So after watching MTV's pimp my ride and them really marketing the DriveSfot car PC, I finally called WCC to get a qoute on the system shipped to NJ. I actually talked to Quentin (Q) himself to ask about the details of the pc. The thing comes as a complete kit (PC, touchscreen monitor, GPS antenna, all mounting hardware...etc etc.) The actual PC unit is 4"x12"x9" so mounting for something like this is very crucial which they recommend to go under the passenger seat. Don't know if that would work on an EVO. So now came the part about the price $6,500.00. Not worth it considering this thing can easily be built.

Okay now here is what I am working on after doing some research on the internet regarding carputers I recieved a contact to a company that specializes in these items. So I am currently in the works of putting one unit together. I believe I can put a unit together for under 600.00 including touch screen,pc, gps.

Now many of you may ask how can we utilize this? Well here is a list of benefits

1)Email/Internet access can be activated via cell phone service.
2)MP3/MP4 libraries can be built and loaded
3)Microsoft office can be utilized
4)DVD's can be ripped and loaded
5)Stand alone or any computerized EMS can be programmed without a laptop.
6)Cell phone interface
7)Voice activated commands
8)GPS


So I pretty much know how the people are and they are unlikely to buy something they haven't seen yet, therefore I am willing to be the guinee pig for the EVO community. I know others have already accomplished this but the thing they didn't do is market the item. If all works out well then I will set up a group buy. Sound good? I will get a couple of shots from the manufacturer so I can show the community the hardware and what it looks like installed on other vehicles.

 

^ dude good stuff i would be pretty interested in something like this...keep us up to date

 

$600 is a very good price. I built mine for around $1200 including everything, except GPS. 1.2 gig processor, 512 RAM, DVD/CDR, 40 gig HD, Touch Screen and housing to mount in the dash like any other brands LCD screen. The one thing you don't want to pass on is the OPUS power supply.

 

Yes it is considering devices like the pioneer avic n1 cost 1400 and that limits you to just mp3, navi, and dvd.

 

the real expense in this is the software to get everything working from a touch screen.. I have a car computer I built for around that price, touch screen and all.. But the time and effort of getting all the software working together seamlessly with the hardware was the roadblock for me to make it a commercially available device.

Its fairly easy to setup a machine, install a bunch of apps to work with a touch screen, and integrate it "Fairly well" together.. but its something completely different to produce something that is easy to work with while driving.

 

Did you look into the "AMaNDA" program?

 

40 Gig HD that seems a bit small. If your going to be ripping DVD's and also have a huge collection of mp3's then I would at least go with a 120gig HD. My mp3 collection on my laptop is over 10gigs.

EDIT: Keep us posted on this system your building though. I wouldn't mind having one of these things.

 

The 40 gig was what I bought from a friend out of a dell laptop that had a fried mother board. I don't need to rip DVD's cuz if I want to watch them I will use the Pioneer DVD player that is in the car as well. I mainly put it in the car for use with my AEM EMS to have a full time digital dash. The other items like MP3's, Internet, GPS, etc. are just added features.

 

You can also get a full system for close to $600 from here: http://www.logicsupply.com/product_i...roducts_id/201

 

how hard would it be to add like vehicle dynamics into it...ie:a/f ,oil temp, etc?

 

its all about getting the proper interface and program to work with it and making sure you have enough memory on your hardrive to run the application. Stuff like that i don't think require much memory

 

^...id have to pull up the thread but i remember soneone develope the software on here...

 

ok, here's a stupid question: every time you turn on the car this thing will have to "boot" - which takes a while under Windows XP (Linux could be faster), and every time you turn your car off, you get an unclean shutdown (possibly leading to data corruption). Would you have to manually "shutdown" the PC everytime before being able to turn off the car?

 

That is interesting. I was thinking the same.

 

Power supplies like the Opus keep a charge after the ignition has been cut and it's just like pressing the power button on the front of your PC; the PC will shut down when ignition is cut. The power supply keeps the charge long enough for the PC to shut down properly. I have heard of some that supply a trickle to your PC so that it can be in suspend mode, which means initial startup is quicker, but the name of that escapes me. Of course, the downside to that is a dead battery if you don't start the car for a week or two.