JDM Nav bezel
12-11-2007, 08:25 AM
#221
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I was originally looking at the Voom2 and was about to buy when the one i got came on a local boards.
The site for any car PC enthuasist is www.mp3car.com and the best front end is road runner - for gods sake dont install vista on the PC - i had it on the one i got and it was nothing but trouble.
If you go ahead with it , search torrents for a program called TinyXP .. it has all of the things u want with none of the rubbish , it runs fast and uses little ram which is great for a car PC.
The broadband on my system is a thing the mobile operators in ireland brought out recently ...
http://www.vodafone.ie/broadband/?bannerde...roadband_180907
Its good in 90% of places and completely useless in others , but it works well.
At the moment im powering it using an inverter so a standard plug works for the PC , but it hurts me to turn the car off as it kills the pc each time i turn off the engine so ill be wiring it up to the engine in time and have a shutdown timer system built into it as well to auto shut down the PC 5 mins after i exit the car.
The audio from the PC to the stereo can be an issue as well so i bought a thing called a ground loop isolator to stop that annoying buzzing sound when you accelerate. Havent fitted it yet but i hope it resolves the problem.
The biggest problem i had to be honest was the screen ... the max resolution of the screen is 800x480 , which as you might imagine is not a resolution you can normally set a screen to , but i found drivers for it here : http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/road-runne...tml#post1142923
at the bottom of the page is the link required for the screen that Aus and i both have.
I have a remote system on my PC so if anyone wants to log into it and have a look around let me know and we can arrange a time (the car has to be on obviously to do this) and ill giev u the address and the pass to log in and use the system ... its quite impressive but im still working on some things. (you only need a browser cause i have VNC set up for logging in)
The traffic cameras i have on my pc are all irish and based on the irish network - but they do quite a few locations at this stage : there 7 using them in Oz at the moment
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/rr-plugins...l-v1-2-1-a.html
If anyone decides to go ahead with a PC with the screen that i have let me know - i can help out with anything PC related (the screen drivers drove me mental) and i can customize Roadrinner (the front end) to specific needs if someone wants something.
Ohh the external USB TV cards dont seem to work at 800x480 either so thats something that may have to go.
The VOOM2 systems are pretty good , but that mp3car forums discusses pretty much everything about them. If you want more photos or info just ask , or add me to MSN - djtazie at hotmail and ask me anything
The site for any car PC enthuasist is www.mp3car.com and the best front end is road runner - for gods sake dont install vista on the PC - i had it on the one i got and it was nothing but trouble.
If you go ahead with it , search torrents for a program called TinyXP .. it has all of the things u want with none of the rubbish , it runs fast and uses little ram which is great for a car PC.
The broadband on my system is a thing the mobile operators in ireland brought out recently ...
http://www.vodafone.ie/broadband/?bannerde...roadband_180907
Its good in 90% of places and completely useless in others , but it works well.
At the moment im powering it using an inverter so a standard plug works for the PC , but it hurts me to turn the car off as it kills the pc each time i turn off the engine so ill be wiring it up to the engine in time and have a shutdown timer system built into it as well to auto shut down the PC 5 mins after i exit the car.
The audio from the PC to the stereo can be an issue as well so i bought a thing called a ground loop isolator to stop that annoying buzzing sound when you accelerate. Havent fitted it yet but i hope it resolves the problem.
The biggest problem i had to be honest was the screen ... the max resolution of the screen is 800x480 , which as you might imagine is not a resolution you can normally set a screen to , but i found drivers for it here : http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/road-runne...tml#post1142923
at the bottom of the page is the link required for the screen that Aus and i both have.
I have a remote system on my PC so if anyone wants to log into it and have a look around let me know and we can arrange a time (the car has to be on obviously to do this) and ill giev u the address and the pass to log in and use the system ... its quite impressive but im still working on some things. (you only need a browser cause i have VNC set up for logging in)
The traffic cameras i have on my pc are all irish and based on the irish network - but they do quite a few locations at this stage : there 7 using them in Oz at the moment
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/rr-plugins...l-v1-2-1-a.html
If anyone decides to go ahead with a PC with the screen that i have let me know - i can help out with anything PC related (the screen drivers drove me mental) and i can customize Roadrinner (the front end) to specific needs if someone wants something.
Ohh the external USB TV cards dont seem to work at 800x480 either so thats something that may have to go.
The VOOM2 systems are pretty good , but that mp3car forums discusses pretty much everything about them. If you want more photos or info just ask , or add me to MSN - djtazie at hotmail and ask me anything
12-11-2007, 08:48 PM
#226
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This sounds like a cheap way to get started...
I run a E-Vectra Hp Computer under my seat and run it up to a 8 Inch touch screen on the dash(removable) and have a Garmin USB GPS reciever($120) running thru GPS Gate splitting the signal into Ozi explorer, N-Route for street by street voice guided directions(this also runs Tracks4Australia) and Magellans Discover Aus.
