Custom Car PC with GPS, M.Media, Wifi, ECU & Internet

[tehx]

Just updated the initial spec & pricing. After watching a few youtube video's, on the mp3car.com transflective enhanced Lilliput 7" LCD, Im convinced this is a good investment. Seems a few people have posted in different forums that they later upgraded to this LCD after experiencing too much glare on non-transflective LCD's. Check the link to the youtube video for a comparison. The colours have more contrast and the glare is reduced quite a bit on the transflective version.

The mp3car version is a bonded transflective LCD so it's 'glued' between the LCD and glass screen. A difficult process as you need to remove all the air bubbles etc from between the bonding. There is a 3M film that you can fit to a standard LCD for about $40USD however from the pics on various forums it does not seem to make anywhere near the difference, compared to the bonded version.

I think that given our hot and bright summers it might be worth spending the extra $$. Certainly open to suggestions on this one? Is it worth the cost, as it's three times the price of a non transflective LCD!

[CheesyMong]

Out of interest when u say you receive a call and Centrafuse mutes, I'm guessing this just mutes any audio being done by Centrafuse...it will not mute the radio if being played via the MAC unit I'm guessing, or do you gave radio going through centrafude as well?

Cheers

Joel

[CheesyMong]

Oh and where did u get the EeePC for $419 what model was it?

Cheers

Joel

[tehx]

I’m just using the AUX input on the MAC to get audio in at this stage so any muting will be audio from the Eeepc only (Centrafuse). If the MAC has a relay or TTL input to mute then maybe a pluging could be developed for Centrafuse. I should try hunt down a wiring diagram / pin outs for the MAC and see how it interfaces to the OEM Sat Nav, maybe there is a better way to get audio and even control into the MAC. Oh, and Centrafuse will dock your USB DVB-T (digital tv) / DAB (digital radio) / FM (analogue radio) applications so you could use one of these instead of your MAC. I noted some issues, with USB audio on these devices, posted in the forums. It also has inbuilt controls for FM & Internet Radio. TV support is under development and maybe this will be available in the soon to be releaset v3.0. BTW, DAB has started in all major Cities and you get a few more channels such as special event radio broadcasts. The Austereo Network broadcast their traditional FM channels (Triple M, B105, Today, MIX, 92.9 etc) as well as Pink Radio, a station dedicated to the Pink Concert Event and a few more.

I purchased the EeePC from The Good Guys - they were on special for an end of financial year sale. Bit of a story behind that one - I was in Harvey Norman and they were retailing for $729 (with a cash back included) when a random shopper informed me that The Good Guys had them much cheaper. I was quite blown away at the price as it's below cost at $419. So I guess the moral of the story is shop around! I purchased the 1002HE, with 5 hrs battery life. They had another model that was $512 with 9.5hour battery however it was physically larger in size. They both have the same specs; LCD, CPU, HDD etc and I preferred the smaller size over the extra battery life

[CheesyMong]

Thanks for the info mate.

I'll see if they can price match tehehehe

Cheers

[RAN94A]

*subscribed*

ever thought about selling your services to the forum hehehe

[CheesyMong]

My thoughts will be to install a docking station for the EeePC under the drivers seat so the removal of the laptop will be easy as and no plugging in of cables etc... will be required.

Cheers

Joel

[cyrus_b]

*subscribe

now im wondering if the money i spent on an RCA conversion, sub, amp and EA1251 was worth it.... probably not since at the moment still sounds crap...

ahwell, would love to see how this pans out - it interests me. but how hard is the installation process (software wise)? - sounds pretty complicated as i have very little experience in the applications you refer to (or with linux)

[tehx]

Hey cyrus_b, I found that setting up the carputer on XP is pretty easy. Just depends on how far (or wild you imagination) is on what you want your carputer to do. If you have a system with WinXP installed, Centrafuse just installs like any app. Before I found Centrafuse I was expecting to have quite a bit of work on my hands to get it running with all the features I wanted. I'll update my install post on WinXP and Centrafuse in the next few days so you have something to reference if you want to install it. I did have a problem with bluetooth and also getting applications (such as Garmin My Mobile) to 'dock' with centrafuse (eg. the application opens inside centrafuse and not on top) but they were quickly overcome.

