Hell yeah why not?? Ok so I was thinking today about how much those in-dash dvd monitors cost, a good one about a grand if not more. WTF!!?? So I decided being the computer geek I am that I was gonna configure a PC to fit in my Civic. How you say? Well some of you prolly have heard of a "barebone" system, these are very popular for the LAN party people, small sleek yet still powerful. So I did all the configuring and pricing and here is what it comes down to:

Barebone $149
Intel P4 3GHz $179
80Gb Harddrive $56
DVD/CD rom $100 ~ I don't count this in the total since I have a spare DVD burner laying around
DDR PC3200 1Gb $87
NVidia FX5200 $85
Keyboard w/ built in mouse $50
8" Touch screen monitor $235

Total: $841

Where would it go?? well the barebone could fit where the glovebox is with a few modifications and the monitor where the cup holder is (on a 7th gen). So there's my thoughts on buying an indash DVD/monitor. And for those with a programmable EMS you can configure your maps in your car.

 

Just consider the fact that the CD/DVD and the HDD in a PC are not very likely to survive very long. They are designed to be stationary.

 

They will be stationary. They have their own holders that don't leave much room for vibration and for added padding mount the PC on 1/2" rubber mat or something similar.

Forgot power... simple power inverter will do around 200W.

 

You might enjoy this: http://www.timekiller.org/carpc/

 

not really a computer smart person what purpose would this serve besides having a pc in your car. sorry if question is dumb

 

Watch movies on long trips, if you're in a big city you could prolly "borrow" internet service from a wireless access point. If you have a programmable ECU there are PC based software programs to tune your fuel maps. You could hook up a webcam and tape your street encounters.

 

the webcam thing is cool the movie part will were out trust me. cause i was decidin to get a hondata system and it comes with a usb port that u can hook a laptop up to tune it and regulate jus wonderin what would be better

 

If you already own a good laptop I would just use that, but I was looking into a new laptop (for school purposes) and most are more than $1500, now if you are gonna buy a laptop for the main purpose of tuning your car why spend that when you can drop less on a perm. pc in your car.

 

I think you misunderstood what I said. I'm a field engeneer for a company that fixes all kinds of computer equipment. The MOST an average HDD lasts in something like a locomotive is 6 months. And they are a pretty smooth ride. Your car will jerk, turn, jump and make all kinds of manuevers. High-end laptop HDD would be a better choice as they can actually "lift" heads from the disk surface if they sense an uncomfortable movement for them...

 

Here is why it would be really smart to do that. First off, the average indash dvd player runs 1k. also the rediculous screens that are 5 inches big are like $300. Thats already $1300. Now, music kegs and in car hard drives are outrageious. Some run upward to $5k easy. Think this... the average dell deal "back to school" notebook is running aroun 6- 7 hundred bucks with a built in dvd/cdrw writer and have at least 40 gigs with a 14" or bigger screen. They all support an extra monitor too. So, go to ebay, find your indash monitor for a deal and hook it up to the laptop. Grab a power inverter (avg. $30-$40) and plug it in. You can even get an rf modulator (fm transmitter) and hook it up to your headphone jack to your laptop and then run it to your head unit. If you got an AUX. input on the unit, more power to you.


Now, these days, if your connected to the internet and rip a cd, it will get all the song titles, albums, artist, AND EVEN THE DAMN PICTURE OF THE ALBUM COVER and sort it for you in your "my music" folder (for pc.. i dunno bout macs).

Take all that I have said and ponder on it.