I was going to upload all the pics of the install but I dont know where the hell I put them but this is the finished result. I wasnt prepared to cut into my dash to sink the screen in and I didnt want to get rid of my vents so I cut the bottom part of the dash surround. I got some sheet metal cut it to fit, then carpeted it. I then bolted the LCD screen onto it. I needed a right angled dvi adapter as the cable was getting in the way of the gear shifter shroud. I had to cut a little bit from it though. The specs of the PC aren't that flash, its just got a VIA C7 proc running at 1.6Ghz, 2GB ram and a 500gb 2.5" hdd. I also installed a Creative 5.1 soundcard as the onboard sound wasnt that good and plus id rather have dedicated sound to free up some system resources. The power supply is an M3 ATX and is made for carpc's. It also survives engine cranks which is a bonus. Its also got an anti thump amp control but for some reason I cant get it working (psu isnt brand new so it could be damaged) so Ive connected the amps directly to ACC but I get a nasty thump as the PC is turning on. If anyone knows of a way to delay the amps for about 4 seconds, let me know. Even though the motherboard is pretty small, the case im using is made for an even smaller motherboard so I had to remove the hdd and slim cdrom cage. I then found a random spot to bolt the 2.5" hdd in lol. The case is bolted onto the rear parcial shelf with some washers so its not going to go anywhere. Touch screen works great but the glare is a huge killer! I need to find a way to minimize it as I cant see jack when the sun gets in the car. I plan to buy a USB radio tuner and if I can find one, a USB GPS dongle. Will also install a bluetooth adapter when I can be bothered. Software is Windows XP and a trial version of Centrafuse. Will end up buying it as its pretty damn good and works with hibernation perfectly. Things I need to do is fix the vents as I cut then with a dremel and look dodgy, and If I end up liking it after a month upgrade the motherboard as this is pretty slow. Oh, and umm.. put in a fuse as I forgot!
That sounds like a good way to fit a screen without doing too much damage to the dash. What size screen is it? Would you mind telling us where and how much for screen and PSU please.:zlove:
I bought the PSU from ebay for around $35 as it was second hand. New ones go for around the $60 mark. Google for M3 ATX. The screen cost me $159 also from ebay and cost me $159. The screen is 8". I would of loved an OEM look but I didn't want to cut up my dash and the PC on the shelf looks a little crappy, but Its very easy to take out and upgrade internal components. Im planning to make a little hood for the LCD to get rid of some glare so that should make it look a little more better. Thanks for the comments Also, cherryZ whatcha mean my wheel looks infected lol.
i used a small laptop i got from work with a cracked screen and a car charger. works perfect. have a touch screen that is mounted in the dash flip out style!
Looks good mate. Very impressed! I have an old laptop lying about and Zero Gauge cabling to the boot so I'm thinking of mounting one in there. Gotta look at the optons though.
I think its the angle of the wheel and the picture as it looks pretty shit in the photo but its not bad irl. Thanks , 0 gauge is pretty insane . Im running 2 gauge to my subs amp and I thought that's pretty huge. I got something like 6 laptops with random problems i've collected over the years. I was thinking of using one of them but liked the idea of being able to change parts easily although, one of them is a 2.8Ghz p4 with a 64mb geforce 4 mx440 video card and it would destroy the system I have atm.
Mate i would have maybe gone with an eeepc and a smaller screen to fit eeepc is easy to fit in say a glove box
I removed my Car PC yesterday as the touch screen stopped working. Otherwise, fine. I had a small Dell laptop mounted to the underside of the seat. Didn't give up any boot or glovebox space at all.
lol yeah. It might play Counter Strike Source but nothing like black ops. When I bought the case im using, the guy gave me a free mini itx motherboard that would fit with tons of room left behind the fascia. Only problem is, the specs are way slower than the one im using and the reason he gave it to me for free is because he flashed the bios with something dodgy and it killed it. I tried force flashing the bios chip in another motherboard but it wouldnt do it for some reason so im going to buy a pre programmed one for a few bucks. Crap, you didnt even have it for that long! If mine (more like when lol) dies ill probably end up getting a better screen.
