I recently became interested in making my own car computer using the relatively new itx Mobo's. Now I'm new to mounting and displaying anything visual in cars so forgive me if these questions sound moronic. Any help you guys could give me would be much appreciated.

First off, I will be saving up and buying it piece by piece over time, and I wanted to buy the display first. My first choice was the Lilliput 7" VGA Touchscreen monitor. However, I grew weary of it because of this:

Lilliput in-dash conversion

Is that whole process required in order to someday mount the display in the dash (whether it be above the LED or where the stereo is now)?

I thought maybe I could get away with mounting it as-is but I don't know if that's really possible.

Until a new dash piece gets developed or some other type of mounting option becomes available I was simply going to keep it on the passenger seat/glovebox for storage. Another idea I had was maybe finding a way to temporarily mount it on top of where the cigarette lighter is. Maybe on some sort of angle? The unit measure 5" tall so I think with some type of bracket and ingenuity it could go out and over the temperature *****. (maybe rotate forward a bit when wanting to adjust them)

And finally, I just wanted to get any of your opinions on the conceivability of this project. I have a degree in computer science so the building of the actual computer is not a problem, but I am pretty raw in mounting/wiring department. Anyway:

Do you see a dash mold coming out to fit this display?

Will the wiring be anything incredibly complex?

Is this display any good? (since I can't seem to find any real reviews for it)

Is there any news on another better display coming out in the near future or even out now?

btw...this display is selling for $274.99 on ebay if anyone else is interested.

Thanks a lot in advance, I appreciate it

 

I am also very interested in this unit, and any mounting options that people have had work out. I have raked this forum for pictures of installs and have yet to find anything really acceptable. In the end I want to have NAV functionality, a flip up/down screen like the factory NAV, and possibly even some carputer functionality (MP3, Video).

Has anyone gotten this all to work on an 8 that has no factory NAV? Are there install examples on this board I have missed?

How big is the carputer itx box when everything is said and done? Where do you put it, and how is it wierd?

If there is a thread out there that answers this I am sorry, please point me in the right direction.

 

As far as the Lilliput and the in-dash mounting you should check mp3car.com. If I remember correctly, they were saying something about Armen (the owner of the Digital WWW site) changing screens to the Lilliput. Either way... I'm sorry but that manual in-dash mounting is total POS. Alpine, Pioneer, etc. are ALL motorized with bells and whistles. That case is manual and the bezel around the screen looks cheezy. No thanks! Armen is supposed to be coming out with a motorized unit, that's been looking like vaporware. However...

There is one company that is releasing a motorzied 1DIN in-dash 7" screen W/ DVD drive built-in. It's due out in June. Yet another company plans to top this with a motorized unit w/... programmable buttons, DVD drive, usb hub, security plate to hide the unit and more. They aren't due out unit Q1 05 though.

Either of the units above combined with the RMagic 1DIN panel and OverLOAD's aux module would have your rolling with relatively little work. Not my solution though. I like the clean look and security (screen not getting stolen) of the stock nav. I would like to buy a stock nav hood from the parts department OR from a salvage yard or eBay. New I heard it runs like $1,500 and glass in a Lilliput. BUt hey a $600 motorized 1DIN screen plus the mounting panel at $400-500 makes this not such an outrageous idea. My other idea was to replace the stock HU mount the screen and cpu there like in a BMW, however... in the 8 the climate controls and red LED are a major issue and thus it's just too much of a PIA to be bothered with.

ANohter mounting option beyond these? None that will look cool and clean that I can think of.

Most people seem to think that the touchscreen only isn't enough to use it. You don't get right mouse buttons clicks and sometimes it's just not convenient. How to control it? Someone just recently posted this and this. With a little work, one of those could mount into the center console cleanly like stock (needs a plastic cover over the buttons). You can also store a flexible "roll-up" keyboard or a mini-keyboard in the glove compartment for those few times you need one.

The size of a mini-itx case it whatever you want it to be. That is there are various sized cases... each with their merits and problems. If you look around, you'll see the Casetronic Travla c150 case... which is nice, but cooling is poor and this is likely going to be mounted in the trunk. My thought is that a custom case is going to be your best bet... this is pretty clean and cheap.

 

as for a dash piece i have been going to different audio shops trying to find one to custom fab a pieace similar to the stock navi kit.

japan8 i like that keybox idea cheap and GREAT box solution

 

Shocka... we think alike! :D

I've been wondering if anyone would try to produce a custom dash piece that works similiar to the stock nav, but be used for a 7" VGA screen. If this can be done for under $1000, it'd be great. The best bet would be some enterprising person buying the stock nav hood and using it to make a mold for a replica. The only question after that is the motorized part...

Ever since I first saw that keybox solution, I've thought that it's the cleanest (and best priced!) solution I've seen yet!

 

BTW... reviews of the Lilliput screen? There are plenty on mp3car.com. Basically there is a debate on which is better... the Xenarc (the original 7" screen) which is a US made and a bit pricey or Lilliput which is Chinese made with remanufactured screens (?! ), but hey you can buy two for the cost of one Xenarc. There is a new comer from Starvision... the jury's still out here.

 

I bought the Lilliput 7" VGA through DigitalWW (Arman) and had him do the in-dash conversion for me. The whole thing was less then $500 shipped and I'm quite happy. The only problem is that DigitalWW (Arman) takes his sweet time and it may take a month or more for him to do the conversion and send you your display.

As far as the difference between the Xenarc and the Lilliput, that's a heated debate that rages on and on on the mp3car.com forums. Basically every thread comparing the two ends up being closed with neither display being the real winner. The Lilliputs are cheaper and they are very bright (400 nit). I'm so far glad that I went with that display.

I have heard you have to be VERY careful as to where you buy your Lilliput screen. Don't buy it from some retailer you've never heard of in a country that's across the ocean from you. If they put a bad LCD in it, you could be waiting a VERY long time to get things resolved. Or worse, you could end up with no display and no cash.

Regards

 

eXentric...do you own an 8 and if so where do u plan on mounting the 7" in dash you had converted?

 

Well, me and a few others are still waiting on this:

Aftermarket LCD Option

But we've been waiting for over two months now so I'd suggest you keep looking. If you find an alternate solution, please feel free to post it in that thread.

 

I would love to work another solution for everyone, but unforunately I'm here and won't be there until maybe the beginning of next if I get my act together. As far as the group buy goes... and there is still silence from the admin.

 

yeah...I would definitely work on something too but like I said...I've never done any sort of mounting in the past so I don't even know where to begin.

Maybe I'll e-mail some local fiberglass molding shops and see if they can do anything. It's amazing that out of all the people on this board only a couple are waiting for a solution, I thought there would be more of a demand and hence more of a drive to get one, but it doesn't seem like it

 

I'm definitely in for whatever you guys figure out, especially if you get a group buy going. I'm trying to mount a 7" Lilliput too. I bought the dash nav tray from Canzoomer but decided that the look wouldn't be integrated enough. I want something that will either hide when the car is shut off or completely replace the stereo and the panel. I'll probably wind up selling the screen I have and buying a fold-out screen, but I'm open to just about anything at this point. I want my carputer!

 

some guy on the mp3car.com forum posted this in a thread I started...

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/cholbroo/g35/

I think that install looks really nice...I just wish there was a way to put something like that in the 8 so easily and cleanly.