That is an awesome solution, but being that it went out of business really sucks... Linux doesn't make a system bad (my router runs on it), but I guess the point would be that neither does Windows...
It takes 20-30 seconds to boot, it costs $1400. Anything will play music, it is how intuitive and easy to use the player is, how big the interface you are dealing with in the car (small interfaces = not smart), and the navigation is big, beautiful, and talks to you, and it does all this in style. I owned an in-dash navigation system at the same price, and it did all the things, but nowhere near as intuitive and nicely as my car pc (that's why I returned it). The way it handles mp3s and navigation is beyond anything on the market today (tomtom's aren't even in the same class). I would say it is only over complicated if you are *special*, but that is ok... I wouldn't recommend this configuration to anyone who can't plug in a toaster or program their VCR.
I own a car computer in my car (and have for the past 2 1/2 years) with a touch screen monitor custom built into the dash. After two years of running this, I can honestly say that the most stable part of this was the operating system (Windows XP). I had trouble with the hardware, had a hard drive die, had many issues with the software powering it, but the one thing that did not crap out on me was the operating system.
For those of you questioning why a car entertainment system, the answer is simple: thousands of songs (30 gigs worth) at your finger tips, an easy to use display that actually displays, searches, and catalogs your music while displaying the album art is unbeatable when you have a commute or take a long journey somewhere. From a music standpoint alone, it is completely worth it.
Also being of the male persuasion, I would prefer not to ask for directions and find it quite cryptic when most people give directions, so having my built in pc-based navigation unit is priceless as well.
As far as pictures and movies in your car, who cares? It's like having pictures and movies in your IPOD - for what?? That part is pointless, but I guess it is nice to have.
I guess for all of you that have harsh comments either wish you had a car pc, but could never afford it, or just have some juvenile MS flaming fetish.:)
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That is an awesome solution, but being that it went out of business really sucks... Linux doesn't make a system bad (my router runs on it), but I guess the point would be that neither does Windows...
HAHA! Hate to break it to ya bud, but 30 gigs of space doesn't imply it's full ;) ...
Yep, that is why their are vehicle class hard drives, voltage regulators, etc... I learned my lesson on using the standard laptop drives the hard way.
It takes 20-30 seconds to boot, it costs $1400. Anything will play music, it is how intuitive and easy to use the player is, how big the interface you are dealing with in the car (small interfaces = not smart), and the navigation is big, beautiful, and talks to you, and it does all this in style. I owned an in-dash navigation system at the same price, and it did all the things, but nowhere near as intuitive and nicely as my car pc (that's why I returned it). The way it handles mp3s and navigation is beyond anything on the market today (tomtom's aren't even in the same class). I would say it is only over complicated if you are *special*, but that is ok... I wouldn't recommend this configuration to anyone who can't plug in a toaster or program their VCR.
I own a car computer in my car (and have for the past 2 1/2 years) with a touch screen monitor custom built into the dash. After two years of running this, I can honestly say that the most stable part of this was the operating system (Windows XP). I had trouble with the hardware, had a hard drive die, had many issues with the software powering it, but the one thing that did not crap out on me was the operating system. For those of you questioning why a car entertainment system, the answer is simple: thousands of songs (30 gigs worth) at your finger tips, an easy to use display that actually displays, searches, and catalogs your music while displaying the album art is unbeatable when you have a commute or take a long journey somewhere. From a music standpoint alone, it is completely worth it. Also being of the male persuasion, I would prefer not to ask for directions and find it quite cryptic when most people give directions, so having my built in pc-based navigation unit is priceless as well. As far as pictures and movies in your car, who cares? It's like having pictures and movies in your IPOD - for what?? That part is pointless, but I guess it is nice to have. I guess for all of you that have harsh comments either wish you had a car pc, but could never afford it, or just have some juvenile MS flaming fetish. :)