Anyone wired up a PC in their van?

[Irish Pete]

No, there are no problems with that. I have a laptop connected via a cigarette adaptor and I can have a usb hub with an external HDD, touch screen, mouse, keyboard and remote receiver all working fine.

[ringo]

Can the EEE play mp3's/divx from an external hard drive ?

Anyway, im not getting one. They look uber cool but i want a touchscreen jobbie if im going to have anything....

I've not looked too hard but a touchscreen looks quite pricey...

Ringo

[powelly]

Can the EEE play mp3's/divx from an external hard drive ?

Anyway, im not getting one. They look uber cool but i want a touchscreen jobbie if im going to have anything....

I've not looked too hard but a touchscreen looks quite pricey...

Ringo

Yeah not a problem, although I also have an 8gb SDHC card in mine so I can run stuff off that without the need for an external hdd.

You might like to look at this tutorial and these touch screens.

[amulet]

Okay I'll try not to make this response to much like an essay...

I built a vanputor into my syncro about a year and a half ago. The main reasons behind it were that I was travelling through a number of different countries and wanted to run mutliple sat nav systems from one platform. The idea started to mushroom from there with the obvious other benefits that a pc in the van would bring such as big mp3 playback facilities, VAG interface to the ECU, web browsing, email, downloading digital pics from the camera when the memory gets full and the list goes on.

I decided to build a windows based 'car' pc. When I was researching everything (and it might have changed now) the following websites offered the best advice:

http://www.mp3car.com/

http://www.cartft.com/

http://www.digital-car.co.uk/

http://www.letscommunicate.co.uk/carpc/

http://thetabletpc.net/products.htm

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/tour/dtc_screen.html

http://www.gendan.co.uk/product_VAGUSB.html

I found cartft to be the best value for components and sourced everything from the touchscreen monitor to the motherboard from them. Other bits like the VAG interface and software I sourced from the bottom two links and then just salveged two laptop 20GB hardrives which work a treat. The spec of the install is as follows:

- VGA Touchscreen monitor - in dash
- Voom PC / Amphie Computer Case
- M1-ATX Power Supply (important as prevents overloading when you crank your ignition if running of the main battery)
- VIA M10000 Motherboard
- RAM 512 DDR 400
- USB DVD ROM / CDRW Panasonic
- USB GPS Reciever (SIRF3 Chipset)
- Linksys USB Wireless Modem
- 2X 20 GB harddrive
- Windows XP Pro
- Centrafuse (car interface management software to prevent squinting to use small pc icons)
- Touratech GPS software
- Memory Map GPS ordance survey
- MS Autoroute

I'm not that techy but found it quite a simple job to do the install myself. It's been through some pretty tough terrain and stood the test well with 0 faults to report which is more than can be said for my ECU which went caput when put through the same conditions...!

If I can dig out some pictures I'll post them up.

Cheers,

Andrew

[ringo]

Thanks for all that Andrew - very helpful.

So did you consider RoadRunner over centrafuse?

Have you wired up your sound to an amp or to a stereo?

I was thinking of sabotaging an existing PC, but the fanless option is key i think.

Im quite interested in getting the VoomPc - probably go for a bundle kit like this...

http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=11827

However, thats quite a bit of dosh so i will have to wait a bit!

Can you please explain the difference between Memory Map and Autoroute ?

Thanks again

Ringo

[amulet]

Ringo,

I didn't really consider Roadrunner as I used ICT (in car terminal) which was the predecessor to Centrafuse.

re: amp - basically I have connected my vanpc to my stereo via the aux port and the pc's sound port... my stereo then runs the amp.

re: GPS - memory map provides ordance survey maps for off-roading etc whereas autoroute gives me the entire UK road network and postcode pinpointing etc...

re: the bundle - I agree, it looks a bit pricy but probably saves the time in messing around sourcing different components from everywhere...

Cheers,

Andrew

[thewibbit]

Hi there boys & girls... just coming in on this one.
I've been trying to get all this sort of thing set up in mine for a while too & I think I've just about got it sorted.
Sony head unit with usb & aux input £87 amazon
This is running 2 little 3 ways with the bass taken out with crossovers.
Big JBL 4 channel 400 watt amp (ebay £28) under the drivers seat driving another 4 big JBL speakers (2 in the doors & 2 in the back)
Then I got a Dell laptop from a mate (fairly cheap) & upgraded it a bit ie 80 gig HD & a creative PCMCIA sound card (£68 amazon but a F Brilliant bit of kit).
Have a lind laptop adapter (ebay £6.70 delivered) which runs of the leisure battery (110ah) via the cigar lighter.
As you can see I've spent a bit but it's amazing. The kids can watch hours of dvd's and we've got 60 gig of tunes on the hard drive too. It's v funny watching them jump when there's loud noises on the films. I personally would highly recommend a laptop for all this.

[ringo]

I personally would highly recommend a laptop for all this.

Nice...

Thanks for the info about the head unit - i will have to invest in one of those for me sound (if ever get round to it )

I think if im going to do this, then im going to have to setup a touchscreen for satnav, mp3 etc - it just seems an awesome solution to me. However, in the face of reality, probably buying a tom-tom is cheaper and hell of a lot easier!

Still, im a bit of a geek, and i love tinkering with computers.....

Ringo

[wackos00]

does your head unit control your pc, ie is it a touch screen for the pc?

[matt-the-sign]

Sorry to ask what maybe very stupid questions, but ..... how does a touch screen work, can I just plug it into my laptop, load the software and then .... what ? Is there a mouse you move around with your finger on the screen ? Can you look at this forum for example and just touch the bits you want to open? Sorry if Im being thick

[wackos00]

Yes you your finger becomes the mouse, anywhere you touch on the screan the mouse goes to, if you tap a place its like right clicking if you hold it its like left click. what im interested in is if thewibbit's headunit controls his laptop, ive just got a standard touch screen which i will mount some how

[matt-the-sign]

Wow Thanks for that

[lowtimeppl]

Here's mine

VIA EPIA M13000 motherboard
NewVision 8 4:3 LCD panel with USB touch-screen
1GB RAM
80GB 2.5 notebook HD
12v -> 12v power supply/regulator

Windows XP Professional slimmed down with NLite
Bluetooth
WiFi
USB WinTV dongle

All lit up with blue CCF tubes.

Pics can be seen in my Garage

Cheers

[poshbuggers]

That's awesome.

[Titus A Duxass]

Nice job.
I like the case solution.
Where does it sit?