I'm planning to buying a "carputer" to which I would add a GPS receiver, so now I need a good software for it. Recommend your favourite one :)

 

Ken

MapMonkey with Destinator Maps. Specially designed for Touchscreen in-car use.

 

Search http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin for info

There are quite a few now..

 

Autoroute 2006 now has voice direction.

 

As Legrath suggested - MapMonkey is pretty good & mp3car.com has all manner of info on car pc's

 

J

MapMonkey with Destinator Maps. Specially designed for Touchscreen in-car use.

 

Search http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin for info

Looks quite interesting, especially the feature to make your own custom skins. Does MapMonkey have a good user interface?

 

I wonder if you could get those Destinator maps for Scandinavia too.

 

http://www.mapmonkey.net/

There are quite a few now..

 

Autoroute 2006 now has voice direction.

 

As Legrath suggested - MapMonkey is pretty good & mp3car.com has all manner of info on car pc's

 

J

Thanks. Yep, I have been looking at a carputer from Mp3car, they are quite cheap compared to what you pay for them over here where I live. :)

I'd be carefull buying kit from the states mate.. after adding on shipping & tax etc could be a bit pricey.. but then again a few of the US guys have Nano-ITX pc's the lucky sods.

 

A very good UK based site is http://www.mini-itx.com they do all the kit you need.

 

I would recommend an Opus power supply combined with a Nehemiah motherboard. You could probably get a 1ghz based board for 100 quid.

 

J

I'd be carefull buying kit from the states mate.. after adding on shipping & tax etc could be a bit pricey.. but then again a few of the US guys have Nano-ITX pc's the lucky sods.

 

A very good UK based site is http://www.mini-itx.com they do all the kit you need.

 

I would recommend an Opus power supply combined with a Nehemiah motherboard. You could probably get a 1ghz based board for 100 quid.

 

J

Thank you, you seem to know quite a bit about this stuff :) The shipping and tax shouldn't be a problem, as I will get it as "moving" stuff from the States :)

 

I have been looking at this one from Mp3car: http://www.mp3car.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=123

What do you think about it? I have no prior experience of the Mini-ITX stuff, so all help is greatly appreciated. Do you think the Mp3car "Ampie" system would be worth it's price with M10000, 60gig HD, 512MB DDR Ram and the M1-ATX power supply (sounds quite neat with all the power on/off etc in-built functions)

 

My budget for this is about 700£ (1200$) and that should include the computer, at least 7" VGA Touch Screen and the Power Supply (I would prefer it to automatically turn on or shut off the car as you turn on/off the car). Basically everything I need to get a running computer in my car. What would you recommend me to get?

 

Oh, and I would prefer to buy this from the US as it's used to be quite a lot cheaper there and as I get free shipping and no tax.

 

Ken

Thank you, you seem to know quite a bit about this stuff :) The shipping and tax shouldn't be a problem, as I will get it as "moving" stuff from the States :)

 

I have been looking at this one from Mp3car: http://www.mp3car.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=123

What do you think about it? I have no prior experience of the Mini-ITX stuff, so all help is greatly appreciated. Do you think the Mp3car "Ampie" system would be worth it's price with M10000, 60gig HD, 512MB DDR Ram and the M1-ATX power supply (sounds quite neat with all the power on/off etc in-built functions)

 

My budget for this is about 700£ (1200$) and that should include the computer, at least 7" VGA Touch Screen and the Power Supply (I would prefer it to automatically turn on or shut off the car as you turn on/off the car). Basically everything I need to get a running computer in my car. What would you recommend me to get?

 

Oh, and I would prefer to buy this from the US as it's used to be quite a lot cheaper there and as I get free shipping and no tax.

 

Ken

 

The Opus or M1-atx PSU will work as a Full startup and shutdown controller with the ignition, as well as Voltage regulator.

 

That $394 is for Computer with no monitor, no OS, no keyboard, no Power supply, you build it yourself, no CD Drive, no bluetooth.

 

For the full spec as listed is $2064

 

Drop me a email on legrath@300zx.co.uk if you prefer, and I will see what I deal I can offer based on your spec.

 

Let me know if you have any questions or advice

Doh - sorry mate - i didn't see you were from Finland till after i posted lol..

 

I've been looking at car PC's for a while now aswell - plus i'm an IT technician so that helps ;)

 

It really depends on what you want the machine to do GPS or just a media centre??

 

Ok, first off you could use XP home, the only differance to Pro being the added network support - for a car PC its not really needed.

 

Monitor i would use a liliput touchscreen - they have a proven track record for in car PC's.

 

The creatives card is probably overkill but a nice bit of kit.

 

The M1-ATX will start & shut down your pc on the ignition & is probably the best on the market.

