Here are the pics as promised of my new gear :)

The before pic (all the gear I crammed in her)
I am driving the touchscreen with an old IBM 390X running XP
With wireless :) (war driving ready)
http://www.kovert.org/E_computer/before.jpg

Console from drivers side.
http://www.kovert.org/E_computer/console_left.jpg

Console centered
http://www.kovert.org/E_computer/console_center.jpg

Console from passenger door.
http://www.kovert.org/E_computer/console_right.jpg

Detail of USB ports (located at base of drivers seat near cupholders.
http://www.kovert.org/E_computer/usb_detail.jpg

And finally the sub (amp is mounted to rear of sub box)
http://www.kovert.org/E_computer/rear_sub.jpg

Future mods:
GPS system
USB webcams (internal and external)
Upgrade pc to mini ATX / Mobile PC

[quote:38f82801cd="kovert"]Future mods:
GPS system
USB webcams (internal and external)
Upgrade pc to mini ATX / Mobile PC[/quote:38f82801cd]

Sweet! Very tidy install of the touch screen panel! And I really like the notion of wirelessly broadcasting webcams when you're in a hotspot. Cool!

Is the touchscreen a USB device or how does it interface with the notebook? Where does the Stinkpad live? :wink:

what's the software you're running there? is it like a head unit emulator?

Yea its pretty fun to drive around with the wireless on. Just to see it pop up everytime you pass by a hot spot.
I am hoping I can incorparate the webcams into a security feature. :)
Been looking at some software that will alert me if the computer is removed.
Or possibly something that will upload images anytime the car is opened so I can see who gets in (assuming we are in range of a connection).

haha The IBM "Stinkpad" lives under the drivers seat. Just barely fits under there. The only good thing about it is that the power button is on the outside so I never have to open it. I am planning to build a much better system now that I know this really works. I don't really like that i have to run this stuff from an inverter. They make some DC power supplies that would be much cooler.

The touchscreen is USB but it has a special cable the bundles USB with VGA so I just have one cable that runs behind my sub face then under the all weather mats to the drivers seat. The color of the screen housing is actually pretty close to the grey on the dash too. If you had never been inside the E you might not notice that it does not belong.

The software is windows XP pro (doctored it up a little to run well on the 7" screen). It runs just fine on its own and I have it going into the AUX connection of my head unit. So really this is just a fancy mp3 / video player. I have been trying to figure out what the best MP3 player is to run on it and I think it might be iTunes. Seems to be easy to manage while driving (just using playlists).

I will be sure to keep you posted as the future mods happen. Webcams will be soon :)

[quote:937623a301=" "]I have been trying to figure out what the best MP3 player is to run on it and I think it might be iTunes. Seems to be easy to manage while driving (just using playlists).[/quote:937623a301]

Seems like I remember seeing a Winamp skin that someone did for exactly what you're doing, but can't find it right now. It was more about ease of use than looks, but didn't look bad either that I remember.

Might be able to find someone to design a skin for your application?

Nice install btw, clean and removable.

Yea there are a few decent ones for Winamp (even a honda element one). But iTunes just seems better because it always has the playlist displayed. Which is what I really need. It just needs bigger buttons. I may end up designing my own front end for the thing with big huge buttons. But unfortunately iTunes is not skinable.

I found some software called media engine that ALMOST does what I want. It just has some little annoyances.

Excellent rig. Mind sharing where you got the 7" Lilliput touchscreen (and how you mounted it)? I'm using an iPaq for MP3's and movies but wouldn't mind having a slightly larger screen for road trips. It'd be nice if it was easily moved.

Thanks.

I purchased the screen from a seller on ebay. Seems like a reputable seller he sells hundreds of them.

Here is a link to the exact unit I purchased.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2448916304
The thing arrived in about 4 days with no troubles.

So far I really like the screen. The only problem I had was locating the correct drivers for the touchscreen. If you decide to get one I can let you know where I found them.

