This is my first post on mp3car.com, however I have been viewing the forums here for about a year. Without the knowledge and resources that mp3car has to offer, i would never have been able to accomplish this. The last few months I have been assembling a carputer for my tsx and am finally in the last few stages of install. First, a little about my car and the existing system:

2006 Acura TSX, Pearl White Exterior/Ebony Interior. 6 Spd Non-Navigation.


Sound:
Acura Premium Audio system with 6 disc changer, Bluetooth Phone, Mids/Tweets up front, 6.5 full range in rear doors, 6x9 in rear deck (disabled)
David Navone engineering LOC
Alpine MRD1001 1000 watt class D mono block amp
Alpine Type R 12" Sub.
Ipod

For the carputer, I wanted to have full access via onscreen display to my music and movies (not really safe looking at the ipod to change music, and wanted to add gps navigation, internet and email access and anything else really. A carputer was obviously the best choice. So with that in mind I assembled the following:

Carputer

M2-ATX Intelligent Power Supply
VoomPC-2 Case
Intel D201GLY2TA Motherboard/Processor Combo
120 GB SATA HD
1 GB RAM
DVD-RW Drive
802.11g High Gain USB Wireless Adaptor
Zoom USB Bluetooth Adaptor
4 port USB Hub

Enough talk, lets get on to the pictures:

Components during assembly and testing:


Completed Carputer:




Wired up in preparation for the carputer, Notice the monitor cable on the floor of the trunk with the wireless and active usb extension cable . Cable coming down from the top right of the trunk is the RCAs from the Line Output Converter (I would strongly reccomend David Navones competition grade LOC. Crisp, clean strong signal, much better than the 4 volt preouts found on most aftermarket head units IMO.) :


Closeup of Power and Ground Distributors...tried to clean up the wires with some split loom tubing.


From the other side, with the seats down...here you can see the massive Alpine Class D amp...still need to get another type R so i can use all 1000 watts (right now wired for 500 through the type R, dont want to blow it, although it bumps really hard...my gains are all the way down...i think partly due to the high voltage signal I am recieving fromt he LOC.):


Pic from inside the engine compartment, quick shot of the 4 guage and ANL fuse box.


Top storage pocket will house the new Xenarc MDT X7000 Motorized One DIN VGA monitor.


The remaining pieces have been ordered and should be here by the end of this week:

Xenarc MDT X7000
USB GPS reciever
Acura OEM MP3 Player Adaptor Kit (fits most DIN size aftermarket recievers with a little modification)

Input Devices I obviously have the touchscreen, however when a keyboard and mouse are needed, I have the Kensington slimblade keyboard and mouse. They are wireless, the keyboard is extremely thin, and with the numpad removed is perfect for the car environment. The set is of great quality and I would strongly recommend it for those looking for something like this. I got mine at office depot for around 130.


I am running Centrafuse as a front end and am in the process of customizing all aspects of the WinXP environment to suit the car. Below is my custom bootskin (If people like it I would be happy to change "tsx" to "carpc" or whatever, its in photoshop and is easily modded, just pm me.


And thats pretty much it! I will upload more worklog pics and hopefully finished install pics by the end of the week. I cant wait...its good to see my work paying off. Should be a killer system limited only by my imagination. Ill write more details as to the tech side of my install if people are interested...All factory components in the car work in concert with the aftermarket parts so I dont lose functionality of radio/changer/bluetooth phone, etc. Anyway, your comments are appreciated!