Hey Guys, the coupe is going into the garage for the winter and I was on the fence for a year about doing a carputer. Well right now I am 80/20 on doing it I just wanted to hear from others on a couple questions I was wondering about. Any help would be appreciated!

1) warranty: would my warranty be voided or will I have any type of warranty issues adding doing a complete a/v upgrade?

2) screen: I would really like to do a 7" touchscreen using the dw mount to put the screen in the stock location. My question is glare, people seem to have an issue with this using a touchscreen. Exactly how bad is the glare from a touch screen in the stock location, is it like completely unusable or is it just annoying at times? Another option would be to remove the stock radio and mount it there but my preference would be the dw mount and keeping the stock look.

3) frontend: what frontend are you guys using? Right now I am leaning towards frodoplayer, I hear roadrunner has more options but is a pain to get working? The main nag for frodoplayer is you cant have it mute the radio when navigation audio comes on? Is this true?

4) Misc: Any other tips/advice from people who completed their carpc in their coupe? Something maybe that seems to be overlooked or anything like that?

I plan on start piecing together my carpc, screen, subs, amps in a week or 2 so any help would be appreciated!

 

1) Warranty is only a concern if your mod is found to cause the failure.

2) Yes the glare is really annoying during bright daylight conditions. Sometimes it's not even usable because the glare is so bad.

3) I used to use frodoplayer, but have since switched to roadrunner. I have not updated it since april, so I'm not sure if the new installation is harder/easier. If you are computer savvy or are willing to read/learn/experiment, go for roadrunner as there are a lot more skins.

4) Plan, plan and plan. Decide what kind of system you are going for. Figure out the mounting location for the actual pc. If you can, install the software on your home computer and play around with it. Be prepared to custom fabricate brackets, mounts, etc. Decide where you want to mount switches. Plan out a wiring diagram for everything as it can get very confusing once the install process start.

 

Thanks for the reply, Did you end up using the original location for your lcd screen? Did you do any workarounds for the glare or is it one of those "just accept it" type of things?

As for mounting the pc, I am not 100% sure yet but I was thinking about going with the mp3car g35 spare tire mount since I cant use my spare tire.

 

I mounted the screen using the dw housing/mount. To combat the glare issue, I modified the mount slightly to point the screen a little more down. This helped a little, but I'm still searching for a more viable solution.

I mounted my mb, hd, ps and fans in the trunk, where the stock bose amp would go. I can't use my spare tire either as I now have stoptechs on.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

1. As nm3th said, the warranty will only be an issue for something related to the A/V system, and only if it caused the failure.

2. Glare is a problem during daylight hours when the sun is shining brightly, but you can deal with it.

3. I use frodoplayer, but I am redoing my system and probably going to go with Streetdeck. No problems with FP, but I think I like Streetdeck better, and it is actively being developed.

4. As nm3th said, plan, and plan well. Measure, measure, and measure again before you cut. I ended up redoing my entire sound system, and would have saved some money if I had done things differently, and planned better. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the entire process. (still enjoying it...)

Any questions, feel free to ask me or nm3th. Amthar (not sure if he is still around) is another big G35 car computer guy. Also, click on the links my sig for my install thread, you can probably learn something there.

Dave

 

I appreciate the replies guys, i will need your advice for sure as this goes along

Dave nice install very clean, nice ride

Is it true in frodoplayer that when your listening to something and using navi, it doesnt auto mute when the lady speaks the directions?

An issue I heard about with roadrunner is navi opening in a whole new window and gets very annoying, but there is a way to embed it within road runner but requires some modification? Do you guys have your Navi embedded within road runner?

Also, internet? Do you guys have sometype of wireless setup that auto connects to an available network or are you using aircards?

 

That shyt is tight I have a spare CPU sitting here at my house but I dont even know where to start with the install!

 

Honestly, you probably don't want to do it with a spare computer, but rather buy or build a computer more suited for car usage. Most desktop computers use too much power to work with any of the DC power supplies that are made, and this means that if you want to use a desktop computer, you will need an inverter in your car (converts 12 V car power to 120 V Ac power, which your computer then converts back to the 12 V it needs. Obviously, this is quite ineffiecient) Inverters add their own problems.

My best suggestion is to go to the forums at www.mp3car.com and start reading the FAQ's, and looking at various installs that people have posted. Honestly, I read the forums there for about 3 months before I ordered my first part, and I still think I could have planned better and saved some money.

Dave

 

I used my spare pc... a 2.4 GHz P4. With this you have to be concerned with overall power consumption. I was able to calculate my peak power usage and found that the DSATX was enough for the hardware I was planning to use.

As for the navigation software in roadrunner, I use Iguidance with MC2.0 skin. In rr, you can embed anything, you just have to play around with it. I don't have rr on my laptop anymore, otherwise I'd take some screen captures to show you. If I set up my wireless internet back in my car anytime soon, I'll take some for you.

 

Like everyone one else said. Build a new low power-consuming pc. I personally use the via board/cpu in my setup and its enough for what I do. Key thing to look at is the power supply and startup/shutdown controller. The hardware side of it isn't that hard to do at all. The biggest part is getting all the software setup for optimal touchscreen use. You may also want to look at optimizing windows to speed it up. Good luck on the install, it's pretty rewarding when you get it done!

 

Screw building a special comp. You can get a mac mini for 600 for a dual core. Or you can find one on craigslist for 400 for a core solo. Macs can run Windows now, so it's all good. Plus the thing is small enough to fit in the upper glove compartment, or any single din space. At full throttle the Mini doesn't even consume 90watts so you'll no problem with power requirements. Get the Carnetix P1900 to control it and provide power.

 

1) No you shouldn't void any warranties as long as it's a clean install.

2) As others have stated, the glare can be annoying, but a nice dark tint fixes this issue.

3) not using an aftermarket frontend yet, so I don't have any advice. Apple's Front Row is pretty good, but I haven't figured out how to watch dvd backups (.vob files)

4) Take your time and do it right. Double check every connection and take plenty of pictures (good for reference in the future). If you go with the Carnetix P1900, they have the red and yellow wires reversed from any normal cars wiring. Also make sure you check all the jumpers to make sure it's right for your PC setup.

I have had mine installed for a few weeks now and have to say that it was worth all the work.

 

Thanks for the replies guys (keep them coming!) Do you guys have install pics of your setups?

 

Click on the links in my sig.

 

What are you guys using as far as internet access?

wireless, auto connect to best available or something?

or

aircards?