my car-computer setup

[traitorhound]

why not?

on anopther note im doing my upgrade since my dad just took my carputer away (his mobo in his office died)

so im going itx now

 

[ELEmental59437]

you spelled touch screen wrong

 

[traitorhound]

wild. .. .. .lol. . .ill check into that. ...one day

 

[Dexter]

why not?

i just wanted to say no

 

[ELEmental59437]

i just wanted to say no

NO!

 

[NetGuy]

ELEmental59437:

How's that Xenarc screen in the daytime? I've been toying with the exact same idea for awhile now, but I have concerns about sunlight/reflection off the screen in the daytime. I know when I have my notebook in the car, a little bit of sunlight makes the display totally unreadable.

Assuming you've got the whole system up and running...are you just using the default XP interface? I would think the buttons would be hard to navigate using the touch-screen, since they end up being so small. I'll share some of my thoughts and things I've found through my research:

Talisman Desktop: Seems like this might be a nice way to develop a touch-screen friendly front end for WinXP

Griffen PowerMate: Nice USB multi-function volume knob complete with blue LEDs.

Thanks...it's nice to see someone else is doing this project. Perhaps we can all brainstorm.

 

[Dexter]

NetGuy,

have you checked into Media Engine for UI?

i also have a xenarc on my setup and its not very readable in sunligh.

 

[NetGuy]

Dexter,

I tried MediaEngine on my test PC and the first time I launched it my machine locked up so bad I had to unplug it from the wall. Being that I have no patience for that sort of thing, that was the first and last time I ever tried it.

The thing I like about Talisman is that it's FULLY customizable. Between that and Winamp skinning, I should be able to create a fairly factory looking GUI with nice big buttons for the common functions. If I CAN get something like that going, I'll certainly share. Perhaps we can get some kind of Open Source Protege CarPC thing going

 

[Dexter]

i dont like media engine either

never heard of talisman. gonna check it out.

 

[NetGuy]

Dexter (and anyone else with the Xenarc 7" Touchscreen)

Do you have any pics of your install? I want to do a nice flush-mounting job, but I also need to make sure I can restore the car back to factory if/when I decide to sell it. I'm guessing that the new trim from Mazda is a special order (and very expensive) part.

 

[Dexter]

When i asked the dealer, they said the trim is almost $300 USD, so..yeah, its expensive : \

mine is mounted like elementals. let me find a good pic.

 

[traitorhound]

i want my car back. . . .then i can put all my goodies back in it

 

[Dexter]

i cant find a good pic

 

[ELEmental59437]

I took off the touch overlay because I didnt really use it anyways (until it broke).. and so the screen is much brighter.. I use the keyboard hot keys for winamp to change songs and volume.. and I have a remote on the way along with my Extigy WOOT!!..

I tried talisman.. its ok, I just didnt want to spend a long time making it look good and include everything in the normal desktop so the XP screen works for me.

The whole setup is stripped from my car, I am going to repaint the screen bezel and rewire the while thing with a DC-DC..

Newest pics of my setup:

 

[NetGuy]

Elemental...

That looks awesome. I saw pics after the install in another thread. Very nice work...not your first time working with stuff like that I guess?

I've done some fiberglass work in other vehicles (door panels, kick pods, etc), but I don't think I'd be gutsy enough to try that without finding another bezel first.

My question is, how did you manage to get the button-holes for the display cut out so perfectly? I thought that whole thing was made out of bondo!

 

[Dexter]

^^ use the original screen casing to bondo with

 

[ELEmental59437]

The LCD came in a plastic case, I chopped up the sides and the holes for the buttons were cut into the original plastic cover for the LCD.

.. and this was me first bondo attemp

I am going to fix 2 minor imperfections on the trim because I am a perfectionist. Nobody else notices the 2 spots but me, but thats enough for me to fix it.

I am about to try my hand at fiberglassing a rear sub box. I tried working with a few smaller pieces to get the hang of it and I will jump into that next too.

 

[traitorhound]

get teh SDC to work yet?

 

[ELEmental59437]

negative.. I need to go to the electronics store.

 

[Dexter]

ele, if youre gonna use dc-dc why dont you get an opus