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Hi all,

Hope everyone is good etc etc. Myself and woggledog (Paul) are really up for building a PC system for our cars, which will have GPS and all the usual media software you can find on a computer. Now before you all start laughing and fall off your chairs, it seems like a pretty simple (and relatively cheap at about £500 on average) option compared to most aftermarket GPS systems, and we have been looking into various hardware to use.

Here is a link that Paul posted on one of the earlier forum threads, which shows how a guy made a system for his B*W 3-series:

BMW PC

Now if anyone is interested in setting up a similar system for their cars, feel free to post a reply and let us know any ideas you have etc, as we need to overcome just a few little things (such as audio input on the lexus factory sound system) before the system can be perfect.

Take it easy,

Rav

(Mega-Geek and part time LOC Wheel cleaner)

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Hehe Joing the list of Is drivers with PC's in their cars!

I think there are at least 3 IS owners and 1 GS Owner with carputers on this Forum

It is easy if you get the right parts to begin with

and its as flexable as you like.

I have to recommend getting an Opus power supply to begin with, its the most important part of the carputer system

SatNav Software for the PC that works with only a touch screen is very hard to find at the moment, It's a real shame there isnt any Pocket PC emulators that can run TomTom :(

Im running the sound into my stock headunit using a tape adapter at the moment. its not the best way but it was the quickest and easiest.

I do plan on removing the headunit some day and putting my TFT screen in its place. (one day)

Take a Look at Fargo's Install as he made a custom fit screen and it looks superb

happy hacking

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Hehe Joing the list of Is drivers with PC's in their cars!

I think there are at least 3 IS owners and 1 GS Owner with carputers on this Forum

It is easy if you get the right parts to begin with

and its as flexable as you like.

I have to reccomend getting an Opus power supply to begin with, its the most important part of the carputer system

Hi mate,

We need to talk! Looking at your signature it sounds like you have a sweet setup. I was just wondering how much it cost you in total, and what the spec are? Also, was it difficult to set up in the car? (the pc side of things is taken care of).

Cheers :D

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I did my Carputer around a year ago now

costs then were

TFT VGA Touchscreen 7" Xenarc £350

1 Ghz EPIA mobo £100

256 megs memory £65

40 gig 2.5" HDD £125

Slimline DVD rom £65

Opus PSU £130

Wireless Lan card £30

other cables etc £20

The 2.5" drive is recommended as they are designed to take more punishment but they do cost more

The software I use is Media Engine which is free.

and I managed to fit the cpu and psu and hdd into the glove box and fit the DVD rom under the Trc and Seat Heater buttons and mounted the TFT in the space where the Factory nav screen would go.

a few nice websites to try would be

www.cartft.com (where i got my screen from)

www.mp3car.com (where the media engine software came from)

and my other parts came from the mini-itx site

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That sounds very decent! I think the screens have come down now quite a bit to around the 100-200 quid mark, which is a good thing! I was also thinking the cassette adaptor is the way forward for the time being, although a more discrete solution would also be nice.

I like what you did with the drive under the seat heater buttons, very slick idea B)

I would love to see what it all looks like set up in the car, do you have any pics?

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installed pic of the screen Here

and a pic of the DVD rom drive Here

if you really want to, you can remove the front of the stereo with the tape adapter inside and hide the wire behind the front of the stereo and route the wire to the back, but you wouldnt be able to eject the tape unless you take apart the stereo again..

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Whilst on the subject of carputer's .... check out the lexus skin I made for Paul (fargo)

This is what he uses in his car ......

lex_pda.jpg

This was also an alternative, that I never completed ....

lex_toxic.jpg

Regards,

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lol why thank you for your concern boys,

w/e's im round at the birds...dont get time to msn :winky:

and geoffers,, lol your a fine one to talk about msn....never ever see you on there.. but you know what... your busted old bean... if you see me on msn, and i dont see you.. that means your HIDING... :ph34r:

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Oops.

Sometimes I have to mate, you know the score. As soon as you log in, you get 300 people asking to fix their PC.

Worst still, some piece of electronics that they found on the tip. Can you believe that someone brought me some Commodore disk drives the other day..... (remember the big old external 5.25 ones?)

Sorry - off topic.

For those that would like to go down the PDA road, there's a FLYJACKET for IPAQ - composite output. (also has a composite input for other devices too) Or the pitch duo which gives out VGA.

