Hi
I previously looked into putting a fully fledged mini pc into my previous stilo but the prices were prohibitve back then, now the kids are older im now thinking about it again.

what im chewing over is getting a broken or cheap notebook and connecting up a touchscreen double din screen to it, then running extra screens for movies etc to the back.

I dont mind having the computer actually mounted in the secret glove box and have the screen in place of the current hu.
does anyone know or have used the buttons on the steering wheel will be compatible? - this is one feature i dont want to disable tbh.
there are some ready made kits but i think it would be more fun to make one myself running win xp or 7.

i like the idea of having gps, bluetooth, movies , all my music collection and maybe engine diagnostics on the road all in one unit.
any one have any pointers or have done this in the past on a stilo?
cheers
roy

Sounds like a good idea Roy! Here's the link to a monitor I've just bought myself... Dunno if it would be any good to you, but at £25 or so, it's not bad lol

3.5' LCD Rear-View/TV/DVD/MP4 Dual-Input Video Monitor with Windshield Mount (PAL/NTSC) [E40425] : BestOfferBuy.com, Buy DVD, Shop for PC accessories, Discount MP3 Players, Bargain Deal for Surveillance Equipment, Cheap R4 for NDS, X-sim Unlock

thanks guys i feel a bit better knowing others have suceeded in this sort of instal.
taky thankfor the link but im after one that is the size of a double din (approx 7") with touch screen.
Im looking at putting win 7 (prefrence but will put xp on if its to slow) on there with ride runner front end (hopefully almost instant boot this way)..

there seems to be a number of ways i can proceed with this project, i can get an knackard notebook off ebay, buy a barebones setup, or build from scratch (with itx mainboard + processer).
Im doing a lot of research now on this and will hopefully get it built in doors first before car instal.

One of the areas that is sticky atm is finding an iso connector - to flyleads so i dont have to cut into the cars wiring, i dont want to mess around too much with that incase i sell the car in the future and im sure the computer will come out first.

Dan could you give me some clue where i could connect to the can bus, give me anything mechanical and i can work on it, but electronics and programming ,,,,,, loses me - would this also pick up engine diagonstics as well or am i being dumb,
thanks
roy

No worries mate, just thought because you mentioned screens in the back

These links may come in handy to you, not sure really?

Car Stereo Fitting Kits - Nexxia - ISO Connectors for different car makes here, so you may be able to get a compatible one?

Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Software UK at Software4Students.co.uk - Not really for students... I got my copy of windows 7 for half the retail and I aint a student lol. Check out the left hand menu and select either 32 or 64bit. You'd prob be looking at 32.

Good luck with the project and let us know if and when you finally get it working how you wanted!

good point actually i hadnt given thought to the other screens, im gona walk before i can run though and get it running beforehand.
Ive got about 3 extra licences here for win xp and 7 so i can test them both out to see which one will be the best. im swinging though to 7 as it has a much better wake up speed than xp.
thanks for the links i will have a ganda in a mo.
roy

i've got it downloaded, but just cant find the right time to install it, as my gfriends laptop is just crap with it's vista....
what concerns the screens you could get some of nearly any audio shop for about 200 quid installed in the headrests, i was tempted to get it, but got loads of other places to put my money into

thanks dejan thats excatly the sort of pointers i was looking for. Its a blooming minefield out there with so much miss information it was making my head spin lol.

Ive just checked out the mainboard your recomending and that is very similar to what i was looking at, i had been thinking about the amp side of the matters and was suspect if the mainboards could cope direcly, you have answered my thought processes there (mind reader lol).
It was actually your fault me wanting to do this on my car as i saw your video and thought wow.

I was looking at the centrafuse software, it isnt cheap but looks like it works well and everyone seems to rave about it, just how quick is it at booting from cold?, are the features already working whilst its booting windows in background etc?

I was thinking about just having windows installed to sd card and boot from that, then have an usb 500gb 2.5" (or 2 250gb) mounted along side the main box - this way if the drives do fail i still have radio / gps etc and not have a complete system meltdown which windows can be very good at doing.

where abouts is the can plug located? is that the one around the steering collum or is it in the iso connections on the current cd player?.

I am seriously looking forward to this project - im gona get all the equipment i need and hopefully do the job in one day when the kids are on holiday (the wife also works in a school so she can look after them).


sorry one more question, is there a connection block i could purchase to save me cutting the iso block?, this would also make installation easier to put in or remove - it would be prefrable to have the audio with normal phono socket but flyleads would do the job.
thanks
roy

sorry about the questions im sure there are gona be many more before i complete the job - im putting aside £700 for this experiament - to get the same job done at a specialist im sure would reach around £1500, but im sure i will go beyond the money ive put aside.

sorry - yes windows 7 sleep is almost instant on - i use this feature all the time on my notebook and its excellent ive not had an single issue with usb ports - but i will give it a try if it dosent work to wll i can stuff xp on.
one other question sorry, FM radio, do you just use a usb dongle (maybe a tv one as well would do the job) or are there specific pci cards avalible, ive looked around but cant seem to find any refrence to fm ratio at all.
my shopping list is getting bigger daily lol
thanks
roy

nvrmind just found fm bits n pieces on cf website thanks