My suggestion; just download the Cenrafuse 30 day trial and install it on your home computer. I think you will be pleasantly surprised (as was I) when you see it running. You can use a mouse, in place of a touch screen, so you'll be able to try everything out. I'm more than happy to assist with Q's relating to setting up the software or hardware for one's own carputer; so feel free to post your experiences.

Eebuntu on the other hand is more of a challenge. eebuntu ran all drivers etc right out of the box so the install of the OS was a breeze. Where it becomes time consuming is getting all the little features working you might like to use. There's more 'customization' required to sort out things like emulation and more so, just finding software you can use, without resorting to writing BASH scripts and/or applications in higher level languages.

On your comment about audio: I must admit that I'm expecting some little audio niggles along the way; hum, buzz etc. We are dealing with an unbalanced audio system so it's most susceptible to noise along transmission lines and circuitry. That’s why they use a balanced configuration in professional / commercial grade systems. Switch mode PSU's are a big generator of noise as are fluro tubes. On the up side the new Lilliput screens are LED back lit (not cold cathode) and I will be using a regulated and filtered 12 DC PSU (no switchmode) for the EeePC. I'm most hopeful that I wont encounter any nasty noise but should I do, the remedies are generally inexpensive. That said noise can be a real pain to diagnose & fix sometimes, inexpensive but still a pain.

Once I get the LCD & EeePC installed I'll be able to see what effect they have on the car's audio. I'll be sure to post my experiences.

On a separate note, I must admit that im rather happy with the standard MAC - for an OEM (MY07 GT.B) system anyways. My preference is to set the base lower than mids or top end, so its louder without distortion. Almost all music is 'doctored' to the max these days so you'll always playing with the EQ.

[tehx]

Hey Joel, Unfortunately the EeePC has no connectors for a dock (sigh) otherwise thats a neat idea. Im a huge fan of docks, particularly if you seen my work lappo with its zillion usb's, ethernet's, serial's & monitors. It's like the mother of all test equipment's. ;P

As for selling my services, it's something worth considering - yea. A lot of people would like something like this but either dont have the time or computer knowledge to set it up. If you're one of those people, feel free to PM me and we can chat about it some more.

[CheesyMong]

Bugger about the dock, but mind you unplugging a couple of cables shouldnt be too hard.

Where are you looking at mounting the EeePC? and How?

Also with the regulated Power Supply where would you be looking at wiring it in, and what features will it have ie my goal would be that when I turn the acc on in the car the PC and LCD will turn on and then when I turn the car off it will shutdown, what sort of equipment would we be looking at in that scenario.

Cheers

Joel

[CheesyMong]

Also $419 for the PC is impoosible to find here in WA u did well

[tehx]

Hey Joel, I just updated the Install post (2) with some details on powering up and shutting down the EeePC, or any PC with Wake on Lan/link. Im thinking that under the passenger seat might be the best place but the EeePC is small enough for the glove box too.

There are a couple of options with powering the system. The first and easies is to use the cig lighter sockets in the car. I found one under the dash - drivers side - above the clutch when I was hunting an OBDII connector the other day. Maybe that one for the screen and just use the supplied 12V cig-lighter adaptor. The EeePC has a cig-lighter adaptor you can buy from ebay for about $15 delivered so this could be connected to the socked in the storage bin between the seats. Then I still have the one in the centre console for other devices.

Depending on noise etc I might go down the path of wiring a cable direct to the battery and using a regulated PSU kit from Jaycar. Check cpitts blog, he has some nice pics and explanations of his work on wiring up his car stereo amp. Similar thing, just connecting the Jaycar regulated PSU to the wiring on the battery.

The LCD draws: <0.66 amps and the EeePC (at full charge) can draw 3.2 amps (12volts). Most cars support 20 amps from the cig lighter socket so we are well in spec to use the internal wiring.

[tehx]

Maybe you can locate a second hand lappo for the job? May I suggest an ex government Tuffbook, from an auction site or something. Unless you plan on playing FarCry or WoW, while sitting in peak hour traffic, all it has to do is play video's & run your sat nav.

Give this site a go: http://www.allbids.com.au/Category/?T=Notebooks%2D%26%2DLaptops&ID=32 otherwise good ol'e ebay.

[CheesyMong]

Hi Tehx

Can I just double check u got the 1002HE not the H version as that is the model with the 5 hour battery, the HE is the 9.5 hour model.



Cheers

Joel