38 Mpg Pc

This is a few photos from my recent crave of making a car pc to put in my saturn. I couldn't find to many car pcs that were put into a single din headunit slot so i decided to see if it was possible. I found out it is possible. I have fit a complete computer (harddrive, slot dvd combo, powersupply, etc) in a single din headunit slot. It has the ablility to be removed and put into other cars with minor cable changes and a new spot to mount the LCD. I made the face out of mirror acrylic to give it that shiny feeling along with a front usb port for those flashdrives and ipods. :)

Here's a pic of earlier in the project when i went with a clear front. It was a temporary front while i looked around for the more permanent acrylic.

And here's a bad looking pic of it torn apart.

All in all, i've been testing it the past summer and this winter to see how well it works in the 140 degrees in the summer and below freezing in the winter. Never had a problem. So when i become less lazy and decide i can go without music in my car for a bit, i'm going to pull it and make some fine tuning revisions.

I like it. Maybe sand down the edges of the plexi a bit, but its pretty nice man :)

thats awsome, my friend is into both cars and computers so we had been talking about doing something like that.

nice job, looks great. Could you give some info on the parts you used and possibly some links im looking at doing the same thing for my S10 truck. Thanks and kept up the modding

Yea, I'd definetely like to know what parts you used...as I am just curious....
thanks, looks good! very well done!

For the actual computer i used:

Via Epia MS10000 ITX motherboard (low profile and fanless :))
Integrated 1Ghz Via C3 processor
256 Mb So-dimm DDR (gettin me a 512 for it is my next step)
60 GB Seagate 2.5" laptop HD
Panasonic Slot loading DVD/CD-RW Combo
M1-ATX automotive 90W power supply
D-link USB 54G wireless card
DeLorme Earthmate GPS
Alpine 4 channel amp (no headunit to power speakers)
Lilliput 7" touchscreen widescreen LCD

The case is banged out of sheet metal. I live in a small apt with small access to tools. :( The clear plexi is just to keep fingers out while i worked on the mirrored acrylic. I chose that pic cuz it was a decent shot of the insides.

The computer is wired into the ignition and turns on about 5 seconds after you start the car. It then turns off if the key is out of the ignition for more than 30 seconds, which means it can stand engine cranks and plays when you're gettin gas. :) The powersupply also directly controls the amp.

I order most of this stuff from http://www.logicsupply.com which is the best US store i've found for getting ITX boards and such.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Tim

wow... I love it. Can you give details on how it's put together, or just point us neophytes in the right direction for info?

BTW How's XP working for you on that processor?

thx
mcm

very cool. seeing how that idea would work for most applications, you in theory would have more room in a larger din size chassis like chrysler. shipped to 65775? lol. very cool.

jp

Xp actually runs decent on it. It does need that 512 on there though. otherwise xp is alright. When i pull i'm going to try 2000 along with the 512 to see what that does. As for notes and such, when i get some time between classes i'll post something for that.

About a larger sized din would be heaven. It's be much easier to put stuff in there and also make it look better. Also via announced a nano-itx a few years ago, which is a 7in square motherboard. The board would be much easier to fit but the board hasn't been released yet and probably won't anytime soon.

Also, if anyone happens to be interested, i need money for school so if anyone's interested, it's up for sale. just catch me on messenger or email.

windows 2000 is a thousand times slower than XP... i'd stick with XP if i were you.

but a very cool mod @.@