[Nuke]

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.

[Blue Lion]

Originally posted by Bobboau
the cold could be a bit of a problem.

You couldn't insulate the trunk?

[Bobboau]

sitting outside in temperatures 20 degrees below freizeing, that isn't going to do any good

[vyper]

How about insulating the unit itself?

[Bobboau]

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

[vyper]

This is true.

Some sort of modular system where you take it in the house with a simple slot-out system?

[Bobboau]

that's sort of what I'm thinking

[Blue Lion]

Move to Hawaii

[Tiara]

Meh, I prefer a computer-mounted-car Now that's the simble of uber geekness

[Nuke]

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.

[Liberator]

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.

[Nuke]

you dont live in alaska do you

[Clave]

Nobody lives in Alaska, it's entirely populated by ghosts and polar bears....

[Nuke]

*nuke stuffs Clave into a polar bear suit and throws him to a horney male

[Bobboau]

male.. bear?
...right?...

[ChronoReverse]

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.