I too own a similar unit (Kenwood 911DVD) with touchscreen. I don't think the touch screen controls would be ported into XP. Unless the unit has a touch screen output control that could be converted into either USB or PS2. Please, if you figure out a way, PM me.


en1gma19, very nice job. Question, when moving the HVAC controls, I know there are cables running to the actual unit. Did you have to cut any, or just reroute them?
If you get a new faceplate for the HVAC controls, post the pic.

Now all you need is a USB wifi adaptor and you could find hotspots and check your email...lol.

 

What are you talking about? Being a computer expert I had to ask those questions, I love that car PC but there are some issues that I don't understand yet.

 

sweet install looks good

 

True, you would definitely want some rubber isolators mounting the hard drives. Especially in a rough ride like the EVO. Any magnetic device is subject to damage from vibration. You could even un-magnetize a magnet just by dropping it. Hard drives are especially sensitive to this.
Read here:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...rd+drive+shock
You might get full life from a HD, and you might not. I'd just want to have the insurance by adding some damping to the device.

 

now that's hotness, but you better get stonger brackets to hold that pc down.

 

seems to me that if you bought a CARPC, these issues would already have been resolved.

 

A few words of advice before ripping 800 CD's from someone who's been there:

- Might go without saying, but make sure to back-up often, to a completely different disk, to avoid heartbreak if you have a drive failure.
- Turn "secure" ripping mode on - this will make ripping much slower but will avoid pops, cracks, and skips that otherwise you might not hear until much later when you're playing back the ripped file
- Go with the highest bit rate you can, subject to how much space you have available (of course if this is just for your Evo and you have not put in more sound deadening, it's probably not worth an ultra-high bit rate given the noise floor you're probably dealing with)
- Make sure your encoding options are set correctly at the beginning of every ripping session (some programs reset these settings every time they are run, for some reason)

Congrats - very cool setup, thanks for posting.

 

slickevo18- hahaha, there's at least one in every group I guess. If you're too short sighted to see the endless benefits of having a PC at your fingertips while you drive (GPS, data storage, AEM EMS logs and settings on the fly, DVD player, etc), then that's your problem, but I'm happy with it so hate if you want.


JuancaROD- The HD has rubber shock absorbers between it and the PC case and I also added some more rubber shock absorbers between the PC and the car floor. As far as shutting down the PC before turning the car off, there are options. I opted for an automatic shutdown device (Click Here) This waits a certain amount of time after ignition is switched off and performs a soft shutdown sequence. There is a jumper cable you can connect to enable the PC to start up with the car as well. This is only an option though, as the PC can also be turned on and off manually if desired.

56Hotrod: I didn't cut any cables, just rerouted them which wasn't that difficult. A little tricky, but if you have a little mechanical inclination and some patience it's very do-able.

MOOkie: The touchscreen connects to the Pc via USB/VGA and has a driver CD that must be installed for it to work properly. It only take minutes to setup and is very user friendly.

ez76: Thanks for the tips. I had already thought of some of that, but I will take all the advice I can get. I've only got about 25 CD ripped so far so I have a LONG way to go still, but it's exciting and will be worth it in the end.

I think I got all the questions so far. Thanks to everyone for the kind comments. Hopefully it will inspire others to do even more innovative things.

Evo Love!!

 

nt

 

Nice job!

 

Thanks for the explanation en1gma19, I knew there had to be some sort of shut down feature on that PC. A few years ago I saw a car PC running Linux in order to avoid the shut down process, it was cool but never got much attention.

 

A+ Work From me Im feelin that setup

 

Do you know the capabilities of a computer? I can't consider a computer to be "bling and chrome", it's more of a nerdy way of having more fun in the car

I admit, I know too much about computers, and this would be SO COOL to have in my car. I could listen to ENDLESS music (i am one of those "music collectors"), I could watch movies on there, I can go on EvoM as long as I park outside of Panera or something ( ), etc etc. You can do anything you do right now with a computer in there...

Btw, I was wondering how you are controlling the volume of the sound? And is the soundcard enough to amplify the 4 speakers in the car?

I would suggest a large, external HDD w/ firewire so u can take your music/movies/whatever with you between your home computer and your car computer. Firewire will make this a speedy process..

That setup is so cool tho, i love it

 

thats clean...im diggin the in car computer...might be on my to buy list now

 

C'mon... you've got a fast car running at a pretty high level. Wouldn't it make sense to you to have a tool in your car that essentially amounts to an in-car dyno? When I add my carPC as soon as the kit is ready, I'll be hooking up my wideband datalogger as well as my OBDii right into it. You make a drag run and you pull over and see EXACTLY what you just did. How many lime green civics need to monitor AFRs and timing, real time? It's not even remotely close to "pimping my ride" and having cool lights and tunes in your car - if you want that then just buy a cd/dvd headunit. This is so much more! It's just an added bonus that it can also hold 120gigs of music, movies, whatever, as well as Navigation... anything windows can handle.