As far as the mounting goes. The screen comes with a small mounting bracket / stand (see ebay ad). The base of the bracket is made of some fairly soft metal. What I did was bend it using a metal straight edge so that it conformed to the shape of the dash above the sub. Then just screwed it down, simple as that. I cut a small notch at the top of my sub cover and ran my vga/usb cable behind the sub cover. I may be able to get you some pics of the bracket later. Granted if I ever sell my E (not likely) I would have to repair or cover the screw holes (or include the screen and stuff with the car).

By the way, I have started building a new computer just for the E. I should have it completed in a few weeks so I will post my results then. The laptop I am using just cannot support all the things I want to do.

Thanks a bunch for the info. I ordered a Lilliput from the same seller on eBay yesterday after I posted but your info gives me some more ideas about mounting. Gonna try to also rig the laptop with a mic and aircard for hands free cell phone use via the touchscreen.

Thanks again and if you get any more pics that would be great. Also, keep us posted on the new laptop setup when you get it done.

Later.

You go me really thinking. Forget the MP3 player, add a PC.

I stumbled across this:

http://www.xenarcdirect.com/search_results.asp?txtsearchParamCat=10&txtsearchParamType=ALL&txtsearchParamMan=ALL&txtsearchParamVen=ALL&iLevel=1

A car PC with a 12v in. Wow.

They also make similar 7" touchscreens.

_kovert

I forgot to ask. What is the native resolution of the display you have?

Thanks!

Yeh, the mobile pc would be optimum but a bit pricey. The eBay Lilliput screens go for around $300 and I use an old laptop w/dvd (also from eBay) I picked up for $150.

[quote:9ddb55e56c=" "]The only problem I had was locating the correct drivers for the touchscreen. If you decide to get one I can let you know where I found them.

[/quote:9ddb55e56c]

Thanks. If you could let me know where to find the drivers I'd appreciate it. I ordered up a Lilliput 7" touchscreen yesterday. Gonna be using it with an old IBM 770.

Kovert,

Did you get your mobile webcam(s) up & running? You really need to post a link to your website once you start shooting webcam snaps from your E. Dang it, you've got me interested in doing this now. Except... I doubt there are enough unsecured hotspots in my neck of the woods to make it worthwhile. :roll:

Now that you've taunted us with news of a new PC for this project... more scoop, please! :wink:

And what's the MP3 player app you've settled on?

Hey Budman, here is the url for the touchscreen drivers.
http://www.digitalww.com/downloads.htm
For some reason the ones that came with the screen would not install on XP for me. So if you have problems try these.
Let me know how your install goes. I hope that 770 is smaller than the 390 I am using. It just barely fits under the front seat.

The native resolution for the touchscreen is 1024 x 768. This is a little odd because the screen size is actually 16x9 format. So it stretches everything a little (but does not look bad). I would like to try running it at lower a lower resolution but my laptop will not support it.
What I do currently is change the DPI of the display to about 150% and swith to large icons and fonts. This makes the screen much more usable. I am really enjoying the new hobby and its cool to see there are others out there who are into it.

Those xenarcs are really nice but I decided to build my own and save a little dough. I am working on the new system now. I found a place that offers a DC power supply. ( http://www.opussolutions.com ) So as soon as mine arrives I will start building. I will only be spending about $120 - $140 on parts that I need but the power supply set me back $180. It will probably be a few weeks before I have everything put thogether and working properly.

Well I am still working on the webcams. I started the install and then realized that the bus on my laptop could not handle it. Seems like that old laptop can barely handle doing touchscreen and audio via the USB. After I get the new system built though I will have the cam ready to go. I am mounting one front and one rear (maybe one directed to the interior). I am trying to come up with a way to use them as a security measure. If I could have it upload a few pics to my server everytime the doors open or something.

As far as the mobile wireless thing goes I have been compiling a list of local spots that allow me acces to the internet. I am not sure what hte legal issues are with it. I assume that if someone has an open wireless connection running with DHCP enable and no protection that they don't mind people using it. In fact its more of a pain in the butt for me to not accept the connection. My ultimate goal is to get a wireless aricard and let others share my connection. Get a little mobile hot spot going haha.

