Installing a tablet in lieu of a head unit

[toy_toronto]

Originally Posted by Emerge

Appreciate the honesty lol. I really don't want to buy a new head unit though. =/

Emerge, any update on this?


OT: I'm loving this Eeepad, have you rooted or OC'd your TF tablet yet? I'm thinking about doing mine.

[ezhacker1]

Rooted and OCed mine. OC is absolutely necessary to play Hulu..well root too. But in the end, i need more of a laptop than what even the docked form can provide. Afterall its still weaker than a netbook. Plus theres an update to the eepad coming very very soon with the new processor.

[Emerge]

Originally Posted by toy_toronto

Emerge, any update on this?


OT: I'm loving this Eeepad, have you rooted or OC'd your TF tablet yet? I'm thinking about doing mine.

Saving money for it, I still also need to find a way to keep it charging while it is in use.

[toy_toronto]

Originally Posted by Emerge

Saving money for it, I still also need to find a way to keep it charging while it is in use.

In-car charging is actually pretty simple. The TF expects to see 12v before it starts to charge over USB (unlike other devices that works fine with 5v), so I would just modify the internals of this to supply the 12v directly to the USB pin 1 & 4 (pref fused at 1.5A):




-toy

[Altitude]

Originally Posted by toy_toronto

In-car charging is actually pretty simple. The TF expects to see 12v before it starts to charge over USB (unlike other devices that works fine with 5v), so I would just modify the internals of this to supply the 12v directly to the USB pin 1 & 4 (pref fused at 1.5A):




-toy

I wouldn't recommend that. USB spec is 5v period. If his pad charges through the USB port then it charges using 5v not 12v.

[toy_toronto]

^ It's already been researched and proven to work. I have already built my own DIY home adapter for my Eee Pad and works flawless.


http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1087321



-toy

[Emerge]

I'm going to best buy today to look at some stuff. Wish me luck!

[ezhacker1]

update?

[Altitude]

Just picked up an Acer A100 Iconia 7" tablet (Honeycomb 3.2!). Over the next several months I'll be working on getting it installed and writing some custom SW to work with my bluetooth OBDII unit (which means I'll be selling my ScanGaugeII, Ultragauge and possibly my HU.)

The size of this tablet is almost a perfect fit for the OEM radio bezel. Hopefully I can work out an installation that looks super clean. It doesn't have cellular capability (I think the A101 does) but I think I can use my android phone and tether it when needed. Does have GPS, BT and WiFi so all that's good. Not sure if the USB port supports hosting, but I think the dock connector will so I might have to buy a dock and cannibalize it for the port connector.

Should be an interesting project and I think this is a better solution (less hassle and less cost) than a carputer which is something I always wanted to install but never had the time.

[eTiMaGo]

yep, the advent of (relatively) cheap, powerful tablets is going to make some big changes to in-car entertainment, that's for sure!

[ezhacker1]

Originally Posted by Altitude

Just picked up an Acer A100 Iconia 7" tablet (Honeycomb 3.2!). Over the next several months I'll be working on getting it installed and writing some custom SW to work with my bluetooth OBDII unit (which means I'll be selling my ScanGaugeII, Ultragauge and possibly my HU.)

I just got a used Nook Color, its perfect with it's IPS screen, sure I could have gotten a real tablet but at $185, how could I say no. Doesn't have gps on board but externals are usually faster at refreshing.

Definitely interested in what oBd stuff you'll do, better than Torque?

[tk-421]

I pretty much scrubbed my earlier attempt at a carpc, and am looking forward to getting a Nook very soon as well. At $180ish it's too good a price to pass up. Heck, at that price it could almost be worth it to get a couple more for the rear seats (if I still had any )

[Emerge]

Originally Posted by ezhacker1

update?

Found a decent solution for in car charging. Next step is deciding where the eff I am going to put this damn thing.

[eTiMaGo]

if I had the fabrication skills, I would get the blank 2-DIN plastic plate that the base models came with instead of a radio, and make some brackets that directly attach to that.

Which tablet did you buy? You should check if there is a desktop dock available for it, that would make for a good base, and keep the tablet easily removable, all you would need is a spring loaded clamp to hold it in place at the top.

[Altitude]

Looks like finding the right amp is going to be the challenge. Been looking for a *small* 5 channel and they are hard to find. Something along the lines of the pic that Emerge has in one post only with the addition of a sub/5th channel.

Everything I see is huge wattage and for show. I don't care what it looks like. I don't need huge wattage either. I want to hide it, preferably behind the dash.

Emerge - Where did you get that pic of the tiny amp? I tried to search for it using the brand and model number on the unit and can't find it.

Test Fit:

[ezhacker1]

nice work, get nook in soon

[Lil Abner]

That fits quite nicely!

Altitude, look on eBay. There are a TON of small 2-channel, low power amps out there. They are usually $20-30. I personally have 2 tiny old-school Blaupunkt amps (2x25W) that I always used for my tweeters. I can't remember the site I found that had a ton of them. But here is an example of one I use to own:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-FFyk0Ps...kt-PA2100.html

Also remember, there is room under the passenger seat for an amp!

[Altitude]

Thanks Lil Abner. Thing is, I already have an amp under the passenger seat for the SW. I think what I'll probably do is get a single DIN HU that has the outputs I need and also has an AUX input so I can hook the tablet up to it. There's room to stash the HU behind the tablet, just need to tie it down.