Chris`I Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 Cheers Was just looking through that forum to try to find a solution, also saw this http://cgi.ebay.com/Built-in-PC-VGA-DVD ... 0092766699 Looks interesting, but I think for the money you could build something more powerful yourself. VIA chips/ boards were reknowned for being a bit underpowered for the MHz rating when compared to Intel a few years ago, with a 800MHz EDEN being no where near powerful enough. Plus if you build it yourself the screen would fit in the cubby area which is much better to see when driving Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrao Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 Have just seen these too http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lilliput-In-Dash-DVD-Car-PC-computer-with-CD-Burner_W0QQitemZ110112053868 quite like the idea of having it mounted up front in a DIN sized unit, could have this and my new alpine unit running next to each other and a screen in the sat nav cubby...makes running cables easier too if it is upfront. I am also going to Hong Kong in a few months.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 That looks quite cool! Again it may be a bit underpowered at 1GHz, but seems a reasonable price for the spec I guess. Also watch out for the 2 small fans on the back, they have to spin fast to move air which means they may be loud. Have a look out there and see if you can find one, bet it will be a fair bit cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrao Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 That looks quite cool! Again it may be a bit underpowered at 1GHz, but seems a reasonable price for the spec I guess. Also watch out for the 2 small fans on the back, they have to spin fast to move air which means they may be loud. Have a look out there and see if you can find one, bet it will be a fair bit cheaper. Look for another one of these, or just a normal carputer. Have seen a few people selling these on ebay, but mostly using 1Ghz processors. Was thinking that I would probably load it with a cut down version of XP, I have a version with a Vista theme which is quite cool and boots a lot quicker and runs quite smoothly as lots of the other crap isn't running in the background. Can you get a double din to twin single din adapter for the 350z? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 Can you get a double din to twin single din adapter for the 350z? Yes you can. The Autoleads adapeter I got off eBay does both a 2xdin slot or a single din with cubby below. This one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Nissan-350Z-stereo-fascia-plate-NEW-facia-fitting-kit_W0QQitemZ330109789358QQihZ014QQcategoryZ108815QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem I would suggest you look into mp3car.com forums if you havent already, they have lots of advice on how to cut down XP into a slick running OS with a smaller footprint. You can also try nLite which cuts down XP, but I found it cut out things I needed. I did a normal XP install and then disabled services to get it to run faster as I run on a Pentium M 1.4GHz which is more than fast enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrao Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 Cheers Chris...lots to think about! I am not adverse to buildin my own PC, have built many a PC in my day, but am getting lazy and having a nice neat one made up for me seems like a good idea! £300 (if i pick it up in HK) seems reasonable enough as I have an unused XP license at home anyway! Which lilliput screen should I be looking for, to get the best fit into a sat nav cubby? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingu2 Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 I feel that a 1GHz VIA cpu is about 40% too slow for a car PC personally - I had a 1Ghz via in my previous car computer in my last car and it was a bit laggy to use RoadRunner.. although Centrafuse is faster than RoadRunner and VIA have no doubt improved their CPU/motherboards so that 1Ghz goes further than it used to.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrao Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 I feel that a 1GHz VIA cpu is about 40% too slow for a car PC personally - I had a 1Ghz via in my previous car computer in my last car and it was a bit laggy to use RoadRunner.. although Centrafuse is faster than RoadRunner and VIA have no doubt improved their CPU/motherboards so that 1Ghz goes further than it used to.. I'm in no rush at the mo, thinking of waiting till the next model of something like this lilliput comes out with a faster processor in it. I am now not off to Hong Kong till August, so am sure there will be something better by then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 I feel that a 1GHz VIA cpu is about 40% too slow for a car PC personally - I had a 1Ghz via in my previous car computer in my last car and it was a bit laggy to use RoadRunner.. although Centrafuse is faster than RoadRunner and VIA have no doubt improved their CPU/motherboards so that 1Ghz goes further than it used to.. I'm in no rush at the mo, thinking of waiting till the next model of something like this lilliput comes out with a faster processor in it. I am now not off to Hong Kong till August, so am sure there will be something better by then! I guess if you wait then as you say things will have moved on a bit. You may even find that there is a higher power model available now, just its not on eBay. I know my 900MHz PIII was too slow when I had that knocking around. I would say something around 1.3GHz or more would do it. As for the lilliput, I have a 619 followed by an assortment of letters (cant remember sorry!). That seems to be the defacto screen from what I have seen. Also heard good things about Xenerc, and also the LinITX screens. Lilliput I have found the cheapest on eBay so I went with that. My carnetix PSU arrived yesterday, got it all wired up to my lappy and Lilliput screen now. Running it in a chain off an old PC PSU to provide 12v DC to it and all seems good! Just need to config it properly. Once I get my Zed and power to the back of it from the batt I dont think its going to be too hard to get it all installed Will post a pic when I get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted April 17, 2007 Author Share Posted April 17, 2007 Id go with lilliput over xenarc not just because its cheaper but also because you dont get as much glare which is why I chose it. carnetics kit you cant go wrong with excellent for both pc and mac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrao Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Are you using your Car Puter as a blue tooth hands free kit for your phone too? Just wondering about that as my new head unit won't let me use the built in kit that I have in the car Was going to buy a parrot and wire that in to my new head unit, but not so sure now as I am speccing up a Car Puter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 Are you using your Car Puter as a blue tooth hands free kit for your phone too? Just wondering about that as my new head unit won't let me use the built in kit that I have in the car Was going to buy a parrot and wire that in to my new head unit, but not so sure now as I am speccing up a Car Puter. With my mac cos it has built in bluetooth I can download the handsfree for free, dial numbers have voice activation the lot. Does your headunit have aux input? