any computor wiz's

[kbekl]

right i have a little pc knowledge but never attempted something like this before

i have a spare laptop an advent 7105 specs here

now i have removed the screen and it is never used was my media player for the bedroom but now have a 32" lcd attached to a games pc

battery life is poor lol about 1hr from new

i am thinking about using it as a in-car pc but wouldnt know where really to start


has any one done this and is their a cheapish way to go about it all ??

have been thinking about the input side of things, not sure weather to go for a touch screen or a joystick type mouse

 

[clivvy]

right i have a little pc knowledge but never attempted something like this before

i have a spare laptop an advent 7105 specs here

now i have removed the screen and it is never used was my media player for the bedroom but now have a 32" lcd attached to a games pc

battery life is poor lol about 1hr from new

i am thinking about using it as a in-car pc but wouldnt know where really to start


has any one done this and is their a cheapish way to go about it all ??

have been thinking about the input side of things, not sure weather to go for a touch screen or a joystick type mouse

HI!

well, I am an IT Network Engineer, so know a fair bit about laptops etc. Save yourself time, leave the screen on. You can set the laptop power mode to do nothing when you close the lid. Buy a cheap, small qwerty keyboard (usb) with built in touch pad (or get a wireless one). Hide the laptop somewhere in the car, most people put it in or behind the glovebox due to the wireing requirements. install XP or preferably windows 7, and put on top of that a media player shell (this will make the front end easy to use and keep resources free)

heres a quick blog from a guy, theres loads of these online

http://www.stevieg.org/carpc/

any help i can give, just ask.

 

[clivvy]

you can buy small, 7/8" inch touch screens on ebay for just such a project. A few people on the Mazda clubs have done it and it looks a flipping treat.

check this shit out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8BSVfHC03w

the unit you see is actually the PC, we sell them at work, and if you can afford easily the best solution otherwise you have to build your screen into the dash some how...

 

[kbekl]

this laptop slightly different the screen stays lit when it is pushed down lol

it was the monitor side of things that i am strugeling with as i can find loads of small tv's but very few with vga ports

dont think much to the picture when conected via svideo

so is their any other way to connect a laptop to the screen, thougth about usb screens but unsure if they are started the same as a vga

thinking input wise

mouse

or

or

all are under £10

keyboard wise was thinking

or this its about 30cm

the laptop is handy as it has 4x usb slots which is handy

 

[zippy656]

looks like loads of fun...

 

[clivvy]

ok, screen. there should be loads of small, suitable touch screens available with a VGA connection but they arent cheap

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AMSTYLE-7-LCD...mputerComponents_Monitors&hash=item53e3089da1

how much are you wanting to spend? bear in mind a usb-vga adapter alone will set you back probably £50, then theres the cost of screen.

you can use this svideo to vga... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-VGA-TV-CO...uting_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item4aa44f227d

but not sure on the quality...

as for "starting" a usb screen, it simply loads the screen driver upon boot into windows, i set one up today for a customer. no good if laptop goes tits up.

 

[Fez_uk]

it should be in the power settings, When lid is closed the screen turns off.

 

[clivvy]

what about this for keybaord/touchpad all in one

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/104608

 

[Fez_uk]

My mate had a small handheld qwerty keyboard with small mouse thing. Are you after keyboard full size for using alot or a keyboard thats used now and then.

I would still go for touchscreen though.

 

[clivvy]

agreed, touchscreen all the way, loads of media shells available for great fornt ends. much less fiddly that using external controllers.

 

[Fez_uk]

I would also think about video quality on svideo.

Maybe hdmi cable would be a better option?

 

[kbekl]

hdmi cable on a 7" tv ? thats how i have the bedroom setup at the mo 32" ld tv with hdmi via ati card with built in sound + the 5.1 surround on the main board, oh on a side note dont bother with the new need for speed game it is just wrong lol


touch screen probably is a little expensive, but could use one of the pen devises that also has a touch keyboard in with the software

was thinking about one of these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200546531585&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

or

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300496722686&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

so it would be just a matter of trying to transfering the video over, most of these little tv's have a little jack for its input so not too sure how i would get arround that

it cant cost too much as my phone does all the things that i want this to do but with largr screen and more on the way of features, i could plug in xbox controller and play games lol

keyboard is a secondary input as i wouldnt use it much abd with limited space i thought the trackerball was a good idea altho will take some getting used to

also with the 60gb hdd on lanes would make a better video recoder than the camera and webcams are 10 a penny now

 

[Fez_uk]

make sure you get a decent webcam as most have crap recording quality.

 

[clivvy]

for those screens, youll needs svideo to VGA converter...

 

[zippy656]

here JUST a laptop, if any one else want to try
http://www.nissan4x4ownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10441&highlight=laptop