RomRaider

I am trying to talk myself into a carputer install in my STi. I know some people here have done them and am looking for advice.

The main point of the install would be for use with my Tactrix cable and RomRaider / ECUFlash. It would have to act as a music source too (FM radio and CD at a minimum). Nice extras would be bluetooth, DVD, GPS navigation, Wi-Fi...

I guess the biggest point of consideration is buy (RevoSys?) vs. build (VoomPC or Opus?). If you have any experience with these, or just have a link to an install that made you drool, I'd be very grateful for your input. Thanks!

I built mine around a laptop, and I'd do it the same way again. I used the original HDD for a while, and had no problems with it, but upgraded to an SSD anyway just for grins.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php ... ostcount=2

I don't actually use RomRaider much, instead I use this: http://ssm.codeplex.com . The logger is a little easier to use with a touch-screen, and the dashboard app is a lot easier to use.

The only catch is that not all laptops have power buttons that you can easily solder to. I chose the HP 530 mostly because someone else had already taken one apart and found that it's easy. I tried with an IBM T41 beforehand, but gave up.

I have all the parts to do my install based on a refurb HP-mini netbook. Then I came across the fit-pc2. It has an auto on function and built for automotive applications.
The only hitch is the HDMI to VGA as you need a digital to analogue signal converter not just an adaptor.
Hopefully in the next couple of months I'll have mine done. Till then the netbook is my co-passenger.

There's no car pc to buy online that's just plug and play right?

If 'auto on' means 'boots when it gets power' then this looks really cool. However the wiki also shows 'boot up on a timer' which would not be very useful.

The other thing a CarPC needs (IMO) is to know when to power down gracefully. It's probably a solvable problem, but laptops can be configured do shut down after they lose external power. With this, it looks like you might have to roll your own.

Their web site has a VGA converter on the accessories page though.

Yes the Auto ON means bootup on seeing power.
Auto OFF is when you shut the ignition off - OOPS did I just do that!!!!

The VGA adaptor is new. Last month I could not find a North American source for it, only UK.

Now the downside for me is the Amazon resellers don't like us Canadians so I have to ship to a US address and have it forwarded or pick it up in NY.

CompuLab also makes other form factor CPU boards.

The stuff from RevoSys is the closest I've found:
http://www.revo-sys.com/CarPC_Pre-built_Systems.php

I'm just not sure if they are worth what they're asking.

Thanks for the replies gentlemen, keep them coming!

I notice a battery on the accessories page as well, which could solve the auto-off problem. But only if the fitPC2 is aware of the difference between battery power and "AC" power. (Laptops call it AC power but of course it is actually DC in a car.) The box only has one power input, which is not encouraging.

Yes support for direct power in with a separate sensing line to put the CPU to sleep or power off when the sensing line when low (ign/acc off) would be nice.
If that battery/ups combo has actual UPS monitoring support then you can set the PC to gracefully power down when the UPS indicates low power. Any decent UPS has that function.