Ever thought about a desktop?

[Tony Laubach]

David,

Take pictures dude! We'd love to see this thing! It sounds awesome!

Was planning on it. I might start a thread on the building of a chase vehicle. It's supposed to be back from the shop the middle of next week.

I have been busy buying upgrades to equip and stuff and managed to get a LOT of good deals!

David, other David (Wolfson)! :lol: But you can, too!

 

[John Diel]

Sounds like there are several people out there that have done this. My issue is simply space. The standard cab of a Ford Ranger simply isn't conducive to large pieces of equipment. It's not even good for small pieces!

I knew I had seen someone build a PC under their seat. I just couldn't remember where I had seen it. Kudos David.

Karen, I'd say the answers are there. Folks with the larger vehicles have a much easier tim. Me? That old truck of mine still works and better yet? It's paid for!

John

 

[David Drummond]

Tooo many Davids around these here parts. 8)

 

[David Wolfson]

The very same thing Goliath said! :lol:

 

[Karen Politte]

That old truck of mine still works and better yet? It's paid for!

John

So people with big trucks must automatically be paying some kind of car payment on them?? :lol:

Aside - I do NOT like the idea of mounting a desktop under any seat of the vehicle......sounds a bit ropey to me. I think a project like this would require some major effort to be made to construct a specifically designed unit for the desktop to fit in. Fortunately we have enough room so cramming stuff under seats isn't really an issue.....

KR

 

[John Diel]

Karen,

You mean people in Oklahoma that have 'big' trucks don't have "BIG" payments to go with them? Here I thought that was the state past time. Getting a BIG truck and going into BIG debt!

Of course I'm teasing here. No offense was meant, nor to imply folks with the nice larger vehicles don't have them paid for.

As for setting a PC up under a seat, well... I always wondered about that. Especially when you adjusted the seat. That would be a rude awakening to the fact that you just pinched a wire! :lol:

I've often thought about setting something like this up, but just never could figure out where to put it. Now that I have a camper shell over the bed, I have more "space" to work with. The issue now would be accessability. Once again, I'm thwarted by the little truck syndrome.

 

[Tony Laubach]

My Caravan under-seat setup was beneath an adjustable seat. I eliminated the problem of pinching wires by running all the wires through a thin PVC pipe that I attached to the roller bar. This way, the wires ran within the pipe and no issues of pinching were created. A small suggestion for John's mentioned issue!

 

[John Diel]

I have that picture in my head.... Big Blue Spark going off about the time you sit down. That's almost as bad as a Rattle Snake in the porta-potty.

However, it might be an alternative way of popping those rootop hail dings out.

 

[Andrew Booth]

Too bad Mac's don't have the same collection of WX, and other misc. chasing, software, otherwise the Mac mini would be an excellent in-car desktop.


6.5" X 6.5" X 3" - $499 to $599

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

Forgot about the mac! I remember thinking that would be nice for the car. Maybe you can't run SWIFT and wx worx or whatever else on it, but it is still good for general wifi/cell data.

Aaron

 

[Jeff Snyder]

For what it's worth, you can buy small form-factor PCs nowadays... Some PC cases are merely like 9"x9"x4"... I agree it'd be more difficult with a huge tower PC, but a lot of the less expensive PCs also come in a relatively small form-factor, one which shouldn't make it very difficult to mount remotely...

 

[John Gnuechtel]

http://www.cappuccinopc.com

I have a SlimPRO machine in my truck. If it weren't for my air vents, it would be flush with the stereo. I highly recommend these, just as long as you keep them well ventilated.

 

[Karen Politte]

http://www.cappuccinopc.com

I have a SlimPRO machine in my truck. If it weren't for my air vents, it would be flush with the stereo. I highly recommend these, just as long as you keep them well ventilated.

Oooooh now there's something interesting - and not as expensive as the above-mentioned Shuttle Box, it seems.

How much did your version cost? Is it worth it? How does it work in transit??

KR

 

[Mike Sharp]

I have got the Esspresso set up in the spare room running Red hat Linux. Great little machine and once set up you don't even need to have the CD/floppy module attached There are 2 usb ports and the monitor sockets on the main unit - can also run using a TV as a monitor Svideo connector.

 

[John Gnuechtel]

How much did your version cost? Is it worth it? How does it work in transit??

I got the regular SP300. At $290, you aren't gonna find many better turnkey small form factor PCs. The face size is exactly that of a standard single-space car stereo, but it's about twice as deep. The build quality is sturdy aluminum, and there's mounting brackets you can buy for it. It doesn't take much horsepower to run the aps that most chasers use, so you can save both power and money on an older processor. In addition to navigation and Mobile Threat Net, I also use it to get XM radio via an XM PCR, so it gets turned on every time I drive just for the music. Now that I have navigation installed in the car, I don't know how I ever lived without it.

Here's a pic of the install:
[Broken External Image]:http://www.amazingcheese.com/StormTrack/Carputer.jpg

It's a little silly looking (kinda like an old 8-track sticking out of the dash), but it works great. With the touch screen, everything is easily accessible.