I've been fooling around with the idea of putting a x86 processor based MP3 machine in the car. I surfed price watch a bit and here's the cheapest prices I found for the basics of it.

Screen: Legacy LM71 - $107.10 - http://www.ikesound.com/product-product_id/1317

Mainboard: Sapphire Axion A3-M275 MicroATX - $49.00 -
http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/simp...5583&ad=pwatch

Processor: AMD Athlon Xp 1500+ - $45.00 - http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=218

Memory: Generic 256MB PC2100 DDR - $27.00 - http://buyaib.com/25pc21brinst.html

Harddrive: Western Digital 30GB 7200RPM - $41.99 - http://www.ussa.com/ussaonline/produ...D116%2D1004109

Power Supply: Tiger 300W ATX - $8 - http://www.str8buy.com/powmanfp30am.html

Power Inverter: Syntax SPI-140A DC to AC - $19.00 - http://www.accessmicro.com/content/p...=SPI140&ref=pw

Total: $297.09. (not including shipping prices)

I chose that motherboard for one reason, it was the only one MicroATX I could find that had onboard TV-out and VGA, so that I would be sure the LCD monitor would work. If you wanted to do a setup like this without a monitor, you could probably find a cheaper mobo.

Obviously there will be other small items you'd need, like a PS/2 remote for changing songs/volume, etc... but I'm listing just the basics for building the system.

For being able to hold 30gig of MP3's, I'd say that's a pretty good price.

 

Oh, and the best thing about this kind of setup, it's completely upgradable and totally customizable.

Want a DVD player? Add another $21, http://www.hoct.com/592.html

Want a quickcam to record that cop being a royal *******? $13 http://www.maincomp.com/shop/product.jsp?id=228&pw=

The possibilities are endless.

 

I have been thinking of doing the same thing, but those deals are much better than i have found thanks.

But I have been worried about road vibrations, hot and cold, dust, and other things a car computer would face. what do you think about these?

 

Road vibrations probably won't be a problem. As long as you're not going over speedbumps at 40mph, and have it properly bolted down somewhere.

You'll have to rig up some fans to blow on it to keep it from getting too hot, but I don't think a computer could be too cold.

Dust is inevitable in any computer. Just blow it out with compressed air every month or so.

The only problem I forsee with putting a computer in a car would be making it properly shutdown when the car turns off, without pressing any extra buttons. Some company makes a DC-DC power supply specifically for this though. It removes the need for an inverter, always a good thing, and knows when the igntion is on or off, and makes the computer go through its regular shutdown sequence when the car turns off. It also has a timed complete power turn off in case the computer freezes when shutting down, assuring it won't drain your battery. Unfortunately it's about the price of this complete setup. =P

 

if you want a cheaper setup that will run windows or linux, try a miniITX board. built in processor, soundcard, network card, video card w/ tv-out, and usb. if all you're gonna use it for is mp3, this is a perfect setup. tiny size, everything built in, little else to buy. dont get too hot at all, and draws very little power. most of these board go for very little as well (under $200). if you're interested (although i'll probably get in trouble for this), i actually have one that i may be willing to get rid of as well. pm me. if not, still, this is still a very good board for your setup....

 

I have a concern with bumps also. I have it some bumps in the road and did not see them before. I do not theink a desktop harddrive is going to hold up that good. I am looking into laptop harddrives which can take a little bit more abuse. Just a thought.

 

It's also possibly to mount the hard drive with some very soft rubber bushings, or a spring setup, kind of like what they use for cd players, If you do a search on mp3 computer-in car. they make some killer accesories/setups.

These guys at min-itx put computers in missle cases, picture frames, even old PSX cases, some really cool stuff there. Also, consider a FM transmitter so you can go wireless from your mp3 unit (computer) to your stereo head unit nice to do withut wires, and they sound crystal clear.

If your going wihth a small unit, or a mini itx check out

Mini-itx.com

 

I disagree with the FM modulator to the head unit, use RCAs.

I currently have my iPod wired up and a mount installed in my car, so I just plug the stereo mini-jack in and put my pioneer to AUX. Tons of music, and it can go with me whereever I go. The only thing left to do is wire in the AC power adapter to an ACC wire (so I dont use up the cig lighter slot) and its done. I'll post pictures soon.

 

Hmm, I never heard of these mini-ITX boards... looks very interesting...

Must... resist... impulsive... buying.... =p

 

That was my other idea. I just need some money to start testing things out. Gee I need a second job bad. Has anyone seen a complete desktop computer in a car that was functionl all the time. The few I have seen, ie star trek maro and some in vans have not been that great and I have not seen the whole setup.

 

I was about to doze off last ight, and I remembered some of the things I was looking at when I was going to put a desktop in my car.

You don't need really high speed for MP3's or dvd's, games are another thought tho.

