Carputer configuration - help

[savagex]

What is a carputer ?
Its a computer inside a car - simple.

What is it used for ?
Audio, Video, GPS navigation, monitoring car stats through OBD II interface and anything else under the sun you can think of.

What are the main components ?
1. A 7 inch touchscreen
2. The carputer
3. All the other accessories (like GPS receiver, the sound system etc. )

I want to build a VFM carputer solution for my car. No idea what the lowest price can be as there are very less amount of carputer solutions available.

Please remember the following points while suggesting:
1. The form factor should be very small. ( the least possible).
2. It should not draw a lot of power. (remember it will be powered from the CAR battery).
3. Am not going to do lots of processing, so a basic CPU should suffice.
4. Please suggest cabinets as well. (Planning to install under one of the front seats.)
5. Remember the hostile operating environment of the caputer (ie a car). So please suggest components which can take a fair amount of shock. (eg laptop hard drives etc).
6. There are DC to DC PSUs available which are tailor made for cars.
7. Also suggest the best OS and allied software (eg. Centrafuse etc.) to go along. Any open source options will be very much appreciated.

I have done lots of reading on this topic, and by the looks it has to be a DIY. So where better advise to be found other than the thinkdigit forum ?

Please help guys.

 

[panwala95]

you can buy one of those nettops which have an intel atom or amd brazos platform

 

[savagex]

you can buy one of those nettops which have an intel atom or amd brazos platform

Any mobo / CPU in mind ? Also the form factor needs to be kept in mind.

 

[TheSloth]

Wow, why not install a awesome computer inside so that You can play games like NFS too

 

[savagex]

Wow, why not install a awesome computer inside so that You can play games like NFS too

That's definitely a possibility, but i doubt i will be driving after a long session of NFS

TDF gurus : Any ideas ?

 

[KDroid]

At first I thought that you were trolling. Then, I read your post. Then I went through a couple of articles. But building a *Carputer* does not seems to be VFM. What's your Budget?

 

[savagex]

At first I thought that you were trolling.

Trolling !! :O No sir.

As i told in the beginning i really do not know what can be a VFM budget. As carputers are a recent idea, this is a kind of project i want to have where i can zero in on the best VFM solution.

And there should be no reason why it cant be VFM (not necessarily ultra low cost).
The costliest hardware is the 7" touchscreen. other than that it is just a normal computer, with small form factor and a slim cabinet.
Isn't it ??

 

[KDroid]

What do you plan to do with it?

 

[fz8975]

which car do you have ?

 

[acewin]

tablets will be better offerings in this case. because you also want GPS and different functionalities.

 

[savagex]

What do you plan to do with it?

Quote from my first post.
What is it used for ?
Audio, Video, GPS navigation, monitoring car stats through OBD II interface and anything else under the sun you can think of.

which car do you have ?

M800 --> But soon going in for a brand new car.

tablets will be better offerings in this case. because you also want GPS and different functionalities.

I don't think tablets are the answer. They are not upgradeable. No PCI cards can be fixed (eg., sound cards). And also monitoring car stats through OBD II interface not possible.

Stumbled across this. Raspberry Pi