Official CarPC Thread.

[GOOSEY2099]

VIA EPIA-M12000 Mini-ITX Mainboard
Opus 150w with 5v mod
160gig Hard drive
Phidgets Controller for steering wheel controls
Custom Case
Audigy NX 2 Usb Soundcard
512MB ram
Panasonic slim DVD-RW/CD converted to USB
7" VGA Xenarc Touchscreen Monitor Molded
XP Professional Service Pack 2
Iguidance 3.0.1
Pharos GPS locator
Kingston USB Bluetooth
ElmScan 5 Serial ODB-II Scan Tool
Belkin USB Wireless dongle

[seth98esT]

What do you guys use to power your speakers without using a headunit? Just a normal amp?

[Cheekz185]

What do you guys use to power your speakers without using a headunit? Just a normal amp?

Well with my first carPC setup i was not using HU. The easiest way to power your speakers is by using an amp. Instead of running the RCA signal wires to the HU just run them to the sound card and get the rca to i think 2.5mm jack. And you are good to go. But currently, since I love my radio, and carPC radio are just HORRIBLE (fm modulator and usb fm radios) they all suck. So i am using my HU for radio and CD's. I cant seem to get my stupid panasonic cd/dvd drive to work via usb.

A couple of the guys over mp3car.com have been developing near perfect sound quality for FM. So i think i might want to test it out. They have 2 options available as of now, internal and external:

http://direct.xtronic.be/shop/produc...products_id=39

But a carPC is def the way to go.

My setup:

Custom Case designed by VeritasForge over at Mp3car.com
mobo: Biostar T-Force 6100
CPU: AMD Sempron 3600+
RAM: G.Skill 512 mb
HD: 250GB sata HD
PSU: 220W DSATX
Windows XP SP2 Pro
Iguidance 3.01
Holux GPSlim 237
Belkin Bluetooth Dongle
Engenius EUB-362 ext wireless adapter
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX USB
7" Xenarc 700tsv touchscreen
Panasonic Slim lot load cd/dvd (cant get it to work in the car, works fine testing at home, tried nearly everythin)

[seth98esT]

Your biostar board is a microATX board right? Hmmm to build a CarPC or to redo my suspension haha.

[Cheekz185]

Yeha it is a microATX board. That is the reason why I had a custom case built. I could find any decent small cases to fit the microATX. So i had one custom built to fit the specifiations of my mobo, psu, HDD, and 1 PCI slot. I still have my old setup. I had a via M10000 but to me, it wasnt enough. dvd's were a lil choppy and the front end interface was a little unresponsive. Thats why i upgraded

[Cheekz185]

Here is an old pic of my screen:



I need to get the screen remolded, and take the cd/dvd out.

[Proud Galant Driver]

Wow Cheekz, that looks good. I'd leave the dvd slot and take out the lights on the side.

You do that yourself or a shop?

[Cheekz185]

Wow Cheekz, that looks good. I'd leave the dvd slot and take out the lights on the side.

You do that yourself or a shop?

Nah i didnt do it myself, i had a shop do it. When i redo it, im going to do it myself.

[Kenneth G]

so how does the CarPC work when you are on rough roads, wont it mess up the system, is there some sort of buffer installed to absorb some of the shock?

[bronxbombr]

so how does the CarPC work when you are on rough roads, wont it mess up the system, is there some sort of buffer installed to absorb some of the shock?

depends on the setup and installation. I have had no probs as yet.

[Cheekz185]

so how does the CarPC work when you are on rough roads, wont it mess up the system, is there some sort of buffer installed to absorb some of the shock?

depends on the setup and installation. I have had no probs as yet.

Same here, it is actually pretty safe, my first setup i had the case mounted on my subwoofer box and nothing happend.

[Niytrus]

A lot of people use a laptop hard drive because it can handle the vibrations and movement better than a standard 3.5 HD.

[Kenneth G]

sweet, i just dropped my laptop last month and cracked the screen. maybe ill do this.. what will i need, does anyone have a basic tutorial written?

[Cheekz185]

sweet, i just dropped my laptop last month and cracked the screen. maybe ill do this.. what will i need, does anyone have a basic tutorial written?

I would first start by visiting the mp3car forums and READ the FAQ's before you post anything.

If you have laptop you will need:

Touch screen monitor
GPS receiver
USB FM radio

It is a bit tricky to set up your laptop to power on /off with the cars ignition. You can buy a laptop power on module which was built by one of the members over at mp3car. You have to take ur laptop apart and solder the connections.


But basically its a big pain in the ass to get everything the way u want it.

You will need a bunch of long length USB Cables depending o nwhere u place ur laptop. VGA cable, power and grounds. But it is all worth it in the end.

[Proud Galant Driver]

I finally found my XP disc. Now I can get all my software and music loaded.

Also interesting is that I got my Blackberry in today. My Blackberry package includes unlimited internet and apparently I can use my Blackberry as a modem. So it looks like my CarPC is going to have internet access no matter where I am :D

[Proud Galant Driver]

Bahahaha

My setup is getting ready to go in soon :D

I ordered my Liliput 7" touchscreen, I can't wait for it to get here!

Only immediate thing left to do is find a sound card. I decided I am going to eliminate my h/u now instead of later. I'm gonna find myself a decent 5.1 card later today.

I have a question though. A 5.1 is divided into front, center, and rear which also is for the sub. Well, do I use the center for my sub then? Cause I'm not quite sure how I am supposed to hook my sub up with this.

[SleekGTZ]

I don't have good pics yet of my carputer, but I have videos. It's not much, but it works:

Some of you already saw these before...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2qMWIYjXx8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCSVlNSRnbg

Setup:
Mini-ITX motherboard
1GB RAM (I think)
30GB hard drive (laptop size)
M1-ATX power supply (to shutdown/start computer based on ignition)

[Cheekz185]

Bahahaha

My setup is getting ready to go in soon :D

I ordered my Liliput 7" touchscreen, I can't wait for it to get here!

Only immediate thing left to do is find a sound card. I decided I am going to eliminate my h/u now instead of later. I'm gonna find myself a decent 5.1 card later today.

I have a question though. A 5.1 is divided into front, center, and rear which also is for the sub. Well, do I use the center for my sub then? Cause I'm not quite sure how I am supposed to hook my sub up with this.

For the price you cant beat this chaintech card. It is a really good card for the money:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829120103

[Proud Galant Driver]

Bahahaha

My setup is getting ready to go in soon :D

I ordered my Liliput 7" touchscreen, I can't wait for it to get here!

Only immediate thing left to do is find a sound card. I decided I am going to eliminate my h/u now instead of later. I'm gonna find myself a decent 5.1 card later today.

I have a question though. A 5.1 is divided into front, center, and rear which also is for the sub. Well, do I use the center for my sub then? Cause I'm not quite sure how I am supposed to hook my sub up with this.

For the price you cant beat this chaintech card. It is a really good card for the money:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829120103

That card is nice. Looks like I'll get some really good sq out of it. 7.1? I'm getting even more confused on how I hook up a sub lol. 7.1 is front, center, sides, rear + sub on the hookups right? Oh, it has optical output that is nice. I have a feeling optical amps are expensive though.

[mindwerkz]

5.1 is center, front x2, rear x2 (5), and a dedicated subwoofer channel (.1). 7.1 is the same but with 2 side channels as well.