Oh yea... MP3 players. I am still using iTunes. I like that it has the playlist there all the time and I can runn the fullscreen visualizer most of the time. There is a really cool piece of software I found called Media Engine. It is perfect for a car PC, but I had a few problems. It does not work well when i change my screen DPI. So if all you want to do is play MP3 and watch movies its great but since I wanted to do web browsing and my calendar and stuff it did not work out. Might be better when I get the new system built then I can runn everything at 800 x 600 and I won't need to alter the screen DPI.

wow... long post. I need to check back in more often.

I'll be sure to keep you guys posted as I go. let me know how your stuff goes or if you have any questions.

[quote:d7044ecafa=" "]My ultimate goal is to get a wireless aricard and let others share my connection. Get a little mobile hot spot going haha.[/quote:d7044ecafa]

I have a voicestream internet bucket on my cell phone account so I intend to pickup an aircard for the laptop so I can use the touchscreen to make calls and check the email. A second Pc slot would be great for a rolling wireless checking for hotspots. I also have an widescreen eMachine 5310 with built in wireless I might implement someday.

Thanks again for the info on the drivers. Keep me posted on the new build. I've thought about frankensteining something out of all the crap I have lying around. I love this stuff. It's pretty sweet sending files from the wireless network in the house to the car in the driveway. Maybe I have too much spare time.... nah.

[quote:7c7096d886=" "]I have a voicestream internet bucket on my cell phone account so I intend to pickup an aircard for the laptop so I can use the touchscreen to make calls and check the email.[/quote:7c7096d886]

Man you gotta let me know how that goes. I have tmobile (which used to be voicestream here) and they offer they sierra wireless aircard. I need to look into it and see how much it is per month. I think they sell the card for like $250. I think I will have to wait a little bit for this upgrade.

[quote:09023bd4f4=" "]Man you gotta let me know how that goes. I have tmobile (which used to be voicestream here) and they offer they sierra wireless aircard. I need to look into it and see how much it is per month. I think they sell the card for like $250. I think I will have to wait a little bit for this upgrade.[/quote:09023bd4f4]

...I've used my Sharp SL-C700 to surf/AIM from the car. It's usually connected (over bluetooth) via my T-610 on t-mobile service.

I should remember to stop by the chat one night from the car... :)

[I'd actually have to make a special trip to do that, since I usually spend tuesday evening at the bar under my apartment...]

-brendan

[/quote]Man you gotta let me know how that goes. I have tmobile (which used to be voicestream here) and they offer they sierra wireless aircard. I need to look into it and see how much it is per month.[/quote]

I have a 2 meg bucket that is an extra 9.99/mo. on my wireless bill. I use a Pocket PC Phone Edition (basically an iPaq with a phone in it). 2 meg isn't much but the phone is set not to receive attachments. I sell software and have a daughter who's a gymnast so I need to stay connected on trips. I used to have a Sierra Wireless account and a regular iPaq with a Sierra Wireless aircard in it. That account was around $36 a month.

Once the phone edition came out I dropped Sierra and now use the old iPaq to watch movies and as an MP3 player (at least until my Lilliput gets here) in the E (I added a 512 meg card). I figure that with a mic. on the laptop and the T-mobile aircard I should be able to do hands free calling and email. Should be slick. We'll see.

I believe this display is actually only 800x480. It wouldn't make sense to make a 16x9 ration 10x24x768 display, 1024x600 would make more sense.

The Xenarc is 800x480 too. You say it looks stretched, distorted, so maybe that is why...

Many computers probably can't display at this resolution properly, especially laptops, but once you build the custom pc then it should work fine.

Well just going by what the sellers specs said. It is currently running at 1024x768 for me. But indeed the screen is stretched at that res. Right now my laptop only supports 1024x768 so I have no way to test other resolutions. I would like to try and force it into a 16x9 ratio. The new car-puter I am building will support some of these resolutions so I will try it then.

