Carputer 101

for gps software i highly recomend iGuidance, its cheap and its the best one of all IMO. Has 3d (not true 3d) map viewing,you can imbed the software into a frontend,its just over all great.

thats pretty much it,all you need is a nice 8-10awg power and ground wire. I must say it is very CRUSCIAL that you ground it an actually ground,like the chasis,a lot of the weld joints are plastic weldings,it will not ground right,i mean it will ground but you will get a whining noise a long with engine acceloration.

here is a trick that i did for turning on the computer(i recomend this,but i dont want to recomend this for your buisness,just if you really know the guy and you want to hook em up. Wire the powersupply instead o the ignition wire to turn on cpu,wire that wire to the Accessory wire,i mean a reall acceroie wire not the cigarette lighter. do this only for remote start systems,so when they remote start the pc will boot and by the time they get to their car it will be already booted, another note if you are goin to do that be sure to wire the screen to a relay into theignition to complete the circiuit (meaning instead of the screen shining the car while the engine is on and none is there,the screen will be off till u put the key in car. wire the screen its sellf into one of the molex ground a 12v line.

another thing,i dont know if you are allowd to even install these into cars as a buisness, this carputer may very well could be illegal,because it is a distraction,no control of watching a dvd while driving(meaning you are not supose to have a vid runnin while driving), you may not even pass inspection. I always have my computer shutoff whenever i go for inspections,so i passed(despite my 5% tint) Man that was a lot of typing ,if you dont mind i am goin to copy this whole message so i can place in my carputer101 forum,this is very useful for people.

 
There are a few things I don't understand about carputers.

One, is what is the point of having a carputer turn on when you remote start when you'll only have to shut off the car to start it again? I'm guessing when the remote start is running, you stick your key into the ACC position and then shut the car down?

Two, power. I know how you get power to the computer. . . but is the PS wired up like an amp? You know, power, remote, ground? Connect the wires with some connectors and you're done? Also, how do you get power to the LCD? I see the Lilliputs have a cigarette lighter, but I don't want to give up my radar detector. Is there a way to splice that and just hook it up to power and ground?

Three, preouts. Are there any cards out there with a decent preout over 2v. Ideally, it would be 5v. Are you confined to using the 3.5mm to RCA adapters, or is there actually a card that would have at least front and rear RCA outputs?

 
In addition to prochobo's question above regarding pre-outs. I'm looking for at least a front/rear/subwoofer output with independent level control. Is there a sound card that offers this capability? How about front hi & low, rear and subwoofer outputs?

I would be more interested in low impedance outputs vs. high voltage outputs. Is there a sound card out there that offers this?

How would I do time alignment, crossovers and EQ? Is there software or hardware to handle these functions?

I would be very interested in high quality D/A convertors, such as the multi-bit Wolfson's or Burr-Browns. Do soundcards exist that come with this level of D/A conversion?

 
There are a few things I don't understand about carputers.
One, is what is the point of having a carputer turn on when you remote start when you'll only have to shut off the car to start it again? I'm guessing when the remote start is running, you stick your key into the ACC position and then shut the car down?

Two, power. I know how you get power to the computer. . . but is the PS wired up like an amp? You know, power, remote, ground? Connect the wires with some connectors and you're done? Also, how do you get power to the LCD? I see the Lilliputs have a cigarette lighter, but I don't want to give up my radar detector. Is there a way to splice that and just hook it up to power and ground?

Three, preouts. Are there any cards out there with a decent preout over 2v. Ideally, it would be 5v. Are you confined to using the 3.5mm to RCA adapters, or is there actually a card that would have at least front and rear RCA outputs?
I wired my Lilliput into the 12V line of a molex connecor(so no cig plug blocked) PSU wired exactly like a audio amp,except the remote is now ignition. and since I wired to acc wire ,no it does not it does not shut off until the entire car is off(no acc power now flowing) the ignition (i am talking abouit the statement you made) i wire my screen into the ignition plus a relay so the screen isnt shining ehile its on its on remote start,until key completes circuit.

 
In addition to prochobo's question above regarding pre-outs. I'm looking for at least a front/rear/subwoofer output with independent level control. Is there a sound card that offers this capability? How about front hi & low, rear and subwoofer outputs?
I would be more interested in low impedance outputs vs. high voltage outputs. Is there a sound card out there that offers this?

How would I do time alignment, crossovers and EQ? Is there software or hardware to handle these functions?

I would be very interested in high quality D/A convertors, such as the multi-bit Wolfson's or Burr-Browns. Do soundcards exist that come with this level of D/A conversion?
If you were to use a soundcard,the soundcard software has its own equilizer option,or even the frontend you use(like mine is Centrafuse) it has its own eqiuilizer you can play with. i am currently running through my aux of my HU and it sounds fine,i control and equilize with my HU fine plus the copu equilize,so thats twice the equilizing(also equils twice the work).

 
Hmmm. Sounds like a carputer is a great option for someone who wants to use a computer in the car, but a poor replacement for a good headunit, as indicated by the fact you still run a headunit downstream from your PC.

 
hey I have been looking into carputers for a litte while now but still need some help. I was planning on throwing a laptop under my passenger seat and hooking it up to the touchscreen in dash. I was just wondering what you would recomend as the best way to power my laptop? I have subs and an amp in the car right now so I could easily run a distro block off the ground and power wires but still don't know how to actually hook the laptop power up. I heard that cig adapters (like to easily plug my laptop ac adapter in) are not the best way to do it so...