The E Vectra can be purchased cheap,($50 ebay) and has plenty of go for running all you need, These computers are small and are 19vdc, therefore a car laptop 12v to 19v($20 ebay) will power it up easily. Mines under the passenger seat out of the way. The 8inch touch screen was $200 from,,, you guessed it(ebay). 7 inch screens are too small. Get a screen that has one cable that runs to it and splits under the seat for power,usb etc, saves running a heap load of wires to the dash.
GPS reciver can be any you have on hand, your old Vista etc. GPS gate is a program (around $30) that splits the one gps signal into as many virtual gps com ports as you like. Then link up your programs to the selected com port. Under $400 hundred for a set up that is not on your lap and does not take up alot of room.
For those that are worried about vibrations onthe hard drive?? No probs in two years of trips including the Simmo, Oddna track etc. I like to give the car a hard time and the computer keeps up well. As all maps and programs are different you will have the best of all worlds as at a touch of the screen you can change from one program to another and back as they are all running at once. A mate just purchased a street by street voice direction program from e bay for $50 and it uses map monkey and destinator for its program. Its works well, so it's not out of reach dollar wise.
Also the missus finds it easy to use. I'll post some pics tommorow for you.
For those with Garmin Mapsorce, N-route, I have down loaded Shonky Maps (Free, 330meg) and find that these are much better and detailed than Tracks4Australia IMO.
The E Vectra can be purchased cheap,($50 ebay) and has plenty of go for running all you need, These computers are small and are 19vdc, therefore a car laptop 12v to 19v($20 ebay) will power it up easily. Mines under the passenger seat out of the way. The 8inch touch screen was $200 from,,, you guessed it(ebay). 7 inch screens are too small. Get a screen that has one cable that runs to it and splits under the seat for power,usb etc, saves running a heap load of wires to the dash.
GPS reciver can be any you have on hand, your old Vista etc. GPS gate is a program (around $30) that splits the one gps signal into as many virtual gps com ports as you like. Then link up your programs to the selected com port. Under $400 hundred for a set up that is not on your lap and does not take up alot of room.
For those that are worried about vibrations onthe hard drive?? No probs in two years of trips including the Simmo, Oddna track etc. I like to give the car a hard time and the computer keeps up well. As all maps and programs are different you will have the best of all worlds as at a touch of the screen you can change from one program to another and back as they are all running at once. A mate just purchased a street by street voice direction program from e bay for $50 and it uses map monkey and destinator for its program. Its works well, so it's not out of reach dollar wise.
Also the missus finds it easy to use. I'll post some pics tommorow for you.
For those with Garmin Mapsorce, N-route, I have down loaded Shonky Maps (Free, 330meg) and find that these are much better and detailed than Tracks4Australia IMO.
12-11-2007, 08:50 PM
#227
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Hi All, Sorry but I got slack in posting the pics so here they are.
HP E-PC under the seat. 866MHZ 40 gig hard drive 256 ram.
8" touch screen mounted on the dash. Note one cable from the screen reduces clutter.
Close up pic, No lines on screen in real life, just in the pic.
Kev
HP E-PC under the seat. 866MHZ 40 gig hard drive 256 ram.
8" touch screen mounted on the dash. Note one cable from the screen reduces clutter.
Close up pic, No lines on screen in real life, just in the pic.
Kev
12-12-2007, 01:19 AM
#228
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Originally Posted by AusS2000,Dec 11 2007, 09:41 PM
BTW, LOL @ CUP
12-12-2007, 02:19 AM
#229
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Originally Posted by Austblue,Dec 11 2007, 09:48 PM
This sounds like a cheap way to get started...
Theres quite a good unused space near the spare wheel in the s2k if you get a small PC - under the seat is a bad idea because of the cables involved and the noise levels and also because people are curious and like to poke things and under a passanger seat it can be dodgy.
Theres a post on that on the mp3 forums as well 'reasons not to put a PC under the seat' i believe.
The PC is enhanced by about 100 times with roadrunner front end as it hides all the windows stuff , if you change the windows boot up as well it makes it even more appealing , get rid of the winlogin.exe and change it to minilogin.exe and you speed up boot times once again and have about a 15-20 second boot on the PC and straight into roadrunner so you have a working system in about 30 seconds with everything on the screen in front of you ready to go and music playing.
My full system cost about this :
Pc and screen
12-12-2007, 11:26 AM
#230
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Personally I just want a good GPS screen and what the hey may as well run my music too. I don't spend nearly enough time in my car to warrant tv cards and wireless internet but then I'd probably get a wireless access card for when I'm in hotspots since they're pretty cheap.
I guess what I'm saying is that I'm still in denial that the best of the best is what I'm after
I guess what I'm saying is that I'm still in denial that the best of the best is what I'm after