Ok, you will need lots of processing power to play games. And i ilike it fast; its fustrating to use a slow PC to do anything at all.

Add a wireless router with the impending wimax internet and you will be a mobile lan centre.

Because we can...

 

I'd rather enjoy playing my games in the comfort of my home, not while riding in the car. What is it exactly that you wanna do with a high speed PC that you can't with a slower laptop? Opening the start button in windows is not going to be that much faster on a P4 than on a Celeron or Centrino (we are not talking about antiquated Pentiums or 486 laptops here). I like it fast too, but I just don't see any justification on spending on more hardware than I already have.

Use a long range hi-gain antenna and you have mobile internet connectivity now, no need to wait for wimax.

"Because we can" is akin to "I like leh"... can't ever reason with that.

 

What high gain antenna? Receiving from? The best range someone got was about 50km in a Las Vegas geek convention. Sounds good till you realise it only works one way and one direction, someone at home has to point it in your directions with a clear line of sight.

Not saying you must spend on a new PC. Its all down to personal preference. This is also the same reason why we replace parts in the car even though they are working fine.

If anyone here plays battlefield 2, the long loading times can kill a person. The diffrerence in loading is from 30 seconds to 15 mins.

Just loading photoshop makes me cringe at the wait, i cannot imagine myself using a slow PC.

No offense but desktops are a different breed from laptops. Yes, there are fast laptops; but these can be even heavier than a desktop. Throw in a 1 hour battery life and it suddenly stops looking rosy.

And if i did not mind the speed so much, i can take an easier way out. Just use my pocket PC; it does almost everything a laptop can do (in my pocket). And it last way longer.

 

My car computer is soooo good, i feel like installing running red LED strip on the bonnet, painting it black, making it bulletproof, installing laser gun, and perming my hair curly-curly.. Then maybe after 10 yrs, i will go star in a tv show about lifeguard chicks in bikinis.

dum-dum, dum-dum, dum-dum, dumdumdumdum dum-dum....

Only problem is i not enuff curly chest hair..

 

this one nvr mind...singapore version...curly hair can already.

*you forgot to add in....the car can dispense CASH...that one most impt...no cash..how to chase girls in bikinis..hee*

 

Saw SLS selling high gain antennas a while back liao, think you might wanna go there walk walk for technology update. Receiving wi-fi from free access points lor... Between SingNet, StarHub and Micky Dees, I'm pretty much covered. And 3G/GRPS if I really die die need connection where there isn't an access point. You won't need 50kms in Singapore dude, as long as within reasonable vicinity of access point, good enough liao. Yes, it's directional, but it doesn't have to be line of sight.

Yup, personal preference... I prefer to spend my money on stuff that improve my car's performance instead. I don't intend to spend a whole load of time playing graphics intensive games in the car or editing my photos or videos. I might use my laptop for casual mobile surfing, watching movies or tuning purposes but that's about it.

I agree that desktops and laptops are different, I have 2 desktops at home and 2 laptops and a Windows Mobile PDA phone too. Each has it's intended purpose and IMO, desktops are well... best left on the desk top.

 

Hey... I have the about the same setup, but half Macs and PC, but your room setup was alot neater than mine... mine looks like a junk yard.

 

I was just wondering, how big should be the screen be in the car before one can start playing games comfortably... and where would you install it in the 8 ??

 

No lah... I'm sure you are just being modest... I love the 4-port USM+Audio KVM switch. It integrates my setup quite nicely.

I know the question wasn't for me, but thought I'd just chip in the discussion. I have a spare 18" NEC hooked up as a secondary desktop monitor as a navigator when I do photo editing. I think it'd be sweet to have a huge *** screen in the car, but I don't think it'd be popular with the wife in the other seat. It'll take up too much of her space and it'd be like a curtain screen between the two front seats However, I think it'd be hugely popular with would be car thieves. Exposing too much eye candy is just plain silly. Really like a glutton just asking for it to happen. I think I might just try to see if my VAIO ultra portable can tuck neatly away somewhere unobstrustive and out of sight. 10" WXGA is good enough for me in the car.

 

Those that is sold in SLS may work, might just take a bit more work and bending of the law. And yes, the new record is 125 miles.

http://www.unwiredadventures.com/unw..._wifi_sho.html

Ok, this is getting alittle off topic. Back to modding of cars.

Most people will get vertigo or eye strain when using to large a screen in a confined area. Perhaps a 10" or 11" is very good already. Not much thief candy exposed; the rest of the innards will be tucked away and only the LCD will be exposed.

There are loads you can do with a PC in the car. Because i am in both property and IT, its real useful.

 

10" or 11".... a bit difficult to play CS... battlefield also tough...but good enough for Powerpoint presentation.

What think we need is the arm that holds the LCD screen on the planes... you can stow it away and pull it out when you need it.... flyer... you know what I mean... just like the seats in business or emergency seats.. or mount on the celing if you have no sun roof for a flip down...

