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The DIY Car Computer vs. the iPad
Julie188 writes "Auto dealers are selling infotainment systems at a nice fat profit, but if you know your way around a motherboard and power supply you can rip out your car stereo and replace it with a do-it-yourself touchscreen PC, complete with DVD, GPS, TV, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, MP3, and Internet surfing. The question is, is that even worth the bother? Or is it better to bolt a mount into the car for an iPad or a Galaxy tablet and call it good?"
most people who buy cars like to keep their warranty
and what about cost vs a $500 iPad?
Where is the fun in just buying an iPad?
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
Can it play regular CDs or DVDs? Can you easily plug a thumb drive into it or otherwise upload additional information without needing a fast network connection or another computer running inside the car? There are lots of things tablets *don't* do well yet. Cellphone docks for cars have been around a long time, they probably do everything you want (except having an extra large screen) and have the added benefit of being more portable (trust me you really don't want to leave your ipad inside your car unless your car never leaves your garage)...
So not surprisingly, the iPad/Galaxy Tab are nice (as are car computers, and traditional stereos) but it's all up to the user to say what's important and what's not.
Where is the fun in just buying an iPad?
When you can use video, music, and applications on it directly the same day of purchase?
If assembling the computer is fun for you then by all means that is part of the fun... but for most people the "Fun" part enters in when they start listening to music.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I think the biggest thing that would stop me from wanting to do a full car PC or not is simple aesthetics. Does it look right? Does it look clean and stock? Am I spending half my commute troubleshooting my radio?
I really wouldn't want to leave an iPad or anything like it in my car. If the unit looks flush and well protected by the dash, there's a much better chance that thieves won't want to dig into it. Does a stereo slot support 9-10"? I doubt it. Does it look like an iPad when a tief looks through your window? If so, expect a big broken window. Any extra cost for a manufacturer's integration is a lot better than having to constantly remove the unit from my car whenever I park my car in public.
At least with a self-built unit, you can make it look like its a manufacturer's unit, but you also need a way of syncing and updating the unit in a way that is simple and straight forward.
Bye!
'cause if there's one thing I need, it's the ability to check my facebook account in addition to checking email on my blackberry, fiddling with my radio, arguing with my wife and entering coordinates into my GPS.
While driving. Down the freeway at 80mi/hr.
Screw little double din plug in units. This is how it's done: http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.mr2forum.de/thread.php%253Fthreadid%253D42132%26tbb%3D1%26usg%3DALkJrhh99PEv9yDW3PB3qSJPiLQWKs6GVQ&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=de&tl=en
When the ipad first came out, this was my first thought... Either give Honda $1800 for the 'entertainment' option, or just buy each kid an ipad so they can watch whatever they want ...
We still manage to keep our 9 yo sufficiently entertained or interested by talking, playing games, and looking out the window that we haven't felt the need to invest in any 'in-car video' gear... Our longest road trip has only been 8 hours though so who knows.
"Auto dealers are selling infotainment systems at a nice fat profit"
You're not kidding. My girlfriend was test-driving a car last week and I asked the dealer how much it would cost to get the satnav option, Keep in mind that the screen is already there (used for the radio and air-conditioning controls) so we're talking about a software switch and possibly some kind of additional antenna. Price? £1,400. Hey Mr Rip-Off Car Dealer, you can: Go. To. Hell.
I grew out of my building-PCs stage. If I'm not going to do that, i'm certainly not going to do the equivalent, PLUS crawling around on my knees bent under a dashboard, dealing with the joy of automotive proprietary wire harnesses and similar.
Throw an iPhone on the dashboard. No interest in an iPad. I don't watch TV, and barely watch movies. I'm not so media-addicted that i can't handle merely listening to audio in the car.