 

As for the Motherboard - the SP8000 will run at 800MHz so not really fast.. it would handle mp3 playback but if your planning on combining GPS/MP3 or Movie playback i'd pay a bit more for at least a M10000 or the MII12000.

 

The rest is ok, but i think unless your storing a lot of stuff 200gb is a lot of space, plus the power requirements would kill the car battery.

 

you really want to try & keep the even the specs with the power requirements.

 

 

J

I'll 2nd what James has said, The M10000 nehmeiah is a very good board. I've been running it in my Carputer for the past year.

 

Lilliput or Xarnac/Gain Screen. The Xarnac has better clarity in bright sunlight, but costs more. Wether you want a standalone screen for custom fabrication or a Motorized/nonmotorized in-Dash DIN unit will affect choices.

 

256mb is plenty. I would'nt recommend more than 512mb memory due to startup delays with increased memory.

 

On board sound is acceptable, but there is a noticable improvement wit a quality External sound card.

 

XP Home - Definatly, and then optimised and stripped down to get rid of everything not required, to improve performance.

Doh - sorry mate - i didn't see you were from Finland till after i posted lol..

 

I've been looking at car PC's for a while now aswell - plus i'm an IT technician so that helps ;)

 

It really depends on what you want the machine to do GPS or just a media centre??

 

Ok, first off you could use XP home, the only differance to Pro being the added network support - for a car PC its not really needed.

 

Monitor i would use a liliput touchscreen - they have a proven track record for in car PC's.

 

The creatives card is probably overkill but a nice bit of kit.

 

The M1-ATX will start & shut down your pc on the ignition & is probably the best on the market.

 

As for the Motherboard - the SP8000 will run at 800MHz so not really fast.. it would handle mp3 playback but if your planning on combining GPS/MP3 or Movie playback i'd pay a bit more for at least a M10000 or the MII12000.

 

The rest is ok, but i think unless your storing a lot of stuff 200gb is a lot of space, plus the power requirements would kill the car battery.

 

you really want to try & keep the even the specs with the power requirements.

 

 

J

I would like to be able to watch DVDs, listen to music and use GPS. I was thinking about getting M10000/MII12000, 60gig HD, 512MB RAM and a wireless network card (so I can park outside my house and move MP3's etc wirelessly from my home network to my car). I was thinking about just using the on-board sound card to start of with, and maybe get a better if the sound quality is really bad. Do you think a normal car battery would be able to hold this using a M1-ATX?

 

Ken

I'll 2nd what James has said, The M10000 nehmeiah is a very good board. I've been running it in my Carputer for the past year.

 

Lilliput or Xarnac/Gain Screen. The Xarnac has better clarity in bright sunlight, but costs more. Wether you want a standalone screen for custom fabrication or a Motorized/nonmotorized in-Dash DIN unit will affect choices.

 

256mb is plenty. I would'nt recommend more than 512mb memory due to startup delays with increased memory.

 

On board sound is acceptable, but there is a noticable improvement wit a quality External sound card.

 

XP Home - Definatly, and then optimised and stripped down to get rid of everything not required, to improve performance.

 

I would like to have a in-dash/DIN screen, but due to my car I can't. I was thinking about maybe getting this one: http://www.mp3car.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=33 or this: http://www.mp3car.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=136

 

How is your Lilliput in bright/direct sunlight, Legrath? Are you able to see anything on it? And what about at night, does it have a dim function?

 

YGM BTW :)

 

Ken

That setup should be fine mate.

 

Athough i wouldnt bother with the WiFi card TBH.. i'd invest in a decent sized USB hard drive. transfering large amount of files over Wifi unless its 54mb or 108mb would take ages.

 

J

That setup should be fine mate.

 

Athough i wouldnt bother with the WiFi card TBH.. i'd invest in a decent sized USB hard drive. transfering large amount of files over Wifi unless its 54mb or 108mb would take ages.

 

J

My home network is 54mb, but it would still take quite long to transfer big ammounts of files. I should maybe make it have wired lan. :)

Oh, and thank you very much btw, this has been a great help for me :)

My home network is 54mb, but it would still take quite long to transfer big ammounts of files. I should maybe make it have wired lan. :)

 

 

hmm I can envision a network cable running from the hub out the window/door to the car :(

 

USB drives are fairly cheap now so you should beable to get a 1gb one fairly easily..

 

J

hmm I can envision a network cable running from the hub out the window/door to the car :(

 

USB drives are fairly cheap now so you should beable to get a 1gb one fairly easily..

 

J

Yep, I have a 256mb that I bought a year and a half ago, I should maybe invest in a new bigger one :)

 

Ken

Legrath, did you get me e-mail?