After looking into the manufaturers website it looks like it might support widescreen reolutions.
Resolution: 1,152,000 pixels(2400X480 dots) <- not sure what that means
I have never seen it written that way before.
http://www.lilliput.cn/show.asp?thingsid=15

2400x480 dots refers to the actual dots (pixals) on the screen. These monitors are RGB (RED, GREEN, BLUE) and they are organized three dots next to each other. Therefore, 800Rx800Gx800B=2400 dots horizontal. There is an utility out there for custom screen resolutions so you can do 800x480 if your video card supports it. I cannot remember the name but I saw it being talked about on avsforum.com . I agree that 800x480 is an odd resolution. 848x480 is the more common 16:9 resolution. If the monitor is physically 16:9, the image would be stretched horizontally. My only guess is that they could not get the three RGB stripes close enough together so they could only fit 2400 horizontal on a 16:9 screen.

I did some math.
The spec. from the prevous post states that it is an 15:9 not 16:9. This would make the resolution 800x480. The 7" screen should measure 6" wide x 3.6" high. _kovart, could you varify the measurements. Now if your computer is set up for 800x480 or some multiple of that (ie. 1024x614), there should not be any distortion. There will be a little of "letterboxing", black bars, when you display 16:9 images/video. Most movies are letterboxed more than 16:9 anyway.

Hey thanks for the math :)
Unfortunately the only resolution my laptop will do is 1024x768 but I have all the parts ordered for the new system I am building so I should be able to do some testing next week or so.
I did try tweaking the screen res on the laptop but it is not pretty. anything other than 1024 and that thing just falls apart. Very cheap graphics card.
I will take a look at the physical screen tonight and see if it is actually 6" instead of 7".

Sorry, maybe I am not clear. The screen should be 7" diagonal. I was refering to 6" wide (across the bottom) and 3.6" high.

I found the software I was thinking about for custom resolutions. It is called Powerstrip.

http://www.entechtaiwan.net/ps.htm

Look at the HTPC (Home Theator PC) Forum at avsforum.com for directions. There is a sticky thread for help.

Update...
I have been building the new computer for the E. Its almost ready to go in just need to swap out the power supply in it for the DC power supply. I will be sure to post new pics and status report when its ready.

Regarding the screen res issues. I have tested the Lilliput screen with my new video card. Unfortunately the new card does not support any wide screen resolutions below 1024x768. And since that is the max res of the screen I cannot test any widescreen formats.
I have installed powerstrip and will carefully do some testing. However reading the documentation I noticed it is possible to damage your hardware if you use it.

I've got a funny fealing that those Lilliput screens are refurbs. Mine came last week and has a bad display unless you mess with the connection. Mine also doesn't seem to work well with one of my laptops. I have an eMachine 5310 Widescreen. The Lilliput won't display movies played through the dvd or through Windows Media Player (works fine on the IBM and an HP I tried it on).

The eBay seller wants me to send it back to him, then he sends it back to China to be tested.

If anyone else is in the market for a touchscreen I'd pay the extra $100 and get a new one through Xenarcdirect.com

-kover, if you've got any suggestions I'd appreciate it. Pics of the new setup would be great too.

_kovert

I believe the concerns with Powerstrip hurting monitors has to do only with CRT type (tube) displays. I cannot see how it could hurt LCD displays.

Hmm not sure about the refurbs or not. I have not really had any problems yet except for if I try to run it higher than 1024x768 then I get screen with a jurassic park logo on it. A friend of mine told me this is just a test screen but it seemed kind of odd.

I have it connected to my new car computer which is running a radeon 9100 onboard video card. It plays video just fine. I did have some problems with media engine and windows media player trying to play video at an unsupported res.

I have switched to a video player called VLC that works great and seems to have all the codecs I could ever need. Plays all my DVDs fine too.
http://www.videolan.org

I will probably give powerstrip a try tonight and see if I can get it working.

I hope lilliput is not refurbs, i just ordered a 7" touch screen on eBay (from Hong Kong) for $300.

They say it is new, with a 1 year warranty. I hope it all works out, cant wait to set it up!

Edit: It was actually 245$, plus S&H, and insurance

i ordered the thule rack and basket, just so i could mount up cameras to the roof. now i got lots o' ideas.







http://www.gear-boy.com/

[quote:5cac95f1cd=" "]Yea there are a few decent ones for Winamp (even a honda element one). But iTunes just seems better because it always has the playlist displayed. Which is what I really need. It just needs bigger buttons. I may end up designing my own front end for the thing with big huge buttons. But unfortunately iTunes is not skinable.

