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ive decided to go on with my dorky car computer idea. I just cant wait to have 160gb of hd mp3 music and dvd video at my disposal! Not to mention the wireless high speed transfers and web surfing i'll be doing (well, at least from my driveway for now . Ive got eveything I need including a 7" wide screen vga lcd monitor and a 300watt power inverter.

Now.. its time for the hookup. I wanna stick the pc in my trunk, and run all the wires for the input devices to the front. that straight forward enough. my biggest concern is how this sucka is gonna power on.

Most simply, i would run a speaker wire up to the front of the car from the pcs power button...but then i started thinking- it would be nice for the pc to turn on when i turn the ignition. how would i go about doing this?? should i use some sort of relay? will my battery be able to handle turning the engine over and powering the pc up at the same time??

thx.

 
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I would be wise not to crank over a inverter powered PC.
If you insist on surviving crank, invest in an opus.

 
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mp3car.com

 
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an opus? whats that?

does it cost a lot? if it does im screwed!

 
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Ive had mine for over 3 years in my car =)

 
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Opus is a DC-to-DC power supply designed specifically for automotive computing. THe reason 909 suggests it is that it's able to supply voltage even through the voltage drop created by cranking your engine, thus saving your carputer and its components. It'll cost you roughly 2 bills.