Which software

ponch37300 · 01-07-2007, 05:09 PM

I am building a carputer for the first time. i did do about twenty hours of searching this weekend and did learn alot. I learned most of what i needed to about putting together my parts and ordered everything i will need(that i know of at this time, probably need more parts later) to build my carputer. What software will i need to make everything work, or make things easier. I read about front ends and decided to go with roadrunner cause it is free and a good place to start to learn a little about this things. I will have windows xp pro, office, use itunes for music(unless someone has a better software recomendation), have autoenginuity for obdII communication, gps(when i figure out which gps software is going to be the best suited for my needs, was going to go with ms streets and trips but the more i read about it i don't think it is a good gps so any suggestions would be great). This is what i would like the carputer to be able to do and i have all that software besides the gps, what other software am i going to need if any? I did search but being a newbie that doesn't know alot about computers to begin with i didn't understand alot. Any help or advice on software for my setup will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with someone wanting to learn

lifestyle · 01-07-2007, 07:51 PM

I think you should read some of the faq's, first, windows xp it's perfect, now depends what hardware performance you have, for gps i use iguidance - has a lot of support on the forum for embedding it into front end. I don't think you'll need itunes you can go with winamp (if you choose roadrunner), try to look around on the forum because there are some aditional software you may use , depends on your needs, for example if you want to use, your phone via bluetooth you need phonecontrol or cdrskull's freephone (it's still in development). Depends on what skin you want to use with roadrunner, you will need some other plugins, for example for the flash clocks that are available on some skins you will need a port splitter for receiving gps information on 2 ports at a time. But anyway i can make you a very long list with software, all depends on your needs. I think you should start, on installing windows, all drivers for your hardware, then you should choose a skin for roadrunner, and play around that skin, to add or customize the features that you want. Just keep looking around.

DarquePervert · 01-07-2007, 08:58 PM

Why are you going to have MS Office on a PC in your vehicle?

Zeroaviation · 01-07-2007, 10:29 PM

lol...

2k1Toaster · 01-07-2007, 10:46 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by DarquePervert

Why are you going to have MS Office on a PC in your vehicle?

I have it on my vehicle. In case I need to make changes to something real fast and my laptop is out of juice! All of my coursework is electronic, and it is always good to have a backup display and editor for it.

DarquePervert · 01-08-2007, 06:54 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

I have it on my vehicle. In case I need to make changes to something real fast and my laptop is out of juice! All of my coursework is electronic, and it is always good to have a backup display and editor for it.

Valid reason, I suppose... No offense to anyone. It just sounded like an odd thing to have loaded on a vehicle PC...

ponch37300 · 01-08-2007, 07:23 AM

Thanks for your reply lifestyle. It really helps. i am slowly getting this together and learning so much! i just ordered my opus 250 psu and have most of the other stuff besides my navigation. Guess i will keep searching till i get everything hooked up later this week and then just play around with everything, especially the front end since i don't have ANY experience with those and it kinda scares me. Hopefully i won't make any major mistakes and be able to learn will experimenting. Thanks for all your help and feel free to add any more suggestion if anyone has any.

DarquePervert · 01-08-2007, 09:39 AM

What's scary about a frontend?
It's just a piece of software designed to give a driver access to various functionality easily & safely. Most are designed to be used with a touchscreen, adding to the ease of use.

Most incoprporate media playback, GPS navigation and other functions.

And if you want experience, download them and try them out. All of the major frontends are either free or allow you to try them out.

ponch37300 · 01-08-2007, 02:47 PM

darquepervert...I am going to install probably roadrunner and play with it. All i meant by scary is that i didn't even know what i front end was until this weekend and still don't know alot about them. I seem to have the luck that when i start just playing around with things i don't know much about to get into trouble and have some problems. I will play around and hopefully not have any major problems and learn more about all this stuff. Thanks

DarquePervert · 01-08-2007, 03:48 PM

I will tell you this...
As far as configuration and such, Roadrunner is the least user-firendly of the bunch. It's the most powerful and flexible, from what I've seen, but that flexibility comes at the expense of ease of setup.

2k1Toaster · 01-08-2007, 03:49 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by DarquePervert

I will tell you this...
As far as configuration and such, Roadrunner is the least user-firendly of the bunch. It's the most powerful and flexible, from what I've seen, but that flexibility comes at the expense of ease of setup.

ponch37300 · 01-08-2007, 03:54 PM

Do you have any recomendations for a "newbie friendly" front end? Thanks

DarquePervert · 01-08-2007, 03:58 PM

I'd look into StreetDeck or FrodoPlayer.
Development of FrodoPlayer is likely dead, unfortunately....

Other options are Freeway, Mobile Impact and Centrafuse. I can't speak for the user-friendliness of those front-ends, however.

2k1Toaster · 01-08-2007, 04:14 PM

I see no reason to not at least try to set up RR. If you know how to read, then look at the FAQ's and you will be able to do it. Not going to be "out-of-the-box" though like StreetDeck.

MatrixPC · 01-08-2007, 05:11 PM

RR is not newbie friendly period, but once you get a hang of it, it's the best.
Anyway, try the download with the installer in the sticky. It'll make newbie job much much easier.