Thread: 2007 Ford Focus - Dark Red - MusicMonkey5555

I have now received all the parts payed for above.

I just ordered some more (bank is hurting from this addictive hobby), probably could have done with out some of this if I really wanted to.

Finally decided on a power supply this should be fine for what I have my only worry was having so many usb devices with a small power supply, but this should be fine for the system I am building.

Hardware:
X M2-ATX 160W Intelligent DC-DC PSU
X ROCKFORD FOSGATE PUNCH P400-4 4 CHANNEL AMPLIFIER

The items I have left are:
Monitor
StreatDeck Phone
StreatDeck Soft
Sound Card (nicer one with more channels)
Misslenous wiring

Think that is about it (may always need some new toy, I also may get a normal blue tooth dongle just to have for other bluetooth items).

Here is my total so far:
12 4 Channel Amp (ebay): $189.90
13 Power Suply (Mp3 car): $89.94
Ebay Shipping (12): $19.99
Mp3car.com Shipping (13): $8.47
--------------------------------------------
Sub-Total: $308.30
Previous Total: $1,514.81
Total: $1823.11

Just thought I would add these to show somewhat how I feel at this point.

Should be getting all the parts I order around the April 23 or 24.

Can't wait to put the pc togeather, I already started a bit, but once I get the power supply it will be almost finished (minus the dvd drive that will come with the monitor and need to be hooked up somehow).

This is the monitor I ended up going with:

Hardware
X Preassembled Black Double Din LCD Frame with 7" Lilliput EBY701

Also there is a driver issue in windows 7 with this monitor, refer to this thread for the solution:
Lilliput EBY701 usb disconnecting windows 7

Also went to see how much it would cost of CarToys to do the install since wiring power is a bit of a worry for me. My total comes to about $500 for them to do everything.

Ok so here is some more stuff I ended up getting for it:

The front usb on the case didn't seem to work so I got 4 of these:
Internal USB Motherboard Header Port To A Regualar USB

Also for the bluetooth I went with:
VP6494 Miniature Bluetooth Dongle

Ended up grabbing this to install everything since I am not going to have an external drive:
Patriot Xporter XT Boost 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive PEF8GUSB

Needed some audio cables to go to the amp:
Cables Unlimited AUD-1205-06 6-Feet Pro A/V Series 6-Feet 3.5mm to RCA Stereo Audio Cable

I ordered an external drive to put all my music on and hopefully don't run into any problems with it on Hibernate, but I should be fine. I would just put everything on the internal drive, but one syncing is a pain. Ipod support doesn't have searching and browsing tons of files is a pain, so the easiest thing is to just bring this inside sync it using mediamonkey then take it out to the car and have Centrafuse index it. Anyway here it is:
Seagate FreeAgent Go 250 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive ST902503FAA2E1-RK (Black)

Going with this for wifi (hopefully it works will let you know more later):
ALFA Network 1000mW AWUS036H High Power Wireless G 802.11g WiFi USB Adapter with 5dBi Antenna

Also a big change, I went with windows 7 it seems to run just as fast as xp and is much easier to navigate with a touch screen. No issues thus far, just using default drivers for sound, and video and they are working great.

Also I am going with Centrafuse over street deck it seems much more supported now. Both could use improvements though. The one big thing I liked in streeetdeck is gestures, and they are supposedly in Centrafuse but couldn't seem to get them to work. Also for sure no support in the library view. Wish gestures worked for typing things in (music search/scrolling) in Centrafuse. Also Ipod support is not great. You can't search songs (or it doesn't work at all) Podcasts are just all listed (no not played list). Audiobooks don't show up at all under a different menu. No playlist support. Needless to say navigating a big list of songs isn't as easy as it could be. Wish they would take some hints from media monkey. If I could just use media monkey with writing out each letter rather than having to type in the little search box and then they made the go to feature have a bigger button it would be great. I use that all the time, will listen to a playlist then say play all the songs from that artist or that album. (ok enough with the rant).

Lastly for the Hard Drive I went with:
Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2M080G2XXX 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM

Perfect size for all the apps and stuff, using an external for media. And it speeds up boot times and everything a ton which is well worth it when that is the number one thing about a carpc that is a bit of a trick.

Also as a bit of an update I got everything installed (Monitor, carpc, amp, HD radio). I am not comfortable with power and doing it myself on my newer car and couldn't find anyone to do it with so I had it done by Car Toys the price wasn't too bad ($400 or so) and I got to help out and did some extra work after getting everything installed for free.

Everything seems to work, but a couple things:

• Didn't get 4 channel sound working on this board (may need xp software). Not a big deal since most audio is stereo anyway and will probably get a faster pc later anyway.
• HD radio not recognized yet
• Every once in a while (on cold mornings?) it doesn't resume from hibernation or at least the monitor doesn't come on so I have to turn off the car, unplug the power and plug it back in and turn the car on again. Sometimes it resumes sometimes it ask start windows normally? ...
• Seems the front speakers on the amp don't get any sound so the amp may be toast and it is past the warranty I think, but am going to try calling the company.

Things working:

• Bluetooth calling
• Voice commands
• Music

Need to try/finish

• Turn by turn
• wifi/internet
• HD Radio
• Auto hibernate when car is off/on
• Speed up boot/resume time
• Car stats
• Alternative audio in (Phone, Ipod)

I have a ton of photos and will take some more and post them later, but it is late and I got a flight in the morning.