FYI, every person who has ever tried a car PC besides me appears to be RABIDLY IN LOVE with the concept. HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST a car PC isnt a good idea, if you dont think its a good idea. Heres why they are terrible:
I'm wondering what is entailed in a car PC. For example does a screen that fits in a double DIN slot suck?
Needs to be very expensive. Major problems:
Non VGA monitors do not have the resolution needed to read text. It's simply too small.
Cheaper monitors are too dim to read during the day. Lots of development has gone into gamma adjustment to keep from blinding yourself at night but allowing yourself to see whats going on during the day. Because development tends to be from software weenies, it's time based rather than based on a digital input from the headlight switch. Thus, you have to constantly adjust the gamma correction time to compensate for the time of year, daylight savings, etc.
the touchscreen adapter is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, and that will change the readability as the overlay changes light transmittance, etc.
How do you all deal with the keyboard/mouse?
mouse is usually exchanged for the touchscreen. some folks use mousetrack balls, others use non-pad based alternatives, but they are almost always used in addition to a touchscreen.
I've only used a keyboard to enter in navigation addresses. Again from development, the aesthetic impossibility software geeks have to face when dealing with keyboards have forced them to develop on screen keyboards which now display on a 7 inch screen to type in artist names to sort through 400 gig of music, or try to enter destinations.
thats a safety hazard while driving! But don't tell that to a carPC enthusiast.
Did I mention TERIBBLE feedback when using a touchscreen? requires the user to take your eyes off the road completely to operate the touchscreen.
I hope you dont have fat fingers.
are you considering a carPC? dont you have a civic? I just put up a WTT thread for a keyboard visor. I want your OEM visor, Ill trade you for a laptop keyboard that is flushed into the drivers side visor. done.
What playback software do you use?
plenty of front ends from MP3CAR.com. and they all suck. They are all IPOD control based, meaning if you don tlike the ipod control system, you are OUT OF LUCK. furthermore, all the development is done by software engineers who tend to add WAY TOO MUCH functionality to their car PC, such as burning utilities, internet explorer (HA! software engineers dont use internet explorer, its some bizzare alernative. what a benefit on the highway!), and it goes on, and on. You want JUST music and nav? tough. you have to deal with a whole mess of dead icons for disabled features. not aesthetically pleasing!
Do you have, say, WiFi to transfer files from the home storage to the car?
I used a laptop. This is feasible, and im sure considered necessary for folks who make the permanent PC in the car solution. Probably the #1 driving force for putting internet in the car. yippie.
Do you all find it worth the troubles or is it just a damn fine gizmo that you are proud of and constantly dicking with?
its a nightmare. the control system is a product engineers worst nightmare. Button mapping is horrible, and even when you go into it and try to re-develop your own front end to fix that abortion of over-displayed information and control, the feedback of a touchscreen doesnt exist and the whole use of the system should be considered a safety hazard. car PC's should be banned except the number of users is so small at the moment they cant possibly compete with bigger hitters like drinkers and cellphone users.
How's the reliability? Any known issues?
plenty of known issues. the largest by far are supply voltage issues, timing for startup and the like. VOltage spikes damage long term stability. As does vibrations and temperature transients. Ask mistahsparkles about how temperature can affect hardware reliability.
Does this give me easy nav? Or is that a PITA
All PC nav is designed for use with a 14" screen, not a 7" screen. displayed information is too small, and ALL SORTS of development on MP3car has arisen from the problems of using PC based nav in a car. on screen keyboards to enter destinations, button zoom features to increase button size and icon size. Can't compete with software written for small screens. The terrible in car use hides behind the map feature which is missing from many small screen navigation units, which display a left turn arrow instead of a routemap and car-representative icon. many of the enthusiasts WANT THAT MAP. consider it superior.
This has driven more than one enthusiast to put larger and larger screens in the car whom can get away with it. along with all the associated support equipment.
Is it cool to watch porn in the car, you know you've done it
never done it, dunno.
Do you keep RTA/tuning software in said PC?
never. I kept audio in the audio realm, and PC in the PC realm. interface is far too important to have to rely on such unreliable equipment with terrible mapping and feedback to control inferior sources (another can of worms to the PC enthusiast!).
one major reason I gave it all a shot was because my signal processor had rs232 computer control. but every processor that has this feature uses a controlscreen designed for use with a 14" laptop screen (do we see a unifying theme here?). TOTALLY unuseable in the car. I ended up snaking a USB line under the chair and tuning seperately, bypassing the 7" touchscreen.
Still want a car PC? you have a civic? I want your sunvisor. PM me, lets trade.
also expect the next two pages of posts addressing the problems I have addressed one by one to tell me why I am wrong, car PC's are great, etc.