My local Tech shop has new and used computers. Some of what we are looking for is already done. Small slim line cases That would fit underneath a regular car seat (not a third gen).

#1 wirless rca's are cool, but why use rca's when you can find a 12v powered modulator to send audio to your head unit without wires. These run in the $20 range, about as much as a good patch cord.

#2 USB 2.0 With USB 2.0 you can hookup just about anything, and it can be very fast. If you're going all out with a pc in car, why have a head unit. Instead you could use a USB CD-rewriteable and have it fit right where your head unit goes. In car with a usb hub you could hook up.
Joystick
TV-tuner
Aux-tv inputs
Video camera
Mp3 player
Memory stick readers..
ANything you can think of you can usb, and cable length isnt really a concern.
#3 I use these on my laptop. Wireless mopuse and key board. It is soo nice not to have to use that tiny keyboard I use a wireless one, and its great..

#4 802.11b wireless. Never have to move files physically. For about $150 you can get USB connectablility. You can sit in your driveway, and access your in-house files an high speed internet. Without ever lifting a finger... Lots and lots of possiblilities.. Not to mention moates software and chip burning in-car.

 

The hard drive will hold up fine in the car, I've had mine in for well over a year now and theres nothing wrong.. I have it mounted vertically also.. Not to say it can't happen, beacuse it has happened to others before. I wouldn't worry about temperature either, as long as it's not 100+ degrees it should be ok. Just put a fan on your case.

I just did that exact thing, I have a wireless router in the house and I put a wiresless card in the car computer, all I have to do is either turn on the car and turn the computer on, or just run an extension cord to it real fast, and I have the car computer shared so I just transfer stuff from this house computer to the car from in here.. Works like a charm!

 

slayer6669 Do you have any pics of your instalation. I would love to see how everything is setup. I looked on your website and did not see anything. I did find what you were using and am very impressed.

 

ok I found the drawings. Where is the cmputer located.

 

I forgot...
I use a web cam in my house hooked to my compuer so I can monitor whtat goes on in the house from the web. You could do the same thing in car.

Hook up a web cam VIA the handy usb port in your car. Sit inside your house, and watch whats going on insde the car aat any time.

If you didn't want to do the whole wireless deal, you could just have it record on motion. So when the guy ganks your head unit, and amps, and camer and cords. You can unbolt your computer, and get aa video of the guy who stolle your stuff. You would of course have to bolt the compuer down damned good or mount it under a seat so it was nearly impossible to steal.

Anyone with a computer in car should do that, web cams are like 30 bucks.

Tiger direct sells computer alarms. They actually go inside the computer, and have a siren/motion sensor/vibration meter etc.. somone trys to take the computer, the siren goes off.

Another thought, A lot of laptops can be had cheap these days. Laptops have hook ups for external monitors, and TV's..they also have outputs for keyboards. They will opeate with the lid closed.

So stick a laptop under your car seat, hook it up and you are good to go. They have battery's so when you shut off the car they can run on their battery's. You can run an inverter to supply power when the car is on, and set the laptop to go into standby mode after it is dormant for a while.

So..power on car charges batterys and runs off inverter, power off and leave the car, it switches to battery's and goes into sleep mode until it is used again.

Get a usb hub, and external monitor. hook everythign up in your center console, never even have too look under the seat at the laptop.

UPS (back up batterys for computers) You can run one of these off an inverter (they can be had at around $100) it will make your desktop just like the laptop described above.

When you shut the car off, the inverter quits and the UPS takes over. After a few minutes, the computer goes into standby mode, and doesnt drain the battery in the UPS..

 

I don't exactly have pics of any finished product at the moment beacuse none of it ever really got finished.. I made my own plexiglass case for the computer which came out pretty big beacuse of the DVD-rom unfortunally.. I plan to mount it in between the two rear seats on the hump.. It'll sit over the rear seats a little but I don't mind I really don't have backseat passengers.. I might even decide to redo it and make it a vertical case instead of horizonal.. The LCD screen I had inside a case, I finally just got a fourthgen console and made mounting brackets for my hvac controls, LCD screen and head unit (which I just installed also, previously i've been running with no head unit for over a year). I've still gotta come up with some kinda faceplate/cover for everything yet.. Either with some ABS plastic or maybe fiberglass I'm not sure yet..

 

Cool. Keep us posted.

 

Hey guys... with these mini-itx boards, do they use standard SDRAM/DDR SDRAM or do they only work with their specific memory? They're site didn't seem to say one way or the other, but wanted me to buy their RAM anyway. I've got a couple extra sticks of RAM, 512 of DDR and 256 of SDRAM, so I don't want to spend the extra money for new RAM if I don't have to. Their RAM is insanely priced.

Also these use standard ATX power supplies correct?

