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03-13-2007, 12:22 AM | #37 | |
YRS WHOR
Drives: White 2007 Yaris E-Limited 5dr Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Chiangmai, Thailand
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Quote:
I'd also recommend going the 2nd hand notebook route: It's small, so you can jam it almost anywhere, they draw way less power, are easier to power up off 12VDC, are quieter, more rugged, already assembled, have all the connectivity features you'll be wanting (BT/WiFi/IrDA/Firewire) and generate way less heat. Plus if you get one with an ATI X1600 or GF7400+ graphics adaptor it'll even be able to run 3D games at the screen resolutions you're likely to run - even newer games.. I currently have an old lappie running as a media server in the bedroom, using the (uber cool) open source Media Portal software. For control I just use a Logitech wireless gamepad with a key mapping utility - cheap. simple and effective.. I could jam it under one of the front chairs and have it up and running in the Yaris in minutes - fuck the headache of building a PC and then trying to power it and find a place for it to go |
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03-13-2007, 12:29 AM | #38 |
der Zeck
Drives: '05 Audi A4 1.8t quattro Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Toledo, OH
Posts: 5,231
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ok I just stumbled upon this thread... just wondering if ya'll knew most home computers ran off of 12 volts.... you will need to remove the power supply that converts 110AC to 12DC and put a voltage stabilizer(wave rectifyer) in there, but that sure beats going from DC to AC to DC again for no reason
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03-13-2007, 02:49 AM | #39 | |
YRS WHOR
Drives: White 2007 Yaris E-Limited 5dr Join Date: Feb 2007
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Posts: 359
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Quote:
In order to run a desktop PC in a car you will absolutely need power supply of some description, be it a purpose built DC-DC one, or DC-AC-DC in the form of a regular ATX PSU and a DC-AC inverter. Notebooks with car charger kits are a lot simpler :) |
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03-13-2007, 03:26 AM | #40 | |
vroom vroom
Drives: lil red 5-door Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
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Quote:
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The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish. - Robert Jackson Bye bye 1NZ... |
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03-13-2007, 03:41 AM | #41 | |
YRS WHOR
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Quote:
Wow, your old laptop really is old LOL |
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03-13-2007, 03:55 AM | #42 |
vroom vroom
Drives: lil red 5-door Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
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First laptop I ever owned, even though it's just gathering dust now, it has sentimental value
It was pretty fancy in its time, one of the thinnest lightest laptops available (Asus M2 series, just about 2.2kg for a 14"...) And the specs are still good enough, 1.8GHz Pentium M, but gonna need a boost in RAM as well. Not gonna do any gaming with it, though, that's for sure!
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The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish. - Robert Jackson Bye bye 1NZ... |
03-13-2007, 05:02 AM | #43 |
YRS WHOR
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If you only need USB2.0 for the Creative sound card, an alternative would be a more basic USB audio adaptor (like those that come bundled with better headphones, and actually sound VG), or if you're going full audiophile maybe one of the Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA cards -though the latter is a pricey option.
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03-13-2007, 05:09 AM | #44 |
vroom vroom
Drives: lil red 5-door Join Date: Sep 2006
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Hmm that is a possibility, but can those handle plain old USB1.1? I'm not looking for audiophile quality, but if I can get 4.1 or 5.1 output it would work well with my current amps and speakers. And, I would still want the PCMCIA slot for a USB2.0 adapter, that way I can have a bit more flexibility for peripherals.
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The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish. - Robert Jackson Bye bye 1NZ... |
03-13-2007, 05:51 AM | #45 |
YRS WHOR
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Yep, no problems running a headphone style adaptor on USB 1.1, but most are only stereo output. A bit of googling should turn up something suitable.
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03-13-2007, 05:54 AM | #46 |
YRS WHOR
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OK, just googled for: 5.1 usb audio adaptor
Here's a couple of hits on USB 1.1 compat devices: http://www.usbgear.com/usb-audio-adapter-5/index.html http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/prod...udioadv/micro/ |
03-13-2007, 06:01 AM | #47 |
vroom vroom
Drives: lil red 5-door Join Date: Sep 2006
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Hmm OK I'll see what I can find
Problem now is the screen... This one seems just the best: http://www.digitalww.com/DWW-6500.htm but seems to be out of production until May when they introduce a new version... Not many other choices for double-DIN touchscreen VGA screens... Even the single-DIN ones available on mp3car.com seem to have some bad reviews. I'm not even going to waste time to start thinking about finding something suitable locally Is this just a pipe dream?
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The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish. - Robert Jackson Bye bye 1NZ... |
03-13-2007, 06:04 AM | #48 | |
vroom vroom
Drives: lil red 5-door Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
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Quote:
So, that usbgear one looks very promising, thanks for the heads-up!
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The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish. - Robert Jackson Bye bye 1NZ... |
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03-13-2007, 06:53 AM | #49 | |
der Zeck
Drives: '05 Audi A4 1.8t quattro Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Toledo, OH
Posts: 5,231
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Quote:
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03-13-2007, 07:04 AM | #50 |
YRS WHOR
Drives: White 2007 Yaris E-Limited 5dr Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Chiangmai, Thailand
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03-13-2007, 07:29 AM | #51 | |
YRS WHOR
Drives: White 2007 Yaris E-Limited 5dr Join Date: Feb 2007
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Quote:
The only issue then is compensating for the overscan in your media center software, which Media Portal does very nicely |
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03-13-2007, 08:14 AM | #52 |
vroom vroom
Drives: lil red 5-door Join Date: Sep 2006
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yeah but the picture quality won't be anywhere near as nice, I'd prefer the pixel-sharp look of a proper PC connection, especially when running software such as Centrafuse
Plus, the laptop has no TV out, so it's a moot point
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The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish. - Robert Jackson Bye bye 1NZ... |
03-13-2007, 12:08 PM | #53 |
der Zeck
Drives: '05 Audi A4 1.8t quattro Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Toledo, OH
Posts: 5,231
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Yes sir lets go drinkin
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03-13-2007, 04:17 PM | #54 |
Ihave this one on my desktop....works nicely for what I want.
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