thats pretty sweet zidek....mad props for that!

 

yeah, thats what i was getting at...

any plans to integrate the computer more? like use your indash monitor for the screen with the laptop "docked" in the trunk or something...?? with a wireless keyboard maybe??

 

well..that could be a viable option.

Here's your dilema's.

1. Keyboard and mouse wont be able to be wireless since current wireless devices use infrared not RF.
2. Unless the laptop has an rca ouput. You wont be able to do it. A vga signal can only be carried a certain distance(usually the length of your monitor cable on your home pc)because of interferrance. You will get distortion and unwanted movement inthe image. So if you put the laptop in the trunk, it'll have to travel roughly 3 to 4 times the length of a normal vga cord. All this would be solved if the laptop has a tv output card in it. Then you can broad cast a 2 watt rca video signal easily up to the front dash without interference.
3. Resolution. Depending on the capabilites of your lcd screen. And with the limits of the rca video signal. Your limited to a maximum resolution of 800x600 meaning you wont have crisp clarity with your pc text you want to read.

Dave

 

They want to ban cell phones while driving and you have an arcade and a portable office while you drive :shocked:
All I can say is I hope I never have to drive next to you during rush hour

 

oh I know it'd be more involved that just planting a docking station in the trunk, and typing away on a wireless keyboard...

for a wireless keyboard/mouse the recievers could be mounted near the monitor somewhere...

And I figured a TV converter (VGA to Composite/S-video, forgot the name of them) could be used to get the signal needed.


Hondaneer- It seems the two of us have gotten off on the wrong foot with a little unnessecary name calling and other crap between the two of us... I dont mean to hate, and I apologize for the things I said, I had a bad day and took it out on you. Sorry.

 

LMAO!! Hey, at least he'll be occupied during rush hour!!

 

dude..its cool..i just snapped when you started goin off on guggen....i really shouldnt have said anything either...it was none of my business ..but its cool...ne wayz..back on topic.

that device is called a "vga box".....and i believe all ofthem come with outputs for both rca and s-video...so that'll be a plus. I think that lcd of his only accepts an rca.

But...on another topic..that power inverter will be taking a hit. As well as his battery. He might need a battery/alternator upgrade. Not sure how you should go about doing that.

And your right about the wireless receivers....just get extensions for your ps2(no..not the sony console)connections.

But earlier i was talkin with zidek about in the future i wanna have my own pc in my car. Not a laptop though..they are so limited when it comes to upgrades..and not to mention 25% more expensive sometimes. I was talkin about building a custom case to fit under the passenger seat. Theres PLENTY of room for a pc if you just build it right in the right case. But i'll have to prolly make the case myself outta wood or somethin.

Since the pc is up front....it'll be easy to access for powering it off and since its in the same cabin as you are(versus the trunk), you can make sure the thing doesnt overheat because you'll have your air conditioning on.

Ok...that was a whole bunch of unorganized mess. Hope you can read it.

Dave

 

you'd think with the high resolution that some of those TFT monitors have, they'd have an S-Video input... but I dont think I've ever seen one that does... except the $2000 plus screens for home.

I dont think the power inverter would need to be all that big... laptops use almost no power as compared to a PC. But there must be some sort of car power cable for laptops... instead of the 12 volts going into the inverter, getting stepped up to 120 volts, then into the laptop power supply and getting dropped back down again.

You're right, laptops are expensive... they gotta charge you to make everything small.

There is this one guy I know on the A-CL.com board, his name is MontrealCL, he built a computer for the purpose of playing MP3's and put it in his car... then he has a dot-matrix screen mounted below his head unit to display song and artist name and all that good stuff. I havent heard from him in a while, but last I knew he was hung up on the power supply... finding one or building one that took a 12 volt input and gave the nessecary 5 and 12 volt outputs. Im not sure how he controls all of it... but he seems to know a lot about computers.

I, too, was thinking about a "car-puter", but deemed it too expensive for now... besides, I only have a 56k connection to the net, so downloading songs in kinda inpractical for me. XM radio is in my near future too, so that should give me enough to listen to.

Edit: I just read what the origional topic of this thread was... oops... got a little off topic... sorry...

 

on topic:

i would say go with the LED soldering. it's probably the best way, but even I would take the spray paint way myself if I were lazy or needed to see how a quick and easy job would turn out. If you don't like it then get the iron, solder, and LEDs ready. it's quite expensive i believe.

and some guys on the TL board have done all their whole dash in LEDs. nate was the first and believe me, the TL has A LOT more LEDs to solder than the accord.

 

yeh..we did get kinda off topic there.

Hmm....and about that power supply...ur right...it really doesnt make sense to covert 12v dc into 120v ac then back into whatever a computer needs to run(somewhere between 5-10 voltes..depending on the processor and amount of hard drives). So he was smart to do a DIRECT kinda thing. But you gotta be careful with computer parts.....one spike of engergy will fry things. Thats why there's a powersupply..it regulates everything but i would give him mad props if he build a DIRECT powersupply that goes directly into his computer, that'll be awesome.

Yeh...the price for portability and size is kinda ridiculous, but we have no choice but to pay it.

Another thing about s-video. The difference between s-video and an rca signal is VERY small. They are almost the same embarrassing quality. so i dong think it would make a difference either way. You have a very very good alternative though...

Get a geforce 4 ti 4600 with dual dvi outputs and you can install two lcd flatpanels in your car It'll be cool if they made the lcd flatpanels so they could fit where zidek put his. But i dont think lcd's go that small that still receive a DVI input. BUT...if you could do that....you could have dual panels.....one for your own navigation pleasure..andone mounted on the ceiling for the "rear" passengers. Kinda cool huh? Just gotta pull it off.

Dave