hey guys,

I'm looking at starting to get some gear together for a car pc..

i've got:

512mb ram
80gig 2.5inch usb HD

so i need :

mini itx motherboard, (preferable something above 1ghz)
usb slot load dvd drive,
car pc psu
mini ITX case
lcd touchscreen

cheers.

Before you go down the 2nd hand route, check out the VoomPC cases.

I was looking ages ago while the original VoomPC was the only choice. The VoomPC2 case was released in Feb this year. The VoomPC requires an external optical drive, but the VoomPC2 will take a slimline drive (like a notebook drive) internally.

These cases were specifically designed to work with the M1-ATX and M2-ATX 12V Power Supplies which are worth their weight in gold in a CarPC. They do stuff like postponing startup until after cold-cranking so you don't get bad power, and by keeping the system alive after shutdown so you can go inside and say transfer new files via wireless etc.

The link below is useful. if you follow the links in the table to VoomPC or VoomPC2 you'll get advice on recommended motherboards and stuff. Much of THAT gear can be bought in Australia from the likes of many online PC retailers such as www.auspcmarket.com.au.

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=3#p1182

On the off chance that you go this route I'd be VERY VERY interested in hearing of your progress and seeing pictures if you have a digital camera.


Lukeyson

thats the rout i want to go down, i just don't want to buy from overseas. so im going to buy the parts and put one together myself..

like i said i already have ram and a laptop hard drive as well so that should reduce my costs a bit..

Motorised DIN LCD Screen - not touch. About $300
http://brashimports.com.au/CA2021.htm

Similar but with Touchscreen and Tuner - About $700. http://brashimports.com.au/GL701.htm


Lukeyson

that voom pc case looks great!

yeh it does look pretty good..

mines going to be hidden though so i wont see it anyway. thinking i might just go to jaycar and get an encloser and modify it. would be a cheap way of doing it..

Ooh, now this has me interested.

And it's from Australia.

A whole mini-itx PC in a DIN sized slot, including HDD and Slot-DVD.

http://www.polares.com.au/Catalogue/Pro ... atID=27344

I registered as a customer, and the unit without OS is about $1100 - which doesn't help you I guess insensate.

I'm going to ask if there's any way to get the VGA top run at NTSC frequencies. Being Australian they may already be motiviated to get the VGA to work at NTSC frequencies so that it's a direct plugin without the need for a scan-converter.


Lukeyson

Last edited by Lukeyson on Thu Apr 05, 2007 6:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Gee, even better, the same unit as above, but about $400 cheaper!


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Lilliput-1-DIN-I ... dZViewItem


I'm thinking this needs a new thread somewhere else eh?


Lukeyson

Gee, even better, the same unit as above, but about $400 cheaper!


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Lilliput-1-DIN-I ... dZViewItem


I'm thinking this needs a new thread somewhere else eh?


Lukeyson

and they have playnow bios... which means they can play a dvd or cd before the os even loads...

but not what im after... and still a bit expencive

anyone?