Questions
I get a lot of emails asking various questions about the
Car PC from people who are looking to build there own and
look for advice. To save time I've decided to complile a
list of the most common questions I get asked along with
answers. Remember though - it's just my opinion!
Q) How do you power the Car PC?
A) I use an Opus Technologies
Auto PSU. This connects directly to the battery and
recieves a signal from the ignition to tell it when to
turn on and off the Car PC. It's efficient, cuts down on
noise introduced into the system and allows the system
to go into standby mode when the car is switched off to
enable almost instant-on.
Q) How do you get the Sound through the speakers.
What are the options?
A) I connect the computer, from the Line out of the PC,
to the factory head unit (car stereo). It connects into the
CD-changer in using a device called a Connects2
AUX Adapter. This enabled me to keep the standard stereo
in my special edition Focus MP3. I use a ground loop isolator
(see
here) to filter out any unwanted noise.
Other options are to buy a head unit that supports AUX in,
or to use a dedicated Car audio amplifier connected directoly
to the Car PC powering your speakers.
Q) Are you worried about it getting stolen? What
do you do about the screen?
A) The screen is detachable from it's mount. If i'm leaving
the Car I take the screen with me. It's only a 7" screen
and fits in my pocket. The main unit for the Car PC itself,
in the boot comprises of just the mainboard, PSU and HDD,
which combined are not that valuable and additionally are
hidden from view. The software and effort spent is more valuable
and I have a backup of these and the original software disks.
Q) How much did it cost to get set up?
A) Not accounting for the trial and error involved in buying
the wrong parts etc, this is a simple run-down of how much
it cost. Bnear in mind I used an old HDD I had lying around.
- VIA Eden mini-ITX motherboard with 800MHz C3 CPU (£71.68
inc VAT from www.linitx.com)
- 512MB PC2100 DDR RAM (£56.39 inc VAT from www.crucial.com/uk)
- 20GB Maxtor EIDE hard drive
- Opus 150W Automobile PSU (£151.58 inc VAT) from
www.linitx.com. For more information, see www.opussolutions.com)
- Lilliput 7in SVGA touch-screen TFT (Approx £200
inc VAT from www.cartft.com. For more information, see
www.lilliput.cn)
- Globalsat BU-303 USB GPS 'mouse' (Approx £30 from
eBay. Also £70.50 inc VAT from www.easydevices.co.uk.
For more information, see www.globalsat.com.tw)
- Belkin 10M USB Bluetooth adaptor (£23.45 inc VAT
from www.expansys.com)
- Netgear WG121 USB 802.11g wireless LAN adaptor (£50.99
for new model WG111GE from www.dabs.co.uk)
- Connects2 AUX interface adaptor (For more information,
see www.connects2.com)
- VIA Sereniti 2000 Case (£41.13 inc VAT from www.linitx.com)
- Ford Focus vent dashboard mount for TFT (£23.44
inc VAT from www.dashmount.co.uk)
- ECU serial port adaptor (Prices from approx £45
from www.scantool.net)
- DLink DRU-100 Digital FM Radio (£8.17 inc VAT from
www.scan.co.uk)
- Maplin In-ear Headset Microphone (£7.99 inc VAT
from www.maplin.co.uk)
And for the software:
- Windows XP Professional (£238.52 inc VAT from www.dabs.co.uk)
- Microsoft MapPoint 2004 (£246.98 inc VAT from www.dabs.co.uk)
- Destinator 3 Pocket PC version (£72.85 from www.routeplanners.co.uk)
Q) How do you get it insured?
A) It can be insured as ICE with most insurance dealers
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