Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Bobboau on September 25, 2004, 03:23:04 pm
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I have renewed intrest in my car mounted computer idea, I want some people to give me options on micro atx mobos and cases (especaly) preferably _without_ power suplies.
and I'll need at least one usb port, preferably 2, if anyone has good dc-dc power suplies I am looking for them too
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Car-mounted-computer?
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I want a small PC that can run off of 12vdc and have it hooked up to my car stereo, then transfer all my mp3s to it, and you can sort of see were it goes from there, it will include a remote controle (wich I already have) and a small LCD screen
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Right. I presume CD copying or hooking up an MP3 player is cost or tech prohibitive, then?
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It would be usefull for a lot more things - the shotgunner can write notes, check an electronic map, surf the net(?).
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Play FS2 and hook up the controls to those of the car :p
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exactly ;)
haveing a bunch of cds or an mp3 player was the origonal concept, but they all have storage limitations, if I get a micro pc and hook up a 250GB HDD I won't have to worry about running out of space, and I can watch movies and play games, and it would just be extreemly cool, and be the ultimate symbol of my ubber geekness. think about how cool haveing a computer integrated into your car would be. now I'm not looking for some beast of a machine all I realy need is something that can run mp3s and avis (how is Linux at this?, especaly the AVI part).
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The biggest hurdle is not so much the hardware, but macguyvering a way to have the thing start up and shut down with the engine.
Also, it doesn't really have to micro-ATX unless you've really got a small car with no room.
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I want it to be out of the way, I could do a full ATX tower, but I'd rather have something that could probly fit under one of the seats, I even looked at some micro ITX models but that was too small, I think a largeish micro-ATX case is the best way to go.
as for the start up thing, I don't think that will be a problem.
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what car is it, just out of interest ?
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also you are probibly gonna need to use laptop hard drives. standard issue hard drives are not rated to handel the inertial load of drivng. laptop hard drives are designed to handel this.
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If you cram it under a seat the question becomes how do you clean it? The fans and HSF vanes, I mean. Putting it under a seat would be like sticking a desktop on shag carpet.
I'm going to do something similar to this in my bomber when I get some free cash(some years hence methinks, but it's a classic this year and will be an antique in 2009).
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/*looks at the pc sitting on the floor for the last year and a half*/
I didn't say I would put it there, I was just saying I could fit it there. more likely I'd mount it in the trunk.
but anyway, I have yet to see anyone sudgest a good case or mobo.
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To be honest it might be better to fabricate one yourself to meet your specs than to buy one that will probably work and spend time and money, as well as risking blowing the whole thing.
I did do a little diggin however and found this (http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php/products_id/243).
It only has 2 PCI slots, no AGP and only one HD, but it does apparently have a CD drive. It would certainly work for what you would be able to do in a car(music, maybe a movie or some wardriving). Though you could cram a FX 5200 in there and maybe get decent gaming performance.
I would opt for some kind of oversized touch-screen that has room for a standard display size(1024x768?) and a soft-keyboard. That way you don't have to fool around with mounting a bunch of extra hardware in an already cramped space, what with enviromentals and dashboard gauges.
Also, you live in Illinois right? It gets cold there in the winter, cold enough to damage unprotected electronics gear like would be in your trunk? I seem to remember that RAM and such gets unreliable and very vulnerable to damage below 40 F.
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the cold could be a bit of a problem.
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I'm partial for the "build it yourself" idea, but not so sure how hard it would be. The notebook HD point sounds valid, but notebook drives are a lot more expensive.
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well I'm not going to build a case myself, an'd my pcb etching skills are lacking so I'm probly going to buy a case and mobo made by someone else.
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go with mini-itx. the epia M10000 ought to work fine in a car system.
for power supply: http://www.mini-box.com/itps.htm and http://www.mini-box.com/pw-120-M.htm combined, perhaps? getting a power sequencer is a must if you're going to run it off the car power, as that's 14v and a helluva lot of current.
as for a case, anything that's 17*17cm ought to work...
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I only meant fabbing the case, of course you'd still buy the ITX mobo and other stuff from a vendor.
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Pimpin' My Ride, nigga.
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alternitavly instead of runnin monitor/keyborad/mouse off the case you could use a pda terminal services client to connect to the computer in the trunk via 802.11a/b (just be sure to extend the antena into the passenger area). then connect your sound card to your car amp for sound. might give you some issues with movies though because a pda screen is rather small and your at the mercy of terminal services slow screen update. maybe theres a tablet thin client ya could get instead of a pda.
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Originally posted by Bobboau
the cold could be a bit of a problem.
You couldn't insulate the trunk?
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sitting outside in temperatures 20 degrees below freizeing, that isn't going to do any good
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How about insulating the unit itself?
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insulation only slows the gain/loss of heat, if the thing sits inactic conditions for 12 hours it's gona be cold even if it had a five foot thick insulation atound it
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This is true.
Some sort of modular system where you take it in the house with a simple slot-out system?
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that's sort of what I'm thinking
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Move to Hawaii
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Meh, I prefer a computer-mounted-car :D Now that's the simble of uber geekness ;)
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do you use one of those block heaters that keeps ur engine from freezing in the winter, ya know where you have to plug your car in to the outlet to keep it warm, you could either run a heat tape off of the power and wrap it around the computer, or somehow run power off of the block heater plug and keep the cumputer running. ya might just want to consiter setting up a laptop on your dash.
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That's not how it works. You plug in the block heater to warm the motor up in the morning, you don't leave it on all the time.
The modular Idea has some merits, you could conceivably build a secondary dock that you can put the box from the car in and have it act as a desktop on cold nights.
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you dont live in alaska do you :D
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Nobody lives in Alaska, it's entirely populated by ghosts and polar bears....:nervous:
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*nuke stuffs Clave into a polar bear suit and throws him to a horney male
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male.. bear?
...right?...
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Why no power supply? You can use an alternator to power it (and if you get a small one you solve two problems: the different voltage lines and the size).
You might want to consider getting a Via C3 chip for this if you just want to play back mp3s and some avis (won't be a beast of a computer for games though, it'll be crap for that instead XD).
That'll also mean that it can be cooled passively IIRC.