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A guy called Ninja Monkey on mp3car.com has adopted Destinator 3 for pc use using the SDK. I've had a play and its pretty good. Works very well with Frodoplayer, and with Media Engine. There are about half a dozen now, with AIMEE in the pipeline, Media Car.. all do a similar job, just in a slightly different style. As Brett pointed out, go take a look on www.mp3car.com. There is a UK site called http://www.digital-car.co.uk too

A few guys on www.is300.net have installed carputers in their IS's too. Worth a look. I am aware of myself and IanF who are trying to use the OEM nav housing for the screen location, and I believe Paul (Fargo) is helping out another forum member with the same project.

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Regarding Sat Nav for Laptop/Car PC.

The best software to use (when it is released should be) Co-Pilot Live Laptop 8. It should be fantastic with 3D Mapts (like Tom Tom) and the latest mapping data.

The US version has just been released and the European version should be out in January. It will be expensive but I think probably worth it.

Infomap Navigator also looks excellent value for money and has some good reviews. The latest V4 is supposed to be a big improvement on the previous version.

I have had plans to make my CarPC for ages. I have had the Xenerc 700TSV Touchscreen for about 6 months! I am looking into an Antec Aria Cube Case so I can use a MicoATX Motherboard with it. The biggest expenditure is the 150W Opus PSU costs about £150. Just need to get the time to do it! :)

I was gonna use my laptop - but I've decided against it now. (It anyone wants to buy a Dell C640 P4 2.0Ghz Laptop send me a PM! :D)

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Hey folks, there is a Satnav housing on US Ebay.... only at $61 at the moment. Its the widescreen version too, will require minimal modifying for a 7" widescreen TFT.

Here it is http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...&category=40017

Thats a Dash Tray on eBay no motor or any kind of screen surround :(

but almost what we need :)

I checked my screen against a Loan IS200 that had that kind of dash tray and there was no way it would fit :(

as for the GPS software

the biggest problem is the touch screen interface, the GPS manufacturers dont seem to cater for it yet on the PC :(

one day!!

until then its tomtom on the Ipaq

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Follow my link Brett, its on www.ebay.com, not eBay UK. I did see the standard tray on eBay UK, thats not the one I was pointing at... the one on eBay.com is a full housing (widescreen version) with motor etc

Have you had a look at Destinator 3 from Ninja Monkey on mp3car.com? It lends itself quite well to touchscreen interface... and more importantly, its SKINNABLE.... so you can redesign the button sizes to suit your needs.

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Regarding Destinator 3 by Ninja Monkey I have tried and it does look great.

BUT.....

The routes it produces are rubbish. To go from my house to Bradford it takes me through some really weird places. I have tried using both the Maps you can download free and the "proper" Destinator 3 maps - both routes are all over the place. Also, some street names are missing . How it is a fantastic peice of work the faults have nothing to do with the person that adapted it.

I do seriously think that Co-Pilot Live Laptop 8 will be as good as Tom Tom 3 when it is relased in the UK. The 3D Maps (very important feature for me) look fabulous.

Look here for some info and screenshots. It should be very touchscreen friendly too.

http://www.alk.com/products/consumer/copil...ptop8/index.asp

Hopefully I can get it and have the option of giving it back if it is naff.......but I don't think it will be. The PocketPC version has got great reviews and this is supposed to be similar.

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It does look pretty good, but it should do for the price! Have to admit I have only had a play with getting Destinator 3 working, so not had experience of the routes.

Let us know how you get on with the new product, as you rightly say, if it works well, it might be worth the price

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It does look pretty good, but it should do for the price! Have to admit I have only had a play with getting Destinator 3 working, so not had experience of the routes.

Let us know how you get on with the new product, as you rightly say, if it works well, it might be worth the price

Thanks mate. I'll keep everyone informed (actually more like I'd be begging for help :hehe: )

Co-Pilot is expensive (my IPAQ 4150 and Bluetooth GPS) cost the same as the software does on its own! But my main reason for wanting a Car PC (besides being cool) is the customisable Sat Nav so hopefully it is worth it.

The main problem with the IS regarding a CarPC is the age old Aux-in input issue. I have tried a Tape Adapter (hated it wurring around - got annoying), FM Transmiter and Modulator and they were all poor. Gordon has an FM Modulator in his car that he said works well - so I might give that ago!

I don't really want to replace the Head Unit (I like it, and it will be expensive), so I will continue to investigate. I have read in the knowledge section of this site that you can add RCA inputs by doing soldering and cutting some wires - but I'm not really confident enough to try that! :ph34r:

Thanks

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