Sunday, February 12, 2012 - 06:43 pm, by: Andrew Beattie(Beattme)
The current head unit isn't good for much (no radio, mp3s, usb, or aux in, only normal cds) So while I was looking for a new one i stumbled into a car pc thread, and now I'm fairly certain this is what I want.
Monday, February 13, 2012 - 09:55 am, by: Aiden Cheese(Chillpen)
I think out of all the desktop OS's windows 8 makes the most sense.
Personally if/when I do this, i'll be going an android OS based system with a 3g dongle/tethering from phone. All the apps and things are made so well for using while being portable/touchscreen so from navigation to angry birds, it to me seems far more suitable. Already I have a license which doesn't expire for some GPS software on my 'droid one of the garmin things so as long as i update the maps it's all good.
There are already some pre-made stuff like this on ebay and other sits which make the whole thing a whole bunch easier but i worry about their touchscreens and quality.
Anyway have fun with it, you can find pre-made car-pc stuff with 12v psu's and integrated amplifiers etc already. Check them out and see. They're usually atom based.
One thing that makes me more interested in doing a tablet-like install is how quick i know a tablet starts if it already has a battery. My android asus transformer for example had no charger when i went to gladstone on friday, and i used it for 16 hours of use, and it was idle for the 3 days i was there, and it still had battery remaining by the time i got home on sunday 9pm.
So theoretically, because a couple of other neat things; for example micro usb slots have 5 pins, but a usb cable only has 4. The pins 1,2,3,5 are used to the computer usb. But on a car dock, it uses a resistor at a certain ohm to tell the phone to go into car mode. Or in other words, when you dock it and it has power, it'll turn on and stay on. When power goes, it'll stay off. Depending on rules of the car mode anyway. You can modify the rules yourself in a few apps around.
So stuff like that means that when car is off, screen is off, and the battery life of a screen off is weeks. But the time it has power it's charging. While it has battery, it'll be instant on each time you start your car and if you drive your car more than a couple hours a week you'd be charging it to full again.
Whereas a carputer still has to go through bios, then windows loading, then loading user profile then starting applications. But hopefully that will be streamlined with both using the SSD and the windows 8 OS.
Anyway it's a topic i'm pretty interested in either way it goes, so please when you do your build detail it here and the results!
Okay, to answer some actual questions; It's possible to connect TV out on many phones, both my old samsung omnia i900 (an old windows 6 phone) and my samsung galaxy s i9000t can connect TV out. The problem is of course you can't interact to your phone from the screen, you'll just have to set your route from your phone and let it go if you change it, pull over and fiddle with your phone again.
As for the GPS, you can use that and some software you can buy for windows to obviously do the whole GPS maps thing. Which would be a better solution for integration. But software can be expensive so.. Also you'll need to mount the dongle with direct line of sight to the sky. So perhaps on the rear window or parcel shelf.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 - 11:55 am, by: Alistair Moorby(Aldmo87)
I was also thinking about a Car PC when I first got my Soarer. But I think the money is better spent on replacing the carpet to black and repainting the vinyl to black. So I’ll do that first.
I assume you have checked out Centrafuse, seems pretty good. Windows 8 will be fantastic for Car PC’s. Basically a Windows 7 Mobile in your dash.
It will be interesting whether Microsoft allows direct control of Win7 Mobiles through Windows 8, perhaps through USB or something.
The Beta will be out on the 26th of Feb, so it’s definitely an option.
I have seen those android devices and the ones that run Windows CE. My biggest problem is that there are no YouTube videos of them in use.
I just wonder about the speed of the interface, and It makes me think they have something to hide. (You just can’t believe the screenshots are real).
They always deceive customers saying things like “Supports 1280x720” Then in the fine print it says native resolution 400x320 or something like that. So without a decent review and some videos it’s hard to buy one.
They do seem to be a good price though $300 gets you basically everything your Car PC would do for $500-700 including GPS, Bluetooth, Radio, Digital TV, DVD, Touch screen, Reverse Cam etc. Plus they are 2 DIN ready to be mounted, no fabrication required.
I think the best way to go about powering a car PC is with a second 12v battery in the boot. You would want to set it up so that it would charge when the car is running but not drain the main battery when the car is off.
