Sentry

Hey guy, I'm trying to find an in-dash monitor for my in-car pc setup. I know this sounds strange, but what I'm doing is I'm installing an ultra slim dell pc in my car for various reasons, and I'm in need of a screen of some sort.

I was looking at some indash monitor systems, but for $300 it seems a bit unnecessary.

What have some of your guys done for in dash systems?

I'm planning to have it connected to my computer so I can then hook up a Zeitronix wideband and data logger. I know I can just go for the lcd display that they offer, but with a computer (or more commonly, a laptop) I will be able to see so much more.

Not to mention I can bring up a whole hard drive full of music at my command, and I'm even thinking about adding a nationwide wifi adapter so that my car will be fully internet capable. The possibilities are endless in my opinion. I just need a display to finish it and install it all.



The computer is super small, as you can see from the comparison to the cd and notebook.

crypticscifer

Single Din - under $200
http://www.etronics.com/p-38639-star...ame=GoogleBase

Double Din - under $250

http://www.thetwistergroup.com/store...3496&source=fr

or

http://www.etronics.com/p-38636-star...ame=GoogleBase

Sentry

Wow, that first one is a steal. I don't need the other two because anything those can do, a computer can also do. DVD's, audio, radio, ect. Now I just have to find a cheap VGA to RCA converter because that doesn't take a computer video input.

I haven't figured out what I'm going to do about the audio yet though. I was going to just plug my computers audio out to the in dash auxillary plug on the original cd/radio, but if I'm going to have to remove that then it's obviously not going to work.

Any suggestions guys? I'm very new to all of this, so I have no clue where to hook up the audio for the car speakers.

RBC

Look on eBay I have seen better touch screen monitors than that. The dual din stuff looks a hell of allot better than the single.

Spun

iTrader: (1)

You would have to put a different video card in it.
Have you ever seen a computer project a picture through s-video to a TV, looks like ****.
What you want is a small LCD that takes VGA imputs
Something like this
http://www.xenarc.com/product/MDT-X7000.html
But really you don't need one that plays CD's/DVD's since the computer can do that
http://www.xenarc.com/product/700IDT.html

warrenb213

go to the mp3car.com store and also look into the double din kit. just trust me. with some mod's i bet we could use that same one to put a 7 inch display in our rides as well.

at this point i'm a 4 channel amp, and a touchscreen away from my carputer as well.

i also believe somebody did a custom cobalt ss on there but they modified the existing climate control area a lil.

RBC

The double DIN looks so much better IMO here is a pic of mine.

Sentry

Those look nice, too nice.

How much are these things anyways? They don't really list prices anywhere.

http://cgi.ebay.com/FREE-SHIPPING-Lilliput-7....



Worth a shot?

Doc

someone on redline forums did this in his redline....very pimp.

RBC

Got any pics?

xyankees214x

A friend of mine did this, he didnt leave it in the case, he installed all the pieces inside the glove box, and some behind the glove box, wired it all up and it was good to go. thats proboly better, because i understand its slim, but where are you going to put that, ikts not that slim.

kqst786

I would look into actual in-car pc systems theyre a lot smaller than that so you can put it in the glovebox i had one in my GTP

Sentry

The motherboard inside it is super super small, so really I could just mount it all in the glove box, but it would probably seriously overheat in the summer. Computers are like cars, they run best in the cold, and in a glove box with no ventilation it would fry itself pretty fast.

I just need to either keep my glove box open all the time, or find another way to get air in there so i can blow a fan. My original plan was to just mount it at the far end of the passenger floorboard and run the wires up around to the hookups.

I could even put it in the back seat floorboard, but then it's way too noticeable.

Can't put it under the seat because it will overheat.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

behind the quarter panel is all kinds of room

xyankees214x

its kinda funny, but they do make cold air intakes for computers.
You can get one of those to suck in air and blow it into the glove box, and mount the 12v fans all over the place.(finding 12v in a cr isnt that hard)

the only other thing i canthink of would be somehow take one of the exits for your A/C and run it to the glove box. idn how you would go about that, just throwing ideas out there.

creedin

mount it up under the dash, not in the dash, have a few fans running low, but make sure thye move alot of air

Spun

iTrader: (1)

Why dojn't you just mount it in the trunk, right to one of the back seats, then you can fold down the seat and be able to get at it, while keeping it in a well vented area.

Or as the above post stated under the dash, kinda like those Image dynamic horn tweeters mount

Sentry

I'm kind of a noob at wiring, so where would I string the wires under? Do the panels come out and I can put them under? The main goal is the 2 din display at the front of the car.

That's a really long vga cable too.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

ya most of our car is held by clips

Sentry

Keep the suggestions coming. I'll update this and bump it when I get everything installed. Should look pretty sweet.

Brucesblack

i gotta see this finished , me and my buddy put a bad ass carputer setup in his 06 expedition , too bad i don't have pic's. it was sweet , we put the comp in the center console , with 3 12v cooling fan's in there , ran all the wire's under the console to the lower cent part of dash were a 10 touchscreen was fabricated in , it was friggin sweet , until he decided to hit a big pole in it ,

anotherSSSCinPA

I have heard good stories about the lilliput screens and they're fairly cheap.

The problem is where to put the computer and I cannot think of any decent locations that will vent enough air. You may have a decent position under the passenger side of the dash and then you can mount a PC fan to suck air in from the cab to cool it off. Perhaps towards the center of the dashboard? Might have to do some cutting. But atleast you can easily wire the screen in from there versus in the trunk or anywhere else.

I was thinking about doing this but hadn't poked around.. I'll have to try and poke around.
Grab the dimensions of the motherboard in that little dell.. will make picking a spot much easier.

SKCobalt

suggestion.... solid state hard drive... i just wouldn't trust a spinning drive for long in a car...

Maetrix

I would just use a laptop hard drive. They are alot more shock resistant.

And mount it with rubber bushings.

beercan

just buy the atlas cpc1000