LCD screen questions Options

[wuhukf]

I have a spare computer and i'm thinking about putting it into the celi, but I was wondering what kind of screen I should use and how much I can expect to pay for it. Also, what's the most efficient way of hooking up the power? Right now i'm thinking about something like this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1091100745000 but a better one. Please give me any suggestions, thanks.

[snadman]

If you want to power a car-puter you need 400W.

[neo_in_aus]

hey dude, i have a car-puter in my celi, i suggest you head over to mp3car.com and read up, there is a huge wealth of information in the forum over there which i personally found VERY helpful.

[wuhukf]

Thanks a lot guys, does anyone know of a cheap but decent screen I can get? Also, is it better if I get a touch screen, cause i'm thinking about doing something with a laptop touch pad or a trackball mouse.

[blu94gt]

Thanks a lot guys, does anyone know of a cheap but decent screen I can get? Also, is it better if I get a touch screen, cause i'm thinking about doing something with a laptop touch pad or a trackball mouse.
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I think for a car application it would be well worth the money to invest in a touch screen. it will cost a pretty penny, but i'm sure you will find the benefits very worthwhile. plus it's that much less hardware you have in your car just to run the computer

[neo_in_aus]

ok well in general there are two brands of screen when talking about touch screens for vehicle use.

Lilliput is generally accepted as the cheaper version, there have been a few problems in the past with them, however i believe some of those problems have been fixed in the latest version. Xenarc is generally accepted as the better brand, but cost a lot more.

I have a lilliput screen mounted in my dash where the 2 din space is, and only have 2 problems with it. 1 is heat soak, it blanks out when it gets too hot, this can be fixed with a small fan behind the screen, and 2 is that during the day its not that readable in the celi, due to the angle of the dash. This doesnt really worry me as i start work reaaaaaaal early and its usually getting dark on the way home.

Of course there are other brands out there, but these are the two that are known in carputer circles. check out this link for prices
http://www.mp3car.com/store/index.php?cPat...f6f5d31d78edace

[bloodrain]

to determine how many watts you need, you multiply the voltage by the amperage and that will give you wattage. So 12 volts x 2 amps = 24 watts. And when your looking for power inverters DO NOT buy from a retail store. I work at radioshack and a 300 watt 2 outlet inverter costs $99. I got a 300 watt 2 outlet power inverter from ebay for $22 shipped.

[neo_in_aus]

on the subject of power supplies, depending on how much you want to spend, i would think about investing in a DC - DC converter instead of a power inverter. They are more effecient, and depending on which one you get will also often have a regulator and Startup/Shutdown controller built in.

For example, i have a Mini-ITX motherboard which doesnt really require a lot of power, so i have a 80 watt DC - DC controller and a seperate startup/Shutdown controller. I get in the car, turn on the ignition and the computer automatically starts up. When turn the engine off, the computer autamically shuts down cleanly.

[Digndoug]

get a lkillput touch screen.. around $300 shipped. thats what im getting.

[wuhukf]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Here's my idea for a computer in a celica.

I think it would look nice as sh!t and very doable to make a custom case out of plexi-glass that would fit into the hole behind the back seats. I'm talking about the hole you see when you fold the back seats forward, the hole to the trunk. I'm thinking about mounting about 8-12 fans in the case, 4-6 per side of the case. And to make it look cool, get the blue light fans. I want to keep the motherboard, cpu, hard drive (removable), power supply, etc. inside that case. and then keep the power inverter in the glove box. Then hook up a screen into the dash and either mount a laptop touch pad into where the change holder would be or take apart an optical trackball mouse and put it in the same spot. What do you guys think and what can you suggest to make sure everything functions correctly? Also, I would want to get a head unit with auxilary input so I dont have to use my computer all the time. For example, if i'm just driving to get a drink down the street, I dont want to boot up and shut down the computer, so I would just use the head unit instead.

[blu94gt]

why so many fans? that's just going to draw excess power and make a lot of extra noise. computers generally don't run that hot, especially one that's going to be used in a car application. yes it should be well-ventilated but 2 fans should do it very well. it's not like you're going to be running hardcore games and whatnot on it that's going to cause it to heat up. and the lights, eh well to each their own. if i put a computer in a car it would be hidden away where you cant see or hear it and just the output to the touch screen and speakers.

why not just take a standard cool looking small computer case, airbrush it or somethin so it looks cool and make custom mounts/wiring harness for it so it's removable like you want, but sits in it's place looking very sleek while in the car? i think it would work just as well

[neo_in_aus]

I have to agree with blu94gt. You shouldnt need that many fans. A question for you, what exactly do you want the pc to do?

As an example, i have no head unit in my celi, so i have the pc for GPS navigation and MP3's, and eventually when radio hardware that i am happy with has been developed, it will have radio(god i miss radio!!!). There is no optical drive and i am using a low power laptop harddrive.

I have the screen molded into the dash and the pc in the boot, right beside the amp. i have no fans except the CPU fan and thus far have not had a problem. I only need to install a small fan in the dash behind the screen.

The use that it is getting is not enough to require extra cooling. Now, if you were to be doing 3D modelling or gaming with a high end video card.......

[wuhukf]

Thats true, I was just afraid of the heat from summer time and I thought it would circulate bettter. What i really want this to do is play videos, music, gps, go online, maybe make phone calls with a bluetooth cell phone, and maybe play games through a game system such as gamecube or something for the passengers.

[blu94gt]

Thats true, I was just afraid of the heat from summer time and I thought it would circulate bettter. What i really want this to do is play videos, music, gps, go online, maybe make phone calls with a bluetooth cell phone, and maybe play games through a game system such as gamecube or something for the passengers.
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well thanks to you i'm working on pulling apart an old laptop to try mounting in my car haha. i've got a gyroscopic wireless mouse i'll use to control it for now until i can locate a touch screen, but you've got some good ideas

as for playing cube and stuff it would be easier to feed the cube straight into your LCD rather than through the computer, you will get a lot higher quality picture etc etc

here's my project:
I'm going to pull the screen off my OLD laptop and solder in wire extensions to the screen so it can mount up on the dash while the laptop runs in the glove box with the power adapter. the wireless keyboard and mouse reciever will be under the dash and the keyboard and mouse will be in the computer

WIRELESS MOUSE AND KEYBOARD HERE

those are an awesome set for an application like this. th emouse you can just hold in the air and point with your wrist it's really cool.

[neo_in_aus]

Thats true, I was just afraid of the heat from summer time and I thought it would circulate bettter. What i really want this to do is play videos, music, gps, go online, maybe make phone calls with a bluetooth cell phone, and maybe play games through a game system such as gamecube or something for the passengers.
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If you want to do all that i would seriously go over and check out mp3car.com. all the answers you want will be there. including making calls etc. Just remember that being able to see video's etc when driving is illegal in most(i think) countries, and so if your car pc is capable of it, then it might be harder to sweet talk your way out of a defect.

[Digndoug]

its would be much eaiser to just have a touch screen, no mouse to worry about.

[blu94gt]

I have a question now that I'm venturing into the car-PC world. How have ppl gone about running the sound into the car speakers? Just use a head unit with an input like for an Ipod or something?

[prpnum1]

I personally am going through my headunit i just have the headunit under the passenger seat hidden. If you would like to see pics of my install I would be glad to take some. Just pm me and let me know. Oh and like the other person suggested, mp3car.com is very very helpful. I knew nothing about this stuff before and after a few months of just reading around there, I am finally all hooked up now.

[neo_in_aus]

and i have done away with my head unit all together and have the audio going straight into my amplifier