Car PC/Mac

[BMC123]

I had a PC in my car years ago....(1998) ok, it was only a humble 486 DX66 but it was in there biggest problem back then was the monitor, TFT's were scary money so i used a power inverter to run the little NEC 12" monitor (in the back between the seats) The PC ran windows 98SE and we used to play Doom on it, and occasionally solitaire A mate has a tablet PC in his Jeep (sort of a "pimp my ride" install) i must take a look and see what way it was put in...

[biggles]

Originally Posted by Keith

Yep completely useless mouting are in the wrong place, fitted Xenarc will foul the ATC panel and all the switch functions on the xenaarc are lost

$250 for a piece of plastic!! where are these people dreaming these prices up from

That would depend on wether it is hand built or not I assume. I think wouldn't hesitate to cough up that money if I knew I got a hassle-free ~instant TFT solution for my car.

As it seems now, hassle-free is out of the picture if I want a nice-looking TFT install.

Remaining options:

1. Build a bezel myself. Never done this but how hard could it be?

One way would be to buy one of the ugly £15 single-DIN fascia adapters and get to work with a dremel. Hacks like that do usually fall a bit short in the aesthetics department in my experience.

A better way might be to make a plaster cast mold using the same fascia adapter and then build a completely new fascia for the display out of fibre glass or similar. The problem with that is that I have absolutely no experience whatsoever with that kind of work.

Another way to get a custom fascia would be to have someone build one. Anyone here who knows what kind of shop who might be able to do that kind of work? I don't seem to be able to find a custom-fascias-r-us section of the Yellow Pages.

This is of course a nice way to go about it - a double DIN unit with a 6.5" VGA touchscreen, FM radio and a DVD-ROM drive. Don't care much for the silver design though:

http://www.digitalww.com/DWW-6500.htm

/Erik

[Keith]

Originally Posted by biggles

This is of course a nice way to go about it - a double DIN unit with a 6.5" VGA touchscreen, FM radio and a DVD-ROM drive. Don't care much for the silver design though:

http://www.digitalww.com/DWW-6500.htm

/Erik

Now that has exactly the functionality I am after, have you found anymore like it?

[biggles]

Originally Posted by Keith

Now that has exactly the functionality I am after, have you found anymore like it?

I stumbled onto that one while browsing the forums on mp3car.com. Right now, that seems to be the only unit providing that functionality.

This is a link a bit closer to the original supplier of that unit:

http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/I/...1002094864.htm

There might be european resellers as well.

This is the thread om mp3car.com:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=79168

/Erik

[Keith]

Actually is all this messing about with a DD bezel necessary
this would do perfectly well and be more discreet when unattended

http://www.digitalww.com/DWW-750FM.htm

Would it clear the eyebrow though?

[mantianak]

Just had a look on Ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Touch-Screen-8...QQcmdZViewItem

Not to sure if 8" will be too big.

[mantianak]

[QUOTE=biggles;8335]

* I do need to come up with an amplifier solution. Something like this might do the trick? http://www.electronickits.com/kit/co.../ampl/k143.htm

QUOTE]

I think Maplins sell the kit too. I don't know how many channels it has though, I couldn't read it anywhere.
I would recomend getting a decent amp, eg, Alpine. A good amp does more than just make it louder. It has filters, cut-offs and imroves the quality. You should be able to pick an older model up cheap these days, eg, Alpine v12.

[biggles]

[QUOTE=mantianak;9253]

Originally Posted by biggles

* I do need to come up with an amplifier solution. Something like this might do the trick? http://www.electronickits.com/kit/co.../ampl/k143.htm

QUOTE]

I think Maplins sell the kit too. I don't know how many channels it has though, I couldn't read it anywhere.
I would recomend getting a decent amp, eg, Alpine. A good amp does more than just make it louder. It has filters, cut-offs and imroves the quality. You should be able to pick an older model up cheap these days, eg, Alpine v12.

I have the HK amp in the boot. Once my finances have recouperated from the MacRover project the next logical thing would be to get new speakers in the doors and a better amp. Until then I only need something that can feed the HK, assuming that my HK amp is a fair bit easier to drive than a set of speakers.

/Erik

[biggles]

Originally Posted by Keith

Actually is all this messing about with a DD bezel necessary
this would do perfectly well and be more discreet when unattended

http://www.digitalww.com/DWW-750FM.htm

Would it clear the eyebrow though?

Only if you would like it to look real good. But I'd agree - good point about the eyebrow though. If it does clear I think it would look pretty OK, but if not...

[biggles]

Originally Posted by biggles

Only if you would like it to look real good. But I'd agree - good point about the eyebrow though. If it does clear I think it would look pretty OK, but if not...

On the other hand - I have my doubts wether I really would be able to craft my own bezel that actually would look better than the single-din fold-out solution.

/Erik