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In-Dash DIN-form-factor Car PC
kraksmokr writes "Xenarc Technologies have introduced a cool new in-dash DIN-form-factor Car PC. It features built in hard drive, audio/video, and GPS, among other things. Estimated price will be about $1200. I can't even begin to list the possibilities for mobile computing bliss." I'm even more impressed that they can fit it into the dash than I am with in-dash CD changers. If you buy this thing, use it safely. None of us want auto PC users to end up in the same category as annoying cell phone users.
DivX ?
With a Pentium 266 MMX ?
I hope you're not expecting all the FPS.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
...I see shortcomings.
Personally the Pentuim 266MMX is a little underpowered unless you just want an MP3 player or something along those lines. I personally think that taking the approach of what many high end car audio systems do(e.g. put the UI in the dash and the major hardware in the trunk) would have been a better approach. Having the audio, PCMCIA and the like in dash is great, but having a nice long(and heavily shielded) cable running to the trunk would be more effective because the space constraints aren't as big of a deal.
Just my $0.02
Is it just me, or does the damn thing look ugly? I personally wouldn't sport that 'thing' in my car.
I ride a motorcycle. The three times that I have come closest to death in my life were on the freeway when someone with a cell phone held to their left ear did not bother to do a head check before moving left into me. I started coding on PDP-8s and Alpha Micros and I'm all for CPUs everywhere, but I don't like this thing one bit.
If you wouldn't use it while riding a motorcycle, paying attention to the road and to other things around you with both hands on the steering mechanism, then you shouldn't use it in a car.
Why do they make these things beige/white?? I mean, how many cars have a white dashboard? Perhaps the computers come with front panels in different colors?
Martin
Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid, but wouldn't the first nasty pot hole/speed bump kill the hard drive?
Have hard drive manufacturers made notebook drives able to withstand the extreme g forces that could be encountered in a vehicle on a day to day basis? Does someone have real experience/data having a hard drive last for any length of time in a car?
"Every security scheme that is based on secrets eventually fails." - Steve Jobs
They should have used the C3 processor instead of the an old Pentium chip.
:)
Linux is the ideal OS since you can recompile plenty of apps to work with the particular CPU. Although I don't want to leave the car engine running while doing a Gentoo build
With a car, fan sound is less of an annoyance than in an otherwise silent office of living room. A car already makes quite some noise. As long as the fan noise stays under the car noise, it's not a bother.
Maybe you'll say that modern luxury cars are actually more silent than a 'puter fan. I do not think that is true, except for the high end lexus, volvo and bmw. Those are always equipped with airc, so they need less ventilation because they can are cooled with cool air anyway.
the pun is mightier than the sword
You slashdotters see this thing as a multimedia machine. I think their biggest market is the enterprise. Base-station in the truck with GPS, handheld connecting with bluetooth, GSM connection to the main office... Think of all the shipping applications, visiting nurses, the guy recording the meter,...
10 ?"Hello World" life was simple then
we're paying $1200 for this device that fits into the same space as our radio, so where do we put our radio? I don't know about you, but sometimes I jsut want to hear my favorite station and laugh at the morning show personality.