 

According to the research that I have done, the new ones take stadard DDR RAM and uses the a ATX power supply. There is also some barebones sytems to get you started.

 

I have a MP3 PLayer in my car that is a computer. MiniAT MB, 4 gig HDD, 166 or something Mhz processor, 32 megs ram. Runs DOS 6 so I can have FAT 32. Its a great system, never overheats. It has no air vents and ran all day through 110 degree weather in AZ and California with no overheating. Oh, and the HDD has over 8,000 miles on it with no problems.

I have it crammed into that space were the little box normally goes.

 

with mini-itx, the older ones use regular pc133 ram, with the newer ones running with ddr ram. they use a normal atx power supply, but microATX PS's will work too (same as an ATX one, just smaller in physical size and usually less powerful, but more than enough for an itx board). the greatest part about these boards is their size. i believe they're 17cm x 17cm in size. perfect to put anywhere, and have everything you could need (pretty much) already built in. just add hard drive and memory, and youre done.
cough cough....(i've got one i wanna get rid off).....cough cough. sorry, somethin in my throat.....

 

hmm... interesting

 

AmorgetRS do you have pics of your setup. Would love to see it.

 

I don't right now, however I'll take some this weekend when I go home to the car.

 

if your going to put a computer in your car might as well hook up everything else like am/fm radio a/c and maybe navigation

 

for thoes of you wondering about how the harddrive will last.


i had a pentium90 @ 100Mhz back in the late 90s as a MP3 player in my car......


during the days just before Napster and everyone and their momma was downloading MP3s.... heh



i never ever had a problem with that.

the hardest parts at that time was finding a display and a input method to select songs.



i ended up making a "remote" that was really nothing but a keyboard chip that had specific switches wired to it... for example when i pressed the play button, it was like pressing P. and my software (DOS based) played it.

for booting, well, DOS boots fast... and there is no "shutdown procedure" just cut the power off.

for the display i used a serial output and had a simple 2 line LCD text display.... looks really old school now, but it worked and was high tech then.



if i ever find where i put it, i bet it STILL works.

 

Yea there made by clarion have been for years.... The cost just a LITTLE over the 300 mark though lol more like 3000 for the top of the line with gps and all the bells and whistles

 

why dont you buy a CD-MP3 Deck it will cost like 250+

 

anyone else intersted in putting a computer in their car? www.mp3car.com very knowledgeable site

 

DMN......with a computer you can store an insane number of songs (limited only by the hard drive size) and never have to have a CD in the car. You'll never have to try to remember which disc a certain song is on. You can set it to "random" and listen to it for 2 months without hearing the same song twice. You can have a complete highway map of the US at your fingertips.....and you don't have to flip the pages.

The possibilities are endless.

 

Hey, reading this got me really interested in doing this. I have quite a few machines I could rig up in the car, but actually when I really think about it, it doesn't have anything over an Ipod, for example. you can get what? 30 gb Ipods for like 300-400$ can't you? and you can take them with you.

But if you have the money for an lcd I can see why you'd do it. Games, visualizations, dvd's, the possiblities are endless.

Or, I think I may have found a fairly nice solution. An Xbox!!! They're way cheap now, have built in 8gb hard drives, are very sturdy and already put together! what more could you want!!!
And with the remote, you don't even need a visual output. Just turn it on, wait 5-10 seconds to boot, then press down twice, then enter twice, and boom!!! Got yourself music!
(btw, with a modchip you can get a larger hdd and new media players that will play mp3's, otherwise it rips them as wma's)

I'd do the pc thing, 'cept it's pointless without an lcd imho
(heck, an xbox would be way cool too with an lcd!)

 

Man thats an awsome site. I'm already registared

I never thought about the Xbox thing or the ipod

 

I registered awhile ago its a great site they've answered about every question you could have! Im still in the process of building one im putting a dvd drive in my dash (laptop drive more shock resistant, smaller size) im gonna put it in the dash right about where the center console meets the dash above the heater controls. and the lcd screen in the passenger side of the dash

 

mp3car.com is the place for car computers.. It's pretty much the only big website related to it.. That's where I read up on everything and you can pretty much find out anything you want there.

 

car computer

 

yea thats a good site to if your really plaining on doing this you should use linix or MS-dos, i wouldnt use windows


P.S. how are computers like air conditioners?

They both stop working when you open windows

 

Totally agree about using DOS over Windows. Linux is great if you know how to use it.

I used DOS for mine, and would never even think of using Windows after working with DOS.

 

Couldn't you just stash a notebook computer in the car?

 

Yeah, people do that to. Just not my cup of tea.

 

i am currently running a laptop in my camaro. with a mic to rca adapter to run to my aux in on my stereo so i have part of my mp3 collection in my car i love it no more changing cd's!

 

laptop seem to be the bess salution because there power consumption there compact design and you can take it with you istead of just leaving it in your car.