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My idea:

Use a touchscreen computer to control my music with a hidden external hard drive in the glove compartment.

Add GPS dongle ftw?

Right away I see powering it is going to be a problem along with hooking it up thru car speakers. I have another radio unit with AUX in, so I think I can solve problem 2 by hooking that radio up and using a touchscreen's headphone jack to run to the Aux in (which would prolly kill all glove compartment space).

Any ideas or is it more trouble than its worth?


If this is too much trouble, anyone recommend any touchscreen radios. Must have DVD or AVI playback, sub outputs, and AUX in.

 
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love the idea i was thinking of touchscreen too for next year...sorry i cant help you though im not much of an electrician

 
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its called a carputer.


search! or go on mp3car.com and check out their forum

be there done that. heres mine.












full touch screen interface, gps, 500gb of music+movies+pics, usb OBDII to monitor car's real time stats (a/f, fuel, mpg...etc)

 
Rep Power: 290

Wow, very nice
I like your setup

And yes, even Steve Meade has a carputer, but he has a mac

I was thinking of putting an Ipad, but then i remembered i wouldnt be able to play the games with the accelerometer

 
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holy **** that looks so nice lolol

how much did the set up cost ya?

 
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Yes, thank you! I love you...? lol


How much did you spend on your setup?

 
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back then, my setup ran me

$180 mobo/cpu (jetway via C7 cpu)
$70 500GB harddrive
$40 2gb ddr2
$40 audigy X-fi sound card
$140 power supply with smart powerup/shutdown controller (designed for carputeres)
i made my own chassis (hacked it out of a recycled computer case)



$220 7" lilliput touch screen with LED backlit


so about 700 with touch screen.

however, u can build it for a LOT cheaper now.

 
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cheaper than i thought

 
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yea u get get a full setup (including screen) for about 500 now a days.

 
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thats sick...if i could do fiber glass work like you that would be even awesomer

 
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are there DYI's for this?? well i prob wont be starting this for another year or so but just wondering...havent really seen any yet $500 is a even better price lol

 
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Also just thought about making a mount for something like the HP Slate (iPad alternative) and plugging it into an external hard drive.

Pros:
Portable, I can take it with me and use it where ever I go
Bigger screen
Can watch movies on the go

Cons:
Easier to steal
Plugging in power, aux in, and external HD every time I get into my car

 
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i actually started to make a DIY, but got kinda lazy n never finished. hahaha

u gotta build it urself, it'll be cheaper.


its actually not FG. its just bondo. and its real easy. if u can do play-doe, u can do bondo. its the same thing.

 
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Touchscreens are great, you just need to be extra careful on it.

 
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^ put invisible shield on it, and you're fine.

 
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yo where could i find it? like all the parts i didnt see a website. please please cause i was gonna put in a jvc double din screen but this seems so much better!!!!

 
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how did you shape it and mount the bondo?

 
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mp3car.com is the forum to look.

basically u need a LOWER POWER [consumption] computer.

u can build ur own computer. (better option)

or just use a netbook or something.

and then get a touch screen.

 
Rep Power: 351

here a quick DIY.

glue a lil bit of the bezzle onto where u wanna bondo it. just to hold it. i used epoxy.




fill bondo in



fill in more.


shape it a bit (no need to be perfect)



shave it and bondo some more



sand it, fill in more bondo if needed



sand some more



primer it


then u sand it down, fill the bad spots and sand it some more. primer, sand it. then paint it.

 
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so that was your original dash and you just cut it so the screen can fit?

 
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yup. 7in screen fits fine. if u go larger (fits up to a 10) but you will have some major modifications.

 
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ok i have looked around on there and i just cant seem to find the answers i am lookin for.lol i have a laptop. its an hp....an old hp. but i figured it could work. what all do i need to do to the laptop to make if work? or could i just hook it up to a VGA screen off of ebay? i mean i know i gotta plug it up into one of those power converters or what not. and i have one of those that imma chop up and plug in oh where do you recommend me pluggin it in and is it a must that i keep a radio in my car? thanks

 
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I love your set-up, it's extremely clean and well done.

I actually just finished the first phase of my own DIY mount about 30 minutes ago but I used an Archos 7 with an inferior OS. However, it does offer me a built in 160gb hd and wi-fi so all I did was do some wiring behind the console and punching some holes into the consoles for the aux in.

I haven't gotten around to connecting up a direct power source yet but as of now the Archos 7 fits snug but is easily removable so I can still use the tablet when I'm not in the car.

I wanted to ask though, do you ever fear over-heating of your unit? I was debating whether or not to add in a mini-laptop sized fan to get some circulation to my unit but didn't know if it was necessary.

Btw, this is a photo albeit dark since it was around 9pm when I finished.

 
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here is my most recent mold. its for my new led backlit touchscreen.

as you can see, i tilted the screen down a bit for a better and easier viewing angle.

this is the primer'ed product. still needa paint it...