 AM

yes disabling safety features on your car will indeed increase yuor insurance

http://www.airbagonoff.com/new_page_22.htm

P3rv3rt B3ar · 05-28-2006, 02:53 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by eacarrender

The keyboard fits perfectly on the steering wheel and it folds up, it looks everything but ghetto, in fact its fricking sweet, and I love it,

Dude, make a reality check... it looks god damn ugly... i mean your whole setup is not quite aesthetic... but that keyboard thing is simply worst part of it

eacarrender · 05-29-2006, 08:50 PM

This is where we agree to disagree, I think it looks good, but functionality also plays a big role. I dont want to have a keyboard on my lap all the time, Thsi setup acually makes it easy to type without takign your hands off the wheel. You shoudl come to the florida meet up you can see it in person, its sleek, im telling you, that keyboard is only aprox 10mm thick, ,,

anywho, to each his own carputer sleekness standards, but if we polled it , I think more people would say it looks good than otherwise

Cheers

Silentbob343 · 05-29-2006, 11:23 PM

you shouldn't be typing while driving.....

gerard · 05-30-2006, 07:01 AM

plus you look like a moron with a keyboard propped to your steering wheel hahahaha

nodnarb · 05-30-2006, 09:20 AM

Quote:

At autopsy:

- Too bad he died so young...
- He really hold all _keys_ for success...

ROFL LMAO

haha haha

I would think that would be uncomfortable to type like that anyways.

seanz0rz · 05-30-2006, 09:37 AM

i have the keyboard, its awesome... on a desk with a pda in its stand...

i think the grand total of times ive used a keyboard with my carpc after my first installation is.... 3.

1. mutiple destination tour - went on a road trip, doing small runs (20 miles or so) between stops. all on back roads, etc. it was useful for that.
2. trip to reno - just bought a new keyboard, was testing it out, i used it to put in info and unplugged it and chucked it in the back seat.
3. last weekend, when i updated software.

the fact is that most of us NEVER use a keyboard. with a touch screen and a front end, its just easier not to.

as for your vehicle, its a pretty nice install, but nothing OMFGWTFBBQ about it. if you disable your airbag, you are a moron. the safety system of that car is designed to work together. bumpers, crumple zones, airbags and seat belts all work together to protect the occupants of the vehicle. removing any one of those out of the system severly reduces the others' effectiveness. if you are so interested in steering wheel controls, look around the forums, there are plenty to go around.

i dont mean to bash or anything like that, we all come here looking for advise and criticism. thats mostly the point of posthing here. my, and others, advise: get that thing off the wheel, it looks funny, and if you drive like i do, that thing is gunna get trashed when you start making lots of turns with it open.

like you said, to each his own. it takes a big man to start wacking holes in his car for a pc, we are just trying to help you make it look a little better. most of the installs here seek some sense of OEM or professional look. not something that consists mostly of tape, etc.

think "how would it look if toyota offered this option...?"

eacarrender · 05-30-2006, 09:40 AM

OK Im going to explain it, and I hope you guys are open minded enough to see my side here. Could all this hosltility towards my keyboard be an underlying case of bluetooth input device envy?

In many vehicles there is buttons on the sterring wheel for volume, crusie control etc. This is no different, most of my typing on the keyboard relate to audio volume, google earth zoom, or quik short Instante messages, also search inquiries. These actions take little to no attention away from driving and becasue the keyboard is fixed in one position, I do not have to take my eyes off the road to "type" or input the brief commands that I require during driving. As far as comfort, I tilt the wheel up to its most horizontal setting (it feels like im driving a RV but) it makes it very comfortable to input, also the bottom part of the wheel supprts my wrist and prevents the carpal tunnel. Oh and I think it looks good, If I thought it looked crappy I wouldn't have put it there and was a failry cost effective option. I appreciate the input and will consider the safety issue involved, The keyboard is only held on by velcro, so I can take it off and put it up there only when I need, it, thats the best solution I have for now, I really like the ergonomics of having it in the steering wheel, It flows nicely and I do use it ALOT

Eric

3g Jester · 05-30-2006, 09:44 AM

you shouldnt drive with typing! or wait...switch that...

that said...the panel on the steering wheel should flip up to the windsheild in the event of air bag deployment...otherwise everyone who had an airbag go off would have "ABS" stamped on their forhead lol. depending on the weight of that keyboard (yes its light to you but it does effect the weight of a slim peice of plastic made to go in a particular direction) it might not effect the way your bag deploys and the cover goes...i wish you luck with that. knock on wood it never happens. but depending on your insurance company i dont know it that would seriously screw you in the event of a claim. not to mention if you ever have to sue in the event your bag is faulty and doesnt go off.....that would be justification for them not paying. modifying the bag casement.
otherwise....

to all who asked about using their phone as a modem....you can go to your phone's store and request a kit..buisness kit...connection kit...it goes by various names depending on your provider. my particular service is verizon and for 30 bucks i got the software and usb cable. i beleive they also offer serial interface. you can use dial up speed which uses your minutes and if they are free..so is the service....and then (for verizon at least) you can use broadband speed which uses not the regular phone conversation frequency but a higher frequency that your pone uses for the sending of pix messages and such. (for me/verizon) this service costs aout 80 bucks a month extra because you are using a different bandwidth/frequency reserved for high speed data transmission.
regardess the dialup connection isnt that bad. i was in a location i culdnt get internet hardwired so i bought the cable and used it on my home pc and even when i didnt have full signal i had a fine time surfing the web. pics were a little bit of a wait..but for email and basic internet features..including message boards...it was fine. the software disk comes with a program to optomize speed by reducing image quality on pictures that works great! it speeds up your internet and makes all the images fuzzy. which is fine for me! basicaly what happens is..for example..you load up mp3car.com....all the forums look fine except avitars and the page header pic (mp3car.com logo) look perfect to extremely grainy depending on the setting. however text and such looks fine. the program also allows you to edit phone books and other data on your phone depending on the model of your phone. its a great perchase especially if you dont want to wardrive (steal peoples wireless connection because they are to stupid to put a password on it...their fault althoug immorral and illegal) or you might not be able to find a starbucks.

hopefully this is some good information and mybe a mod can move this to a faq.

dwrobnett · 05-30-2006, 03:45 PM

dude the keyboard is the most retarded thing i have ever seen, why don't you spend $30 and get a wireless keyboard then you can just pull it out when you need to use it and it won't slap you in the face (literally)

Silentbob343 · 05-30-2006, 05:05 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by eacarrender

OK Im going to explain it, and I hope you guys are open minded enough to see my side here. Could all this hosltility towards my keyboard be an underlying case of bluetooth input device envy?

yeah I see the smile on the end, but.....wow

b8bboi · 05-30-2006, 05:15 PM

seriously, dude, no one here envies your stupid keyboard. Let me echo what others have said. It looks retarded as hell. Mount it somewhere else. Of course, it's your car so who cares.

Gordinho80 · 05-31-2006, 01:28 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by 3g Jester

the panel on the steering wheel should flip up to the windsheild in the event of air bag deployment...otherwise everyone who had an airbag go off would have "ABS" stamped on their forhead lol.

i'm going to have to disagree with you here...not ALL cars with Driver Side Airbags have a panel that filps up toward the windshield...most, as a matter of fact, actually TEAR the panel in half horizontally...

just thought you might like to know that...

User Name		Remember Me?
Password