Rashnu

Do you have a FM tuner? If so, what brand and how well does it work?

Omega_5

No, I've found that I don't listen to the radio that much anyways.
I was thinking about maybe picking up an XM or Sirrius tuner in the future though.

Do you use PhoCo at all (phonecontrol.net)?
I've heard that some people are having troubles with it integrating in to the new Centrafuse.

Rashnu

had not heard of that till now. Not a big phone talker so not worried about integrating my phone into it.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

damn making me want a carputer even more... what did you guys do for tv tuners?

Rashnu

dont have one. not gona get a satalite for my car so no need for tv tuner card. IF i were to get one though it would probably he one the haupauges (sp) ones.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

wouldnt you be able to just get an antenna and at least get local channels?

Rashnu

yea you could but the local channels suck except when Heroes is on and Smallville.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

lol ya but better then anything right? what kind of antenna is needed for satalite tv? same thing like sat radio?

Omega_5

Most guys I know (with carpc's) have an in-home media center with capture card, and transfer them to the car later.
Some guys set up their car-puter on a wireless-G network with their home pc, and send all of their TV shows, movies and songs to the car remotely (from either the home or car).
Really car-pc's have endless capability... super cool. The only downside is that car-pc's don't quite have the same audio capabilities (as in audio isn't quite as crisp as some high end headunits).
I know for a fact that my Alpine CDA-9855 kicks the crap out of my pc system... but the 9855 doesn't play movies and answer the phone... right?

R33P3R007

looks like my 4 yr old nephew wrapped it. other then that it looks ok.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

well i was actually going to have both a carputer and a head unit... just run the carputer thru the head unit.

Omega_5

....some people do that too...
IMO, a carpc and headunit together is complex and looks goofy.... Although, i've seen some makes of cars that it looks really nice in.
But really, it's your entertainment... Key word being YOUR... as long as it works to your satisfaction, that's all that matters in the end!

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

lol ya.. not sure wat yo mean by looks goofy.... but ya my idea to hook them up is pretty complex

but hey im looking for more info on a carputer... what all do you need to get?

ive been checking out the site mini-itx do you think anything there is any good

and what specs do you guys recommend(cpu power, ram ect)?

Omega_5

I mean a carpc and headunit look goofy because it looks like you have 2 headunits...

anyways... i've generally found that because a carpc isn't running in a windows deirect environment, and is primarily used for media only, the specs can be alot lower.
See, most people set the windows environment to run most efficiently (all the prettyness taken out), and boost the performance aspect up. This is because most carpc users have a good front end to work in, such as Centrafuse, or Streetdeck.

The specs on the pc'c that Rashnu and myself use are very much the norm now days.

- Small form motherboard
- ~512MB RAM
- ~1.0 GHz Processor
- 90W or bigger 12v power supply with start-up / shutdown controller

Also, you need a good touchscreen, as most frontends are designed for toouchscreens.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

by any chance do you know if the computer touchscreens have multiple rca inputs? im thought about the new alpine one because of its features

Omega_5

Good question... I asked the same thing back when I was ordering the parts for mine....
The answer... YES!
Most of the touchscreens have 3 inputs -> 1 VGA, 2 RCA
They also have the power input cables, and a single USB data cable for the TS.

For more reference, check out the Xenarc website...
http://www.xenarc.com/product/index-monitor.html