Car Computers as Multimedia Head units?
Question:
Suppose we used a 7 or 10" touch screen in the dash, mini motherboard with several USB ports, RAM memory and shared video memory. Since a typical hard drive is out of the question, wouldn't, say, five 2 gig USB flash cards do the job?
One would be like drive C, hosting the operating system, the other 4 flash cards do everything else. And suppose we dedicated 2 of these cards to be removable, to take home and download data, audio or video files, maps...?
Can this work? Should we wait for a 20 gig flash USB flash card? Would flash memory work as storage device?
Answer:
Yeah, and route your CPU to the radiator for cooling.
"Carputers" have actually been around for a couple of years and the technology is ever growing. I already have the OS, Windows XPE (pre-installation environment) with full GUI and service pack 2, on a bootable CD.
With this OS you can add whatever programs you want it to run with the use of configurable plugins that are made by the user or are available on-line.
This OS is also so small (under 700 Mb) it can and does function on a USB drive, as long as the motherboards BIOS allows booting from one.
My idea would to use a DVD drive (or two or USB flash drives as you suggested) for the songs since 4.7 Gb can hold quite a library of songs with the touch screen you suggested.
To make your own Windows XPE for CD or USB flash, research these two terms:
BartPE
Sherpya
The only requirements are to have a copy of Windows XP and the product key code. If you want service pack 2, just download it and "slipstream" it into your Windows folder that you create to create the actual bootable OS.
I know this sound kind fo confusing, but there are full instructions.
mp3car.com has all your answers.. I have a computer in my car for 4 months now with a 3.5 160gigs. I can play my ipod ,media player,and winmamp on it ..It shows all the artist and playlists.And its worths real great..
read this guy write up on carPC
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthre...
It should answer all your ?
If you don't want to do this you can also buy this
http://store.mp3car.com/productdetails.a...
You just need to install it
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