Ok, heres the plan.

 

I've been using a Dell Axim X50v for work, also used for Satnav so i have a powered mount already mounted.

 

I've been toying with the idea of having an In Car PC for a while now but just had an idea....

 

Rather than shelling out £600+ on a dedicated PC & motorised monitor i thought about using my PDA. (which has the added benefit of being removable for security)

 

I was thinking of tucking one of these away in the glove box and one of these in the boot.

 

Has anyone got any experiance of the FM transmitters? whats the sound quality like?

 

 

J

You'll be pretty limited with the PDA.

You can't run all the diagnostic software for the car etc but if it's just for playing music etc then it's fine.

I've got a 2GB card in mine so never need to use a hard drive etc.

The FM transmitters reduce the quality to... FM radio quality or less so not very good.

You can buy a lead to plug your PDA into a car amp if you've got one.

Hmm - yeah the Diagnostic stuff is not too much of an issue ATM - plus i carry a lappy round with me anyways as i'm an IT techie so its always to hand.

 

The trouble is i've got about 40gb's worth of music on my PC that i'm always burning CD's & wishing i'd have more music lol. I've got a couple of spare 2.5" hard drives i could use for storing MP3's

 

This is the site that gave me the idea.

 

J

LOL

I don't see the point of carrying my entire collection around - there's only so much you can listen to in a week!

I've got loads of albums on my card and I just update them every now and again.

True - but i'm always changing my music moods - it depends what mood i'm in when i get in the car lol

 

J

Im doing a cheapo but decent car PC with a smallish Compaq EN p3 1ghz PC - 512MB ram, 120GB HD for £120 of ebay. 8" touchscreen 800x600 flat screen £120. And other gubbings.

Once its installed i will do a guide how i did mine.

just buy a dvd player and burn 4-5 dvds they'll be good for 20gb

just buy a dvd player and burn 4-5 dvds they'll be good for 20gb

 

Good idea - but my Kenny (300) & Pioneer (renault) wont read DVD's plus the spare din slot in the 300 is taken up with my boost controller & turbo timer

 

J

Im doing a cheapo but decent car PC with a smallish Compaq EN p3 1ghz PC - 512MB ram, 120GB HD for £120 of ebay. 8" touchscreen 800x600 flat screen £120. And other gubbings.

Once its installed i will do a guide how i did mine.

 

yeah - you can get a decent system cheap - i'll do that in the 300 eventually - but for now i'm using the PDA route

 

J

FM transmitters offer very poor quality and should be avoided.

 

Im doing a cheapo but decent car PC with a smallish Compaq EN p3 1ghz PC - 512MB ram, 120GB HD for £120 of ebay. 8" touchscreen 800x600 flat screen £120. And other gubbings.

Once its installed i will do a guide how i did mine.

 

You'll need either the Opus 150 or the m2-atx 12v PSU for a P3 Board and fullsize PC components.

FM transmitters offer very poor quality and should be avoided.

 

yeah thought as much,

 

I'm trying to find those 3.5mm jack to audio tape converters - would be ideal in the renault then just have the external hard drive providing music over the WiFi.

 

J

If you are just after music & video, then I bought a cheapish unit from eBay that plays CD/DVD/MP3/WMA/JPG with USB and SD slots and a 4GB SD card, I’ve not counted the number of tracks that I’ve put on there, but it’s about 1,500+

 

It’s also got a TV and Radio tuner, not a brand name, but ok for me and cost £150

 

DVDs play really well and JPG display well, I’ve not tried MPEG video from the SD card but this should work too.

 

My only criticism is that artist & track text presentation is poor

.. im lazy and going to use a 300W 12V to 240V Ac inverter with a mini UPS to smooth current wobbles.

The trouble is i've got about 40gb's worth of music on my PC that i'm always burning CD's & wishing i'd have more music lol. I've got a couple of spare 2.5" hard drives i could use for storing MP3's

 

why don't you fit an ipod, some go up to 60Gb i believe, you just need the control box for your head unit and it connects to the disc changer plug.

I've got an alpine screen and a little box the ipod plugs into, works really well