[All] [Generic] Car PC

Posts about stereos, speakers, sat nav etc and posts about car alarms or car security.

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Ryan S
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[All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by Ryan S »

Ok, needing a bit of help here, I'm looking for a monitor that is touchscreen and also the same size(ish) as a double din slot, I've scoured the net for ages trying to fond the right one but a lot of them are pretty hideous, Something that's as sleek looking as a tablet is what I'm after, I actually toyed with using a tablet as an external screen but it only seems to be wireless options available. All other aspects of the install are covered, I just need to sort out a screen :(
Mikey637
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by Mikey637 »

Appradio? Hdmi and phono inputs. I run my iphone through the apple to hdmi adaptor. Don't know if it supports native touch though
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by Ryan S »

Mikey637 wrote:Appradio? Hdmi and phono inputs. I run my iphone through the apple to hdmi adaptor. Don't know if it supports native touch though


I've actually found a possible solution in the form of an app called twomon USB. Costs £8, just downlaoded it so gonna mess about with it, it allows secondary monitoring via usb on ipad.iphone or tablet :D
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by C35Rob »

Ive seen tablets used successfully, I think one of the nexus tables is double din sized. "Mighty car mods" did an ipad install video (on youtube) which is informative if you can look past the cringey presentation style
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wenguin
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by wenguin »

I have a Nexus 7 in my DIN slot with a stereo behind it. Charges + USB audio out via special Y splitter.

I opted for gluing a N7 case into the DIN hole and then painting the whole thing, cut a hole in the side for power and audio out. Other people stick the tablet in the dash permanently but I wanted removable.

Would be interested to see your end result, sheppy!
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by C35Rob »

wenguin wrote:I have a Nexus 7 in my DIN slot with a stereo behind it. Charges + USB audio out via special Y splitter.

I opted for gluing a N7 case into the DIN hole and then painting the whole thing, cut a hole in the side for power and audio out. Other people stick the tablet in the dash permanently but I wanted removable.

Would be interested to see your end result, sheppy!


pictures?
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by Ryan S »

sorry guys, i should have specified that i need to run windows as i'll be monitoring the link g4, Very cool i know :lol:

i downloaded that wee app and it's absolutely amazing!! controlling my laptop from my iphone, it is obvisouly tiny on the iphone though!! You can set it to be the main monitor as well, this will look great on a bigger screen, i'm still having trouble waking the laptop from sleep mode though :(
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by gavsdavs »

I have a sumicom PC in the cubbyhole in my car - very much like this
http://www.kingyoung.com.tw/S625.htm

It's a DC PC with a car ignition aware bios, so you can watch for the ignition going off and shut the machine down (so you don't flatten the battery).

Might help solve the unit if not the screen and input devices.

UK distributors and allround helpful bunch:
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/CarPC_Shop.html
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by Ryan S »

gavsdavs wrote:I have a sumicom PC in the cubbyhole in my car - very much like this
http://www.kingyoung.com.tw/S625.htm

It's a DC PC with a car ignition aware bios, so you can watch for the ignition going off and shut the machine down (so you don't flatten the battery).

Might help solve the unit if not the screen and input devices.

UK distributors and allround helpful bunch:
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/CarPC_Shop.html



hmmmm, i might look into something like this, i wanted to use a laptop specifically to make use of the "sleep" function, it can sleep on the battery while the car is off.

what's the start up time like?? If it's not under 10 seconds then I could get pretty pi$$ed off with it pretty quickly haha :)
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by 2mad »

It would be nice to show data from the link g4 ecu on the screen for tuning :thumleft: bit fnf but i'd like it :D
gavsdavs
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by gavsdavs »

sheppy wrote:
hmmmm, i might look into something like this, i wanted to use a laptop specifically to make use of the "sleep" function, it can sleep on the battery while the car is off.

what's the start up time like?? If it's not under 10 seconds then I could get pretty pi$$ed off with it pretty quickly haha :)

Dunno, mine runs linux.
Takes about 5 seconds to beep to say it's powered on.
Takes another 5 seconds to go through BIOS,
Then however long the OS takes to boot - Mine is up in about a minute after full phase ignition.

