[Mk2] [Turbo] My MR2 carputer

[davidmit]

Hi folks,

As I've finished (at least for now) my carputer, I thought I'd put it up on here for info of others. I've seen lots of other people do this so it certainly isn't new, but you can never have too much info huh.

I bought a small mini-itx dual core atom motherboard and 2 GB memory from ebay for £90, made myself a case (about 30cm x 30cm x 15cm) from perspex and just put it behind the seat.

I bought a bluetooth dongle for handsfree phone + microphone for ~ £10

80 GB laptop HD (tryed first with solid state compact flash card but was rubbish) - £40

DAB Radio - Read up on Digital-car.co.uk (about £100)

USB GPS - £40

12V DC-DC PSU M2-ATX (£55)

WIFI card (Already had a spare one)

7" widescreen LCD with USB touchscreen - £160

cables (£30)

so as you can see, not cheap but certainly not expensive given what you can do with it and you can do it much cheaper if you wanted to.

I moulded the screen into the dash, which is not too difficult, altough it is if you want it looking OEM. I need to take mine out again and sand and fill but can't be bothered currently.

It will turn itself on 5 seconds after I start the car and takes a couple of minutes to load and turns off after turning off the car. It will also turn on your amp and raise your aerial on start.

I'm using mine for GPS, Music, Videos and Radio but the possibilites are endless.

For cars after 1996, OBD2 is cheap to add in showing stats about the car, temp, revs, boost pressue etc.

G-Force meter using a wii remote control for G force and 0-60 calculation etc.

on board cameras, reversing, or just constant recording for the trip in case of accident.

Web on the move? err maybe.

Sound quality is not bad either.

I've uploaded a quick vid on youtube, you have to fast forward a bit as its from start so takes a few mins to get going. Any questions just ask.

My carputer demo on youtube

[si2040]

looks great...planning to do this as well but saw a fully built in one double din just plug and play but 10 x more expensive...can you give me a few tips on the software and wiring?

[davidmit]

Wiring is actually really straight forward.

Audio - 3.5mm jack from PC to 2 phono connectors in the active sound system already in the MR2 (least was in mine)

Power - look up about the M2-ATX on linitx, takes in a 12v power and ground I took 2 wires from the battery to behind the seat and one from the ignition wire for the radio.

I bought an extension USB hub so the radio, GPS etc I left behind the screen.

Takes a couple of days if you are slow like me to wire it.

Get any questions let me know.

Good sites with all the info @
www.digital-car.co.uk
www.mp3car.com

[David21]

Look very good

I have been researching this for a while now and have in my mined what i want to use and what i want to achieve to start with.

I have an IBM laptop not bad spec which i managed to get for free .

the biggest problem im finding now is getting the right screen. I have seen endless threads on the digitalcar forum and mp3 car forum which say the standard screens i.e not transflective are very hard to read in sunlight.

How are you finiding yours? I guess at the price of £160 yours isn't transflective?!

the transflective ones are so so so expensive (around £300!) I really don't want to spend that much seeing as im using a free laptop which i am not sure how long it is going to hold out for!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[davidmit]

Depends on you really, I missed out on a transflective one on ebay by about £10 and it went for £140.

I went for the linitx one, not transflective and I have a tin top so its not too bad. When the sun shines on it then you can't see anything. But thats not very often at all.

I'm glad I didn't fork out the extra really. However if I had a t-bar then things would have been different. Laptop should work fine, I considered getting a EEE PC first off before opting for the PC.

[Cj82]

where did you get the Centrefuse software from?

[davidmit]

I'm just using the trial of the software at the moment.

There are free software options available.

[recoil]

How did you use the WII remote, I wanna do something like that with mine.

I'm running mine from a 2gb CF card, but my computer never turns off. I would have thought that in an MR2 more so with hard suspension, that a hard drive wouldnt last long. Thats why I went for no moving parts at all.

Also noticed, you have a griffin power mate, where you have put it do you not hit it with your leg all the time?

[davidmit]

that powermate was the bain of my life for a couple of weeks. I put mine to the left of my knee. You can see the blue glow I think in the vid near the end. Doesnt hit my leg at all. Although top tip, take the rubber off the bottom else glue never sticks (Very annoying) I'm very glad I have it though, much better to control the sound and easy mute with it. Bit fiddly using the screen.

Laptop hard drives are pretty sturdy and have built in protection for bumps and knocks. And temp differences due to being made to be carried around. The CF just made everything more difficult and in the long run I was too lazy and it was too slow. You can get a PCI-e solid state card to boot windows in around 6 secs mmm. Teency bit pricey though

[recoil]

As I say thou not really bothered about the speed thing as my computer never gets turned off, unless im putting her to bed for a long time.

How did you do the Wii mote thing??

[Rev1Richie]

David

hi, i also have a carpc installed with a fully fitted screen, power etc.. however one thing i cant get is a radio running, how did you do yours, all the usb radios i tried were rubbish, so did you find a good one or another way?

also i see you had the internet running, i take it that was through your WIFI card, i also pressume that was also parked up next to your house..

I was thinking of getting one of those wirless broadband dongles ..what do you think, would it work on the move?

Any way great install, have you any daytime pics of the installation.

Ric

Ps i would concur on those websites, found them so useful

[Rev1Richie]

David

Sorry mate, just saw your next post down, are you saying you left the radio IN , how did you find the space?

Ric

[davidmit]

I took the radio out completely. I used a silabs USB radio, with an extended usb lead to keep from having to use a aerial extention.

You can buy FM aerial booster kits from ebay for around 15 quid. Might be worth a go if you have problems.

Make sure you ground the ariel connection as well. This made quite a difference to me.

[Frustrated Pilot]

I guess you could also buy the USB digital TV dongol too?

[davidmit]

If you stayed somewhere still for a length of time then yes. You would need to get a DVB ariel and tune it each time you stopped as you would be by a different mast.

If you ate you lunch in the car or something though, it might be a good idea.

[Frustrated Pilot]

Of course, you could just play DVD's until then

I would LOVE to do this one day!!! This has definately been on the WANT list ...kekekek

All I need now is some money lol

[DeusMR2]

That looks awesome mate, exactly what I want eventually!