What I’m looking to do id connect a nav system to my existing in-dash monitor. That part is easy. The tricky part is finding one that has video out. After surveying the market I’ve found nothing. There’s a lot of nifty little palmpilot thingies but they don’t support external displays. So I’m thinking of assembling my own pc (eek) and putting it in the car somewhere (underseat, trunk, etc.) I figure I’ll need some GPS hardware and a mapping software. But there I’m stuck.
Can anyone point me either to one of the little systems that has video out or to some websites that have done it before? Ideally I’d like it to be under $600 hardware/software. Oh, it’s for the USA if that matters (lest I end up with a map of pidically circus).
You’d be better off mounting a laptop under your seat, they’re better able to handle vibration and will work on low voltage. Most have TV-Out, whether composite or S-Video. Connecting a keyboard and pointing device is easy. Get a PCMCIA or USB GPS receiver, install the software on the laptop and you’re good to go!
-Rav
Would a laptop harddrive survive the shock and vibrations of a car? Or would I need to go flash? Can anyone reccomend some good software, hopefully with low system requirements so I can use a junk PC?
This site has most of what you need to know about creating a car computer. Many car computers are based on the mini-itx motherboard.
There’s a lot to consider, including getting clean 12v power (especially when you engage the cars starter) what happens to the computer when you switch off the power, etc.
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, Qwerty, we’re glad to have you with us.
I suspect this question will get more (and perhaps more pointed) responses in the forum called “General Questions” rather than in “Cafe Society.” No biggie, but you might want to read the various forum descriptions sometime soon.
It was hard to guess. There’s not any one “right” answer, or one way to do it. I was going to IMHO it, but being a PC I thought “cafe”. But hey, GQ is fine too.
(And to the poster above that was one of my concerns, with a standard Windows OS, the abnormal poweroffs. I can give a clean 12V, that’s not a problem.)
Ditto. Printed maps are far, far, FAR (did I say far?) preferable to the other options. That being said, I do carry a GPS unit when I’m travelling, but I don’t rely on it for “How do I get there”, just for “Where am I right now?”. Buy a comprehensive set of maps for the area you’ll be in, and learn to use 'em. Technology is cool, but sometimes a copy of Rand-McNally rules…
Logisys is another company that sells mini and micro-ATX systems, some made specifically to fit into the dash radio bay of vehicles: http://www.logisysus.com/
~