September 2011: Looking for Cocoa/iOS work in Boston area Cocoa Programmer Quincy, MA
The iPad is neat but not even close to being a decent CarPC for several reasons
1) Glossy LCD Screen makes it impossible to read in a car
2) Lack of a tactile interface
3) Tiny, internal GPS can't connect with an external GPS antenna
4) Lack of XM radio integration (Not everywhere has 3G)
5) Audio quality is mediocre when compared to a discrete sound card
6) The screen is huge. Most cars don't have that kind of room in the dashboard without serious modification
7) The interface, while intuitive, is not great in a car environment. I want to see MPG, the song playing, distance to destination, and more on a single dashboard screen
8) It's easy to steal if you make it removable
The summary asked a question: "The question is, is that even worth the bother? Or is it better to bolt a mount into the car for an iPad or a Galaxy tablet and call it good?" I thought the answer would be waiting for me, and searched that webpage for a page two or something, but there was not one. I will admit it is a very cool concept, but the article just does not seem to give enough information. It basically says, "Hey, this would be a cool car pc" and then leaves it at that. It gives links at the bottom of the page, but that is it. I guess this article is very confusing to me because it acts like it wants to give you some really good, detailed instructions on doing it (plus when the summary talks about all of the stuff you can put into one, everything just seems like the person will build one), and nothing is built. Did the person that do this make a car pc and was really excited about it and want to share his specs on it or something? I guess I am not seeing a point at all to this article. It shows nothing of interest outside of giving you ideas.
This is not flaming or trolling, as if there is an article out there that gets posted can do it, I feel I should be able to do it through a comment: A fully automated, wireless house/apartment. I personally thought it was a cool idea to control absolutely everything in your house through a remote control (including turning on the shower to a temp you want and stuff). I personally know how to do most of this stuff. Do you want to know how to do it? Yeah, I'm sure you do, let me give you some links instead.
You see what I mean. I was amped up to find out what the dude did to make it happen, and was left with links to click on instead
The world is how you make it
is "Fully Loaded", by Bruce McCall.
(This is one of Bruce McCall's many drawings of dream cars of the 1959s that should have been.)
just pay attention to the road, and drive?
The computer is a handy distraction for my wife, who would otherwise criticize my abilities as a driver despite not having a license herself. If she can instead distract herself with a game and let me drive in peace, then having an in-dash computer is better for my marriage.
I write sci-fi for metalheads
I don't use the CD Changer anymore. I plug in my iPod or iPhone. I don't have a GPS system because the navigation system on my iPhone works well. I don't watch DVD's while driving and I don't have young kids, but if I did, I'd give them iPads or iPod Touches instead and they could watch or play or whatever. All this stuff works whether it is my car, a friends car or a rental car. It also works when I'm not in a car. Why would I want to pay for something like that if its bolted into a car? Hell I watch all of my video on my iPad or my computer so our TV is gathering dust. So many of the previous generation of entertainment devices are now obsolete. It's funny.
Very often, people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most. - Clement Mok
http://www.steering-wheel-ipad.com/
And it won't void your warrenty!
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Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
if SWMBO did not appreciate the latest expensive toys you just purchased.
If I can't convince my passengers that KITT is in the car with them, it's not worth doing.
So your wife is a harping shrew who complains until she gets her way, and you just sit quietly and wait for the tantrums to end. Go turn in your Man Card, immediately.
In this case, the man won the fight. She just doesn't know it. Look at the end result and who is now doing all the work.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
That's boring, think of all the stuff you could do while...
hold on, I gotta change lanes...
Sewage Treatment Facilities - "Our duty is clear."
having built these... I can say that a DIY car computer can do ANYTHING you want. Stuff you couldn't even dream of on an ipad. Can you program the Ipad to start the car? Unlock the doors from your cellphone? I have a truck that I use for rock crawling. I've got sensors that can detect the current angle the trucks leaning and audibly warn me if I'm in danger of rolling. It can read information directly from the cars engine and tell you if somethings wrong. You can install accelerometers to sense impact and call emergency services if you want. You can install wifi, share the drive in your car on your home network so when you walk inside you can download data, upload maps, music, movies... Of course almost all this stuff has to be pieced together, the software's in dozens of different open source beta projects... etc... etc.. But really, in my experience Ipads are for Doctors and Dentists with little to no computer savvy that just want to mount their Ipad in their Prius and show off to their employees.
I see you've either never been married, or never been married for long.
Free Martian Whores!