hi folks. i am thinking of building my own car pc. i have some experience assembling pcs and no issues with software (work in IT industry). my problem is the car hardware part. things like how to hook up the audio to car speakers? how to connect reverse camera and have it activate when reversing? wiring?!?! how to wire gps and where to put it etc. how to connect the car's obdii port? where to put microphone - can it be built into the 2din chassis?? etc

my goals are
1. hv the unit look as oem as possible. i.e. i dont want unsightly wires sticking out here and there.
2. ideally everything encased in a nice 2-din chassis because i can transfer it to another car in the future if i sell my ride.


help?!?!

where do you place the GPS receiver? i want to hide it from view if possible. but from what i gather, it looks like i can't put everything in a single 2-din casing. with the power amp, i need to mount this somewhere else in the car, yes?

reverse camera - it's not possible to have this integrated into the LCD touch screen of the car PC? reverse cam is no big deal for me, i'm willing to give it up as i think it's nice to have but since i've been doing reversing all these years the manual way, i'm ok.

key thing is portability as i mentioned. i want to be able to remove it in an integrated unit and place it in my next car. gotta go dig more ...

yes, i have been worried about heat. i've seen the MTBF for the separate units like CPU, motherboard, etc. and they seem pretty reasonable. however, some of them are in the range of 50-55 degrees celcius for about 100,000 hours. in a 2-din casing, i have a funny feeling it might get a bit hotter than that when parked under the hot sun and immediately turning on the carpc and doing some heavy processing.

hmmmmmmm.......so mounting it in the boot is still better huh? means i gotta go to some car accessories shop and have them do the wiring for me. that's the part i takut. they don't know anything about carpc and i don't know how to bridge the gap. like duck and chicken!

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Added on April 26, 2012, 11:52 ambtw, what would you recommend for touch screen LCD?

has to be sunlight readable i guess given our hot and sunny weather.
7"

i've seen some people buying the LCD screens then taking them apart and mounting them onto fabricated 2DIN enclosures. this is too much work for me (don't have the expertise to fabricate these things).

are there pre-made ones? i saw somewhere that lilliput LCDs aren't that great.

This post has been edited by droll: Apr 26 2012, 11:52 AM

thanks for the info. my dashboard where the existing headunit is mounted is angled slightly upwards so there might be some glare. the backlight is a must. i hate touchscreens that don't respond properly. do let me know about how those screens work out if you get them.

thanks!

so what mobo and CPU would you guys recommend for starters?? also, can i draw power from 12V socket (i have one in my car's boot)? i've seen this -> http://store.mp3car.com/M2_ATX_160W_Intell...U_p/pwr-015.htm

is it sufficient to power the car PC and all peripherals connected to the car pc?

motherboards have a pin + connector for the on/off switch on the casing. do i connect the m2atx directly to this thereby rendering the on/off switch useless?

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Added on May 3, 2012, 6:41 pmok with this http://store.mp3car.com/M3_ATX_125_Watt_Sm...y_p/pwr-029.htm i can see how it hooks up on the mobo and i see cables to the mobo's on/off switch so i understand it. but where does it hook up to the car? i saw 3 wires (+, -, and ground). are these to be spliced into a 12v socket?

This post has been edited by droll: May 3 2012, 06:41 PM

ok i think i understand a bit better now. thanks.