Problem with a laptop is you need a rectifier of some sort to feed it the AC that the PSU uses.
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by Ryan S »

gavsdavs wrote:
sheppy wrote:
hmmmm, i might look into something like this, i wanted to use a laptop specifically to make use of the "sleep" function, it can sleep on the battery while the car is off.

what's the start up time like?? If it's not under 10 seconds then I could get pretty pi$$ed off with it pretty quickly haha :)

Dunno, mine runs linux.
Takes about 5 seconds to beep to say it's powered on.
Takes another 5 seconds to go through BIOS,
Then however long the OS takes to boot - Mine is up in about a minute after full phase ignition.

Problem with a laptop is you need a rectifier of some sort to feed it the AC that the PSU uses.


na, there are really simple chargers that convert to AC and run off 12volt, my laptop will go into sleep mode and still have battery life after around a week so i'm confident this is the route to go down, problem is waking it up, Although I have seen a handheld wireless keyboard/mouse combo that does in fact wake it from sleep mode, so this could be the way to go, ideally it'd all be automated through the ignition but as you probably know, laptops are a bit different due to having a battery :(

I'd like it to wake when it received power from the charger.
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by Ryan S »

Bit of a change of plan with this, all this messing around with laptops is daft, i could simply use a windows based tablet (i don't know why this didn't occur to me sooner) my question is can i use the screen to wake it up etc? Obviously the power button will be on the case bit that will be behind the trim :?
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by SonicSW20 »

What are you wanting to use it for? If you want to go the full custom route, have a look at the MiniITX, NanoITX, PicoITX and MobilITX form factors:

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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by Ryan S »

Just for monitoring the Link ECU and music man :)
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by SonicSW20 »

Ah, a tablet would be a possible option then. Most of them have a long enough screen of standby time that the power on would be instant. Android tablets normally wake up on seeing power, not sure about others. I guess the only remaining issue is can you make the ECU talk to the tablet over USB or Bluetooth?
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by wenguin »

I don't know the windows situation, but for Android there are custom ROMs have that kernels that have power up/deep sleep on ignition. mine is wired through a 12v stepdown from the cigarette lighter.

with windows i imagine there will be a way of telling it to turn on and keep the screen on the whole time there is power. if you're talking about turning the link g4 on, i'm not sure.

Rob - I'll take and upload some pics, think I might go premium and create a members profile. being an N/A, the tablet install is probably the most interesting mod i can make :mrgreen:
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by Ryan S »

android is unfortunately not an option as there is no software for the Link to talk to android :( It was have to be windows, not only that, it has to be the full version on wondows (x86) and not windows RT (like the phones and some tablets) A tablet with windows xp/vista or 7 would work, but wondows 8 is optimized for touchscreen so it seems like the obvious choice :) Tablet deffo sounds like the way to do this, As said it would wake up instantly so I could leave the link software running all the time etc, I would need an amp for the speakers but that's not an issue at all :)

Thanks for the input guys, I have looked at some of the car PCs etc but i don't think they're for me :( My one bugbear is that I want instant "wake up" So it has to be the tablet. :thumleft:
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by Ryan S »

wenguin wrote: if you're talking about turning the link g4 on, i'm not sure.


No no, the link comes on with the ignition anyway, the software can be set to "autoconnect" so when i turn the ignition on (assuming i have the tablet set up and the G4 software running) then the software should just see the ecu as soon as it gets 12v :thumleft:
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Re: [All] [Generic] Car PC

Post by Ryan S »

Gazza_DJ wrote:I guess the only remaining issue is can you make the ECU talk to the tablet over USB or Bluetooth?


Sorry guys, not got my specs on today and keep missing posts, the ecu talks to windows over USB without any issues, , It's anyones guess if it would talk to a tablet through USB though, I assume the micro USB port can have an adapter to turn it into multiple ports? I'd need at least 2, one to charge it and one to connect the G4. Also, is the micro usb port just a normal usb port? it will accept any USB connection?
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