POLL: Anyone Interested in Car PC's here?

[dcallaghan]

I am developing an in-car pc with the following features:
* 7 inch touch screen
* 80GB DVD storage
* 80GB MP3 storage
* WiFi
* Bluetooth
* Bluetooth telephone interface
* Navigation with live traffic updates (from internet)
* DVD player
* MP3 player
* Compact Bluetooth Keyboard/Trackball (not required for driver)
* Digital Radio
* Digital TV
* 3G/GPRS (for email / internet)

The system will synchronise DVD's/MP3's with your home PC after you get out of the car.

Would you purchase one for approx £1200 ex fitting?

 

[Shude]

The spec sounds good, but I'd want to have a play with the unit and see it in action a bit before spending £1200!

I reckon a modular setup would be a good idea, like a basic one that's about half that price with reduced capacity and a few less features, then people can add options themselves to match their budget.

 

[sym]

I voted no, because personally, I wouldn't. However I'm sure some people would !

Sounds a nice idea in principle, but I think the price, and the need to fit yourself would put people off !

Where do the live internet traffic updates come from, just out of interest - are you talking about trafficmaster info ?

S.

 

[frog1520]

The system will synchronise DVD's/MP3's with your home PC after you get out of the car.

Would you purchase one for approx £1200 ex fitting?

Given that my garmin gps cost 900 quid, and my roadpilot cost about 500 (i think), I think you'd be onto a winner if you could link the your box to the GPS speed camera databases. You'd have all that extra functionality, and it'd be cheaper....

I bet morpheus/road-pilot wont let anyone have access to their databases though, unless you have their kit...

 

[Sp!ke]

I voted yes because the spec sounds good and its a whole lot more for your money than you get with say.... command.

But (and its a big but) £1200 is a lot of money in PC terms and I'd like to have it fitted and up and running for that kinda money.

I guess synching and updates are over 802.11 through a wireless router at home??

 

[dcallaghan]

Features I Forgot!

I left the following from the feature list.

* Speed camera warnings as Road Angel etc
* Diagnostic interface so faults can be displayed, reset etc
* 2-axis g-meter (not really useful in a merc)
* Performance meter using g-meter accelerometer (0-60/100 etc)
* Performance logging
* Boost guage meter for turbo/supercharger
* Auxillary Video/Audio inputs (for X-Box etc)

The approx price quoted is based on all modules being fitted. Professional fitting would also be available, although the only cables required would be power for the system, a single lead to the touch screen and two cables for the antenna's. The system has an internal battery to power the system after leaving the vehicle, which is charged when you are in the vehicle.

The live traffic info would be from Traffic Master, which requires a subscription, but there are other sources available.

I am currently working on a low cost way to provide three separate concurrent video outputs, so passengers in the back can watch different films whilst the driver still has his display.

The PC runs XP embedded, so anyone with PC knowledge can tinker.

 

[dcallaghan]

I voted yes because the spec sounds good and its a whole lot more for your money than you get with say.... command.

But (and its a big but) £1200 is a lot of money in PC terms and I'd like to have it fitted and up and running for that kinda money.

I guess synching and updates are over 802.11 through a wireless router at home??

Yes, 802.11g is best at the moment for synchonising large files, although if the router is .11b then data transfer is slower. The system also has an ethernet socket for initial transfers of lots of data (films and music)

 

[fgaffney]

I voted No... personally I really couldn't justify spending that amount of money on a car PC. I'm sure it'd be a fantastic piece of kit but unforunately it would be an extravagant luxury for me

 

[teky]

i use my laptop but only for diagnostics and tuneing but i have in the past watched a few movies heheh the theft rate would be a chance to consider, allready too many goodys in the cars today

 

[guydewdney]

what would a simpler version cost - without the wi-fi, smaller HDD (like thats going to make much difference)..

screen (touch screen?)
MMI (man machine interface...)
dvd (possibly)
gps / routing / traffic (important)
mp3 etc (easy - but nice if it had cd drive near the head unit area..
DAB radio (very important)

 

[Ian B Walker]

I, alas, voted no. The wife would go bannanas if I bought yet another PC. Apart from which I fail to see the use for one whilst driving

 

[andy_k]

me too on the no vote.