Probably a trip to a 4wd/camping specialist for some battery isolation components.
When researching my built I came across this “Space navigator” It’s basically a knob that you could mount where the cup holder is. If you have ever used the BMW ‘innovation’ media system, it’s basically the same thing.
It allows you to rotate the knob for volume, push forward/back/sideways for up/down/left/right navigation of your system. It also does Pull Up and Push Down which could be used as an enter key and a back key.
But the downside to this is you need to find a Skin that it works well with. You don’t want to be scrolling through more than 3 buttons on screen.
It’s about $120 and means you can use a cheaper non touch, screen. It would also give you the flexibility to be creative with your screen mounting as you would not need to physically touch the screen.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 - 12:07 pm, by: Matt Petersen(Mattmannz)
I would probably go with something like a 7in Android powered tablet. They have good resolution, touch screen, usually good quality screens, some have built in GPS, 3g, wifi, reasonable amount of storage which is all solid state, support suspend and resume etc.
Google maps has navigation built in, supports voice commands, full media playback support for music and video.
Take the case off a tablet and use the 3.5mm output to connect to an amp of some sort, mod the USB port to connect to a 12v charging point.
Use 3G when you are out and about and wifi to connect to your home network to transfer data to the car.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 10:48 am, by: Alistair Moorby(Aldmo87)
I totally agree with the Android tablet.
Positives
You get Capacitve touch You get a good quality screen Has a built in battery so can be used with the car off without draining the battery Built in Nav and access to the marketplace Skinable - Check out 'Car Home' Bluetooth
Negatives No possibility of a reverse camera (no input) Will require an amplifier for speakers Only 2 channel audio Left/Right (not really a concern as any Mp3 you download will be stereo only) Not an easy thing to mount! The power and audio don't connect at the rear but rather at the side. Easier to steal, but also easy to remove, not sure if it's a positive but I would rather leave it in the car permanently.
No Radio or Disc playback! Not an issue for me, the only radio I listen to is talk back and that I can get as a podcast or stream live.
I tried Windows 8 but wasn't impressed, maybe when it's final it will be better..
For the screen i would opt for one of the complete screens with fascia etc, unless you are handy with mounting things and making enclosures etc..
I would also suggest the PSU is a copy, but it may still do the job.
I was goiing to mount mine in the dash as well, but decided it would be too hard, then in the glovebox, then under the seat, then finally decided to put it in the boot, glad i did as it keeps everything tidy and easy to get to.
Monday, February 27, 2012 - 11:20 pm, by: Andrew Beattie(Beattme)
I'm unsure about the whole pc/tablet debate, a pc will always be more powerful, but a tablet is very convenient. Mum just got a sensation xl (4.7 inch screen) so I might give that a try and see what I think.
I think I'm leaning towards a pc at the moment, for a few reasons More powerful/more ram Easier to increase storage with external usb hard drives Diagnostics (Although I think this is also pretty straight forward to do with a tablet) Easy to plug in a few controllers and run emulators I've already bought the new ssd Cameras
With the ssd, a uefi motherboard and windows 8, boot time shouldn't be an issue. I just timed my desktop, it took about 13 seconds from when windows started booting to desktop, including entering my password.
Just a thought, would it be possible to rewire the camera on a tablet to be a rear view camera? (in a way that kept it out of the weather)
I have a single turbo vvti, from what I've read this has obd2? If so does this mean all I need to get some engine readouts is a usb-obd2 cable (possibly an adaptor) and some software?
Can I run a 3.5mm to rca cable straight from my phone/tablet to the line in on the speaker amp? (only temporarily, until i sort out something more permanent)
I hadn't thought about a second battery but I'll definitely look into that
What makes you think the psu is a copy? Where can I find one that is genuine?
Monday, April 09, 2012 - 01:54 am, by: Walter Gillmore(Cl33pa)
i have used jaycar stuff through my carpc, sound system build. running the 4 inch kevlars on the front. cant pick a problem with the sound.
also i use a class D jaycar 5 channel amp. drive's my mtx 10inch on the shelf and pioneer 12 inch in the boot. soon to add a second pioneer 12 inch and a 1000W class D linkable jaycar monoblock amp to power the two 12's and leave the 5 channel sub out to power the 10 on the shelf.
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