GolfGTIforum.co.uk
General => General discussion => Topic started by: danhock on 06 April 2004, 11:44
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Anyone interested in these products?
http://www.freetech.com.tw/product/sub-carpc.html (http://www.freetech.com.tw/product/sub-carpc.html)
Comes with either the LCD in the sun visor or seperate...
Hopefully they'll be abour ?600 or so...
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cool :)
i have an epia itx machine at home as a server :)
i like the idea of having another battery in the car (run of a relay charge type thing) and having it on in the car, and being able to connect to it over wireless, so at home or work i could copy things to it and use it like a moveable storage centre.. and play music from it :)
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As its a PC you could use Bluetooth or Wireless networking to transfer MP3's.
You could also add GPS to it very easily and cheaply.
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If this is your kinda thing then check this out !!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4120731983&category=3698
Got a friend who's building a pc in to his car using one of these LCD touch screens - got a GPS module - usual PC stuff - should be quite phat, yet simple too.
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Im building one at the moment, my brother has got me a LCD screen from work, ive aquired a laptop motherboard with 833Mhz cpu. Got 10GB hardrive in. Just got to itstall it all into the glovebox and put win XP on it. :D
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Have you got a Power Invertor?
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the laptops 12v. I wont need one.
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It'll be the wrong current and wont it need AC?
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I thought because laptops ran off 12v bats they would be DC anyway. Was gonner sack off the bat and just wire my car bat straight in to the power on the mohterboard. Might smoke it. Have to have another think.
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I think you would smoke it....
Normally a notebook requires about 2-5 amps... You connect it to the battery (about 30amps+) you will smoke it.
Get an ivertor, they are about ?40
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Is the fag lighter inverted? I dont smoke so i could rob the power from there
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But surely it will only draw what it needs. Just because there is a potiential of 30+ amps doesnt mean it will draw 30+ amps.
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Nope. You really need an invertor
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Nope. You really need an invertor
yup :)
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But i dont want to go from 12v to 230v. The laptop will only draw the current it requires, how come the bulbs in your car dont blow? Because they only draw a small current because thats what they need. I can just wire it straight to the board and it will run fine ;D
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thats a good point!!
I think you can actually get AC / DC convertors for 12V-24V electrical items that plug into the Ciggy lighter.
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You only need ac to charge the laptop battery. The main board runs off dc. All im doing in effect is replacing the laptop battery with my car battery. via a soldering iron and a few wires ;D
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let me know if it works!!
Ive been considering an in car PC for ages... Thoug about the laptop route but was put off with the Screen issues...
I have loads of Laptops i could use!!
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will do mate, i was off the idea but when my brother got this 7" widescreen tft i thought it was an ideal side. Gonner hack me laptop to bits and just install the main board and sack off the keyboard and floppy drive. Just gonner add songs and movies via LAN. Keep u posted
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If you're going to run off the car battery/alternator I would consider using at least part of the laptop's power supply; the DC regulation and smoothing part.
Computer motherboards are quite sensitive and will want a nice steady DC voltage. What you get off a car alternator will be quite rough and ready.
What I would do is take apart the laptop's power adaptor, take out the transformer and connect your power cables from the car battery to the power supply's regulation and smoothing circuits.
This way you will get a clean DC feed for the laptop plus it can use it's own circuitry to charge the laptop's original battery so that when you stop the car, it keeps the computer going without draining the car battery.
That's what I'd do if I was using a laptop.
If you're going to do the Via/Epia/Mini-ITX job, try looking at this install:
http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/ice-unit/ (http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/ice-unit/)
Studying electronics occassionally has it's uses. :D
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erm why would you want a computer in your car ???
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Surely putting a ZIG unit into the car to power it to 240 volts and then back again will be a bit of hassle, fair enough if you want to run other 240 powered items at a later date but I think ideally you would have to set up a split charge relay and battery in the boot so you dont kill the normal car battery off.
Dont forget a deep cycle battery is designed to drain over a long time but doesnt have the instant ommph to start a car. Where as a Car battery is designed to give instant starting power but doesn't like to be drained down too much as it takes away its charging and power storing capabilities.
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A PS2, Gran Turismo 4 & Final Fantasy X-2 will do (when its released)
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Ive been looking into this.... just i have other things to purchase first, there are quite a few good sites about that show good installs, i would go down the mini itx route cheap enough to build yourself a small system and powerfull enough to run all the applications you need.
http://www.via.com.tw/en/VInternet/carpc.jsp - a few installs listed on here...