 
I would say to 100% always run a HU in addition to a carputer. I have messed with 3 carputer installs lately and all of them did not sound right unless hooked up with a HU. At least I couldn't get them right.

IMO, it will take too much money to make a carputer sound like a HU can, as far as processing and all. Not saying it can't be done, as it easily can, but it is hard. I'd rather have the ease of use of a HU and the nice features, also...if your computer crashes, you have a backup. And the tuning on HU's is also very nice.

An addition, I use a remote for my HU, so I can't stand using the touch screens, I know there is an IR remote, but I don't like em that much, too much work!!!

 
sorry for not posting sooner, i had subscribed to this thread(being that i started it) i never got the email notifiacation that ppl are posting.

Victor, i wouldnt use a laptop if you plan on doing this dedicated for your car, reasons why, you will have to hook it up to an inverter. you couldnt hard wire it because laptops require 19v your is most likeley not a 19v electrical system. but if you do hook it up to inverter look for an inverter that uses a pure sine inverter a lot will claim they are pure sine but they are not they only emuluate a pure sine. reason to get a pure sine is so you wont get any interfierance in your spkers.

jrpro, thats the 2 main reasons why i use my HU AUX

1. Back up source if cpu crashes

2. Doesnt always sound as great and too much cost involved to hardwire the sound system.

more questiosn anyone keep them coming. since for somereason my email does notify me send a pm to tell me to look at thread,try to post questins here so people can learn thank you

 
I actually used a PC dedicated SPL system at one point, I even did burps off of my car pc....it just wasnt as die hard reliable as having a head unit so I in the end went back to a AUX input for a feed from the PC. And out of sheer laziness ive even gone back to mainly using burnt cdr's too for a source of audio instead of the car PC.....My carputer has now become a mobile termlab instead....just some things dont work out for some people.

 
megalomaniac are you running any GPS software?

I'm running RoadRunner and have embedded Delorme Street Atlas 2006 into RR as an external GPS...but Delorme ***** for TS and doesn't embed well at all. Thinking about either getting iGuidance or purchasing Centrafuse with the GPS software when that's released.

 
i am using iGUidance 2.9 wish i had a bit cash and id get the new version3 meant for cars. i have it embedded in Centrafuse 1.5(the only stable embedable centrafuse free version had to a bit of hacks so it wont expire on me)

 
that is clean, i spent 700 for a new in dash and am about to spend another 700 for the navigation addon. but now i am thinking of selling back the unit and doing this carputer build ...hhrmmm...

 
From a PM...

i stumbled on your carputer thread and i am very interested in doing this now. a ton of questions are running through my head and i was hoping you can answer them
1) what software are you using for your interface (would i be able to change the honda picture to my own picture)?

2) what do you know about fm/am tuner?

3) how did you hook up your speakers to the computer?

4) i have an existing 4 channel amplifier with 6.5" components in the front and 6x9 speakers in the back, how would i be able to hook them up to the carputer like a normal HU?

5) the 7" touchscreen, does it factory fit in double din spot? (currently i have a 6.5" touchscreen that factory fits)

6) have you had any problems, crashing, heat issues, etc?

thanks bro, i will probably have more questions, but your thread really got me interested. i have wanted to do something like this, but i thought it would be really expensive. but for something around ~1000 is very reasonable.
1. Centrafuse 1.5(most stable,new purchaseable version with its own navigation software and maps are coming out,should be fun),yes it is skinable

2. There is a module you can get from a variety of websites,via usb or pci interface and there is an adaptor you can get where it uses your car antenae as an antenae

3. standard "headphone" jack just get a cable that is headphone to rca's hook up to AUX(i went over aux in a prievious post)

4. Hook it up to the HU,read earlier post explains in depth

5. Well most 7in will fit almost perfect in a double din slot ,the actual 7in display will but you need a frame of some sort for the border to makeit fit snugly,i actually took the existing lcd frame and molded into the dash piece

6. heat issues? yeah if you use a standard 3.5 harddrive it doesnt like the heat much it wont turn on properly in heat(use a laptop 2.5 hdd it can also withstand the shock and heat better(lets say from you bumpin SX or MT),cpu wont boot into windows. Pentium processors have heat issue also they tend to generate more heat due to voltage, stick with amd or VIA.

 
I actually used a PC dedicated SPL system at one point, I even did burps off of my car pc....it just wasnt as die hard reliable as having a head unit so I in the end went back to a AUX input for a feed from the PC. And out of sheer laziness ive even gone back to mainly using burnt cdr's too for a source of audio instead of the car PC.....My carputer has now become a mobile termlab instead....just some things dont work out for some people.
i wish i had the cash for a TermL.

If i were to buy an Acura TL then i for sure must buy an TL(term lab) but i have an accord:up2somet:

 
You have any idea how much CF is gonna be with the GPS software?

Are they going to be using the Destinator SDK as well, or something else?

I love RR but if the price isn't bad I'll jump over to CF so I can have better GPS integration.

 
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Megalomaniac

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