Plz Help mousepotato with Car PC

Auburn9698

Champion
Mousepotato posted this in another section, but seemed disappointed that I ruined it by discussing the pros and cons of it with him, so I'm trying to help the fella out and get more honest opinions. (I'm done now, mp)

Original Post:

I have been toying with the idea of putting a PC in my car.

The hardest part is probably going to be the monitor. I would prefer it to be permanently mounted in the dash. The car, a Ford Taurus, has a nice big area for it to sit. Unfortunately, it is being used (extremely inefficiently) by the radio and climate controls. I am going to have to redesign that, to make room for the monitor.

My question is what monitor do I want, and where do I get it? Which type of connection (DVI or VGA)?

Maximum size is ~8" wide by 7" tall. Depth is not an issue, there is lots of room behind it. What is the max resolution for an LCD of that size?

Cable length might be as much as 4 meters, but I might be able to keep it to <3 meters, if I have to.

It will see a wide range of temps. Will this be a problem?

Monitor needs to have a large horizontal view angle.

Any thoughts on the monitor, or project in general?



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<font color=blue>War</font color=blue> <font color=orange>Eagle</font color=orange><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Auburn9698 on 05/09/03 06:37 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

Javic

Distinguished
Jul 7, 2002
255
0
18,780
My first question, is what are you planning on using it for? If mainly for MP3 playing etc, you're most likely better off using a PocketPC or a Palm. I toyed with the idea of putting a PC in the trunk and hooking it up to an older Palm Pilot up front, and running the Palm version of WinAmp to control the playlist, etc. There are Tons of different directions you could go with this.
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
If you don't need color, www.computersurplusoutlet.com has a wireless monochrome tablet device for $29.

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