 

Maybe it can be made with a little fabrication. I think a good idea is to use a flexible arm like some small camera tripods.

I do not think theres any space to store it like in a plane. But i guess its generally safe anyway; most DIN LCDs are way more expensive than a standalone LCD. Not much issue with theft as long as due care is taken.

BTW I had a brainstorm in gym today. I will try to fabricate it by the end of the month and show it to you guys. Confirm 1st in SG if not 1st in the world. And confirm very very useful.

 

You Da Man...

 

And i confirm you will bug me for one...

 

Yes I will.. if it's good...

 

http://www.epiacenter.com/modules.ph...howpage&pid=84

This should be small enough to install - Anywhere.

http://minipc.aopen.com/us/product.htm

This Aopen PC is the small PC that i had talked about previously. And this should be fast enough to do most tasks, other than high-end gaming. CS should not be a problem though.

Together with a wireless router in the 8 and we can have a outdoor LAN centre.

 

Looks nice, especially the aopen minipc (very mac mini-ish), but i doubt the specs can play CS well (not that I would really want to in a car tho). I've not come across any on-board shared memory graphics card that can handle 3D graphics well. That's why I ended up upgrading my notebook to one with 256MB dedicated Nvidia graphics. Funny I couldn't find the speed of the CPU of both products. Thanks for the links, good options.

 

Wah liew, CS how old... since 1997-8.. celeron M with 1gig ram i'm sure can play CS properly.

But quite sad rite, all gather on fri meetup in your beautiful cars just to play CS..

 

It's not the processor, it's the graphics card. There are many old games that can't play properly without a dedicated 3D graphics processor. But I agree with you 100%, I prefer to enjoy CS at a lan centre or at home, not in the car.

 

I have not played the new CS yet, i actually meant the old CS which will run fine on onboard GPUs. My old laptop with a 2 or 4mb GPU can play it relatively fast.

True. Most onboards GPUs cannot handle most new games with decent graphics. Even my (ex) top of the range, ultra-overclocked desktop lags slightly playing battlefield 2 on 2nd highest settings with 64 players online.

I guess the mini PCs i posted above is quite sufficient for the car.

And suddenly i realise i may have a issue with the harddrive in a vibration prone environment.

 

First we need to settle what do you plan to do in the car, is it just for Internet surfing or is it for online gaming.... then we have to decide which route should we use to access the internet? Wifi, GPRS? What technology is currently available in SG for us to use today. Do we have mobile internet in Singapore that allows us to log on and play online while the car is in motion?

I am thinking we would probably end up with the car stationary at some MAC carpark.. engine on so I can surf or play a game or two. Oh yes, have the audio hooked up to the car speakers... We would need a GPS antenna, either serial cabled to the PC or bluetoothed. Wireless keyboard and mouse, touch screen LCDs.

 

Main Use:

GPS
ECU tuning
Car monitoring
basic paperwork
storage of documents, MP3s, video, etc
Some gaming
Video/MP3 playback
Connectable to my home Wifi network
Car security (maybe a controllable camera which will record to PC or remote voice control)
Maybe control of certain car functions
Hopefully connectable to external internet networks (Waiting for wimax)

Drive by PC?

Quite flexible to have a PC in the car actually as long as the cost is not to high.

We can actually make it independent on car power system by adding a additional battery.

 

Ha ha... I almost forgot, the reason why I need high performance to play CS is because I'm so lousy that I need all the speed advantage I can get. Any delays/latencies/lags makes the difference between fragging or being fragged for me. So I'd rather play on a desktop PC with good performance and connection speed.

Emperor, what CPU would you be running on the minipc? Yup, hard drives and vibration don't mix very well unless the heads are parked.

Loh, agree that 1st step is to define the operating requirements. I think wifi for stationary use and GPRS for use while in motion. I'd be interested in a PC based GPS. Any good ones to recommend?

 

Emperor, I'd be interested in most of the same functions in your list with the exception of gaming (unless they are simple arcade style games), car security because it would require additional power source and certainly drive by PC is out of the question coz I wanna have all the fun of driving!

Personally, I also don't think it's a good idea to load our 8 with an additional battery and associated charging system. I don't know how big a battery would have to be in order to keep a PC running for say 24 hours or more. More weight equals less performance and before you know it, have to spend many thousands on illegal modifications just to haul all your gear along. I just don't think it's worthwhile, at least not for me.

 

With a speedy PC, you play flight sims!

I doubt we have many choices for the processor for the mini PC, only 2 flavours of pentium M, the ones laptops are using now.

Its quite good; consumes little power and give off little heat which is a boon for installing in the car.

Its only installing a additional battery for short term engine off use only. Not sure how long it may last but the miniPC consumes quite little energy. I may have to consult a electrical specialist as i know next to nuts about electrics.

Actually i cannot wait to start doing this but recently been real busy with work and baby. I used to wash my car once a week and now i hardly have the time.