I found some software called media engine that ALMOST does what I want. It just has some little annoyances.[/quote:5cac95f1cd]

Have you checked into Digital Dash? I'm using it with the new carputer. Nice big buttons that are customizable to launch other programs. Pretty slick.

Budman,
I have been using media engine lately. It manages MP3s pretty well. Although I cannot get the viualizer to work.
I just played around with digital dash a little. I had two problems. It says it only support 800x600 res. Plus when I was using it the trial version expired before i could even import my mp3s to try it out.
Have you tried running it at 1024 x 768 before? I don't wanna shell out the $40 to find out it does not work and the trial version is not working for me. Seems like a nice app if it will work at the res I need.

They've made some improvments in 3.0 I still don't use their audio player (although it does support playlists now). It fills the 7" screen at 800x600 and will be somewhat smalller at higher resolution. I like it for the Navigation button and customizable "my programs" button. I just added a Delorme Earthmate GPS which is out of this world for the price ($150!). Voice commands and all. Also found an illuminated mini keyboard that fits perfectly between my seats with a little velcro. This project is nearing completion with the addition of 54G wireless and a DVD remote from Cyberlink, God I'm a nerd.

[quote:0755926aa6=" "]... This project is nearing completion with the addition of 54G wireless and a DVD remote from Cyberlink, God I'm a nerd.[/quote:0755926aa6]

We'd love to join in the nerdiness! Post pics!

-brendan

I've been meaning to post some pics. Will do so a.s.a.p. This was my "dead sick of winter, gotta do something to keep me occupied" project. I'd still like to directly wire the pc to the battery to avoid having to hibernate it when I stop for gas. The bios is set so that it starts with the ignition, which is nice. Can't say enough about the Earthmate, I was really surprised, it took about 30 seconds to give me a pinpoint 3d location and I live on the side of a mountain surrounded by giant trees. Still have to thread a mic. up through the seatcover (apparently there are voice commands that can be used with the Delorme Atlas 2004 software/Earthmate).

Yea man looking forward to some pics of the whole rig you got. I really need to get the GPS thing going but I have been short on time lately. I have however found the perfect music console.
http://www.overnighttech.com/products/4amMusic_overview.html

ok I know its not very pretty but it works great ant you can choose your music by album art instead of having to read. Plus aftyer doing some poking around it looks totally skinable. I will be working on an element skin soon as I can. They are also working on a media player that will hopefully work just as well.

I need to look into a lighted keybord, although I don't use mine much seems like its always after dark when I want it. I have a nifty one now that fits in my glove box but its a pain in the dark.
http://www.digitalww.com/fx200_Orange.htm

I was looking into the earthmate. Where did you get yours from Budman? And are you using USB or bluetooth?

Also was curoius what you are using for a power supply as you mentioned wiring the power supply to the battery? I am using power supply from opus sollutions and it working great. Shuts itself off about 20 minutes after I turn of the car. That gives it enough time to synch up with my home media server from the driveway via the wireless. They are pricey ($200) but I highly recomend them.

Ok, I threw some pics up. They aren't the greatest but they're ok.

http://www.BudCAD.com/Element.htm

As far as the power supply I'm using the 12v dc that shipped with my pc. How did you wire the Opus to the car so it stays on when the ignition is off?

I'm also using the USB cable with the Earthmate.

Thanks.

Lookin good man!
Thats sweet that your pc fits under the seat like that.

Is your system specifically designed for use in a car? I am using a mini ATX case that is pretty small but about twice as big as yours looks.

I was wondering about hte GPS, is it possible to mount it on the outside of the vehicle? I mean is it weatherproof or does it need to go inside. I had planned to run the cable out the back and mount it to the roof. But if it needs to be inside mayde I could mount it to the inside of the sunroof in the rear.

The power supply I use is built for use in a vehicle. It has jumpers on it that tell the unit when to shut off/hybernate. I boots when you start the car and turns itself off after the car has been off for 20 minutes.
http://www.opussolutions.com/

Keep us posted on new pics when you get em. Keeps me motivated to work on my system seeing other folks :)