shawdreamer Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 played with the idea of a custom built incar pc built by myself a while back but it got chucked on the back burners as I couldnt be arsed dealing with it. Now with them popping up on here again its brought the idea back of the burners and into the limelight. as I see it it'd be mainly for show and music, not anything along the lines of satnav, internet etc etc maybe it'd be easier to simply explain what I wanted to do it for?... what Id want is the ability to access stored music and video via a small monitor and/or interface of some kind dependant on wether the monitor would be touchscreen obviously....basically a simple media pc built primarily for media purposes. now theres shitloads of ways to go about this but as said I aint chasing something fancy and OTT, just a basic media player pc. 3 options that spring to mind are: games console usage (even something as simple as a ps2,xbox), this however has its own limitations(no facility for touchscreen control being the most obvious). incar pc (basically a purpose built incar pc with touchscreen)but these are often difficult to come by at reasonable prices due to the fact that there often made at a much greater spec than Id require and additional spec would be entirely wasteful for my purposes. cheap basic laptop with a additional 7" or smaller monitor running off it to the dash... again a bit wasteful considering atleast a half decent laptop would be required so as to have the facility for a additional monitor and graphics speed. Im sure theres looooooooads of further options open to me but as I havnt really done much in the way of research (or for that matter really know were to start) I havnt got to far with more options....hence this thread sooooooooo..... whats everyones thoughts and suggestion toward what Im after? bare in mind that due to the limited requirements I stated above I wouldnt be looking at blowing a feckoff chunk of cash on the project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rs2k2008 Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 i doing comunity service at a tip if u want me to keep an eye out for an old laptop let me know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawdreamer Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 i doing comunity service at a tip if u want me to keep an eye out for an old laptop let me know lol I doubt any working laptops with HDD and power supplies intact are gonna land in the tip.... few with their HDDs pulled no doubt tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rs2k2008 Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 be surprised get 2 a day that work got a fujistu siemans on xp the other day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshy Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 how about stripping a laptop down and fitting the internals into your car...?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie74 Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 buy a laptop of ebay with a smashed screen,, detach said screen , dependant on size fit in to the glovebox on a tray of and you should have enough space above or behind the dash to put a power inverter , then chose what type of monitor you want be it sunvisor or dash mount,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawdreamer Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 how about stripping a laptop down and fitting the internals into your car...?? was a option but there wouldnt be any real point doing that. screen would be to large for pupose so there'd be no real point gutting a lappy anyway....plus if its a complete lappy it can be freely removed from the car for security reasons and/or updating. buy a laptop of ebay with a smashed screen,, detach said screen , dependant on size fit in to the glovebox on a tray of and you should have enough space above or behind the dash to put a power inverter , then chose what type of monitor you want be it sunvisor or dash mount,, again a viable option Im considering but the accessability and removal of it would come into question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadge Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 If i was going to do this I would purchase a cheap mini netbook (I got a dell mini 9 for £150 from PCworld). I would wire in an external monitor and have all the cables going into the glove box. some of the Dell mini series even come with a built in 3G adapter (I think mine does). The netbook can then be removed during the night etc.. for safe keeping or used out of the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawdreamer Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 If i was going to do this I would purchase a cheap mini netbook (I got a dell mini 9 for £150 from PCworld). I would wire in an external monitor and have all the cables going into the glove box. some of the Dell mini series even come with a built in 3G adapter (I think mine does). The netbook can then be removed during the night etc.. for safe keeping or used out of the car. good if I wanted a higher spec maybe but the setup Id want really wouldnt require a 3g adapter or 99% of the functions a good laptop can supply.........I hate being wasteful and that'd be a shocking waste Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 mp3car.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeWee Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Its hard to advise on this one if your going to shun ideas due to over spec?£150 netbook idea for example was actually a good idea but you say it will have un needed features? Then dont use the features?Rough price guidline would help, if £150 is too high then im not sure without suggesting a bigger cheaper old pc placed in your boot with extended cables? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAVEN Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 use a DELL Optiplex SX270 & a 7" touch screen you can get the sx270 from £40 off ebay.. CPU speed: 2.8 ghz Hard disk: 20 gb Memory: 512mb CPU: Pentium 4 Weight: 4.5 kg Depth: 3 inch Width: 10 inch Height: 10 inch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie74 Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 problem you will have with using a generic home base unit is vibration,, there is a cheap way to get round this by mounting a base plate on rubber squash balls,, they work well enough as dampers to stop most damage,, still have to be carefull over speed bumps etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadge Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 problem you will have with using a generic home base unit is vibration,, there is a cheap way to get round this by mounting a base plate on rubber squash balls,, they work well enough as dampers to stop most damage,, still have to be carefull over speed bumps etc flash memory / solid state drives are the best way around this, again most netbooks come with SSD's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawdreamer Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 Its hard to advise on this one if your going to shun ideas due to over spec?£150 netbook idea for example was actually a good idea but you say it will have un needed features? Then dont use the features?Rough price guidline would help, if £150 is too high then im not sure without suggesting a bigger cheaper old pc placed in your boot with extended cables? aye Pete it is a good suggestion but tbh I cant help thinking its such a utter waste considering what it'll be used for, and thats even taking into account I could get a applicable laptop for way under £150 that'd do the job.....dont get me wrong its not out the running atall, I just wanna see if theres a more suitable option yet to be mentioned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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