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 I'm currently split between using the Phoco implementation in Centrafuse or my HU for my hands free atm. My HU has it built in, but doesnt work so well with my phone. Phoco looks good and can do txts etc, but I'm not sure how to get it all wired in. The problem being that if the phone rings and I'm not on the car pc (ie listening to the radio through the HU) then I have to turn it to AUX quick sharp and answer it. I guess I could get a USB radio on my carputer and then use the HU purely as an amp of sorts, but I'll work that out later! Hopefully get my HU into the Zed tonight. Went to give it a go last night and gave up due to light. Got a bit confused as I cant seem to get the plugs on the back of the Bose HU to come off :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrao Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 I decided to order the Alpine KCE-3000BT to go with the IDA-X001 head unit that I have ordered. This way I can install these this w/e and not lose the bluetooth connection which I need. If (and when;)) I go the carputer route then I'll have a play around, but probably keep the phone through the HU as I only call while I am driving, i don't think I'll bother too much about texts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 I'm currently split between using the Phoco implementation in Centrafuse or my HU for my hands free atm. My HU has it built in, but doesnt work so well with my phone. Phoco looks good and can do txts etc, but I'm not sure how to get it all wired in. The problem being that if the phone rings and I'm not on the car pc (ie listening to the radio through the HU) then I have to turn it to AUX quick sharp and answer it. I guess I could get a USB radio on my carputer and then use the HU purely as an amp of sorts, but I'll work that out later! Hopefully get my HU into the Zed tonight. Went to give it a go last night and gave up due to light. Got a bit confused as I cant seem to get the plugs on the back of the Bose HU to come off :confused: you might need a special connecter to hook up the Bose unit, unless you know how to bypass this route Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingu2 Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 having the texts come through phoco/centrafuse is pretty cool - the computer can read them out to you even. and its nice to have your phonebook/calls and everything come up on the touchscreen.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 Pingu I pick up my 350z in 3hours, the mac is installed with screen cant wait to collect it well looking forward to it will post up pics tomo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingu2 Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 sounds cool looking forward to seeing some pics - sorry all mine have been a bit shite was washing mine at the weekend when some guy pulled up to have a chat as he has an import Z on order.. he mentioned about getting his jap satnav changed cos he saw my screen and assumed it was the factory nav - tried to convince him of the benefits of a proper car PC so the ranks of the PC-Z may be expanding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 sounds cool looking forward to seeing some pics - sorry all mine have been a bit shite was washing mine at the weekend when some guy pulled up to have a chat as he has an import Z on order.. he mentioned about getting his jap satnav changed cos he saw my screen and assumed it was the factory nav - tried to convince him of the benefits of a proper car PC so the ranks of the PC-Z may be expanding! Your pics were cool man, probably better than mine will be, my screen has been flushed into the actual lid cover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingu2 Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 hmm that sounds .. odd will be interested to see how that works out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Sounds like ppl are making good progress in the carputer arena. I just got my Pioneer HU installed, all up and running with very little problems. Only thing I missed is that the antenna is powered and I hadnt hooked up the cable to my PAC-ROEM as it didnt match any on my HU loom. Hooked it up to IGN and all is good One thing I did notice is (a) not only did Nissan do a sh*t job removing the satnav as they left loads of cabling, ( the guy who installed it should be shot, the wiring was a mess. Glad I dont have it now as it may have blown something in the car! Just need to get the cable removed from the transmission tunnel down the middle of the seats to tidy it up. Tomorrow I think I will attempt to run my power cable from the battery to the glove box, and maybe the AUX & screen cable through to the HU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrao Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Just received my iDA-X001 and it doesn't have an aux. in There is probably some sort of adapter that I can get to plug into the multi changer port, not looked yet, was hoping it would have either RCA inputs or a jack plug aux in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zedrush Posted April 25, 2007 Author Share Posted April 25, 2007 Just received my iDA-X001 and it doesn't have an aux. in There is probably some sort of adapter that I can get to plug into the multi changer port, not looked yet, was hoping it would have either RCA inputs or a jack plug aux in Dont worry mate my alpine didnt have aux in but I bought an adapter with a 3mm wire to plug in the back of my back headphones out for £15. Guys its all set up got car back last night and its absolutely awesome I have music, dvd, internet, cd burner, dvd burner, sat nav, photoshop, illustrator, handsfree phone software, voice activation, everything. pulled up outside a street close buy and put internet connection search (warhammer) and synced with 12 airport connectors, I synced with a server and went on the internet, I made a post last night from my car Just hope the people dont mind me sponging off there server lol will post pics later today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrao Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Where in London are you Zedrush - wouldn't mind taking a look at an installed system before I take the plunge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingu2 Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 sounds nice Zedrush you have GPS running too right? im in Kingston if you want to check my install out sometime - always keen to show off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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