£1200 plus fitting buys a lot of desktop power where I really need computers - in real terms I could get two 3ghz+ machines for that kind of money.

If anyone can convince me that I can't manage without an in car PC when i already have a CD/mp3 player built in and an auxillary input for sound from the laptop with DVD then I'm willing to change my vote - Sat nav wouldn't swing it for me either

Andy

 

[Will]

I voted for a yes. As with Shude, I would like to "test drive" one first, but any comparisons to a desktop PC are not helpful - you wouldn't compare the cost of a car CD player to a portable home CD player or a personal stereo now would you?

Depending on the quality of the finish, and how "integrated" the unit will be, it will compare very favourably with COMPARIBLE alternatives. Ie, a 6.5/7" motorised AV screen and a navigation set up can cost more than this alone. Obviously, OEM command will be more integrated, but the features are virtually incomparible; this is a specialist piece of kit for somebody who will appreciate it.

If it lives up to its promises, and is nearly as good as is it sounds, no question - it is a bargain and sure to be a success.

Good Luck and keep us posted,

Will

 

[dcallaghan]

what would a simpler version cost - without the wi-fi, smaller HDD (like thats going to make much difference)..

screen (touch screen?)
MMI (man machine interface...)
dvd (possibly)
gps / routing / traffic (important)
mp3 etc (easy - but nice if it had cd drive near the head unit area..
DAB radio (very important)

With these features it would be around £200 less.

 

[dcallaghan]

I should be able to make the touch-screen for the system fit into the same space as the navigation system fits on most cars. Alternately, it can be fitted to the top of the dash using fittings that are made for each car model, or it can be a motorised tilt model that fits into a standard ISO ICE slot. The motorised version costs more however (+£300).

Thanks for your opinions everyone!

 

[craigyb]

I voted no, unless you can tell us how your going to tie all this functionality together. What GPS software are you going to incorporate. Is your frontend software going to allow access to all these features, are you going to support it? are updates free etc.

I can uderstand the price tag, my in car PC cost around the same, probably more if I hadn't had some of the bits around already. Losing wifi and a smaller drive wil save very little overall as the main costs of the PC are the case, motherboard, PSU, GPS/software and 7" VGA screen. Drives and wifi are cheap.

Anyone interested in doing an in car PC themselves should pop along to mp3car.com and see what's cooking. Several companies offer off the shelf car PC installs for around the same price. And there is a wealth of advice on the forums from people like me and better, who have gone through all the pains of installing PC's in cars.

Craig

 

[dcallaghan]

I voted no, unless you can tell us how your going to tie all this functionality together. What GPS software are you going to incorporate. Is your frontend software going to allow access to all these features, are you going to support it? are updates free etc.
Craig

I am writing the routing software myself. It is based on Microsoft Mappoint and its OCX control. I might have a chat with someone such as TomTom however and see how much a licensing deal would be.

The frontend software will allow access to all the main functions of the complete system and is quite simple in a Media Centre fashion. I haven't considered support or updates yet. I guess I would put up a web-site and make updates available for free - I hate paying to update software I have already purchased that can only be used with the suppliers hardware.

 

[uumode]

I voted no, as a notebook / laptop would be cheaper.
(depends on how integrated you want it to be)

with laptop you can take it out of the car and use it elsewhere or another car.

However a laptop might melt in the sun!

Though I don't really need that functionality.
It'll end up like my mobile phone.. I only use it to make phone calls.

 

[andy_k]

I voted for a yes. As with Shude, I would like to "test drive" one first, but any comparisons to a desktop PC are not helpful - you wouldn't compare the cost of a car CD player to a portable home CD player or a personal stereo now would you?

why are comparisons to a desktop (or laptop) PC unhelpful? I was expressing an opinion, and that is if i were to spend that amount of money on another computer I could put a lot more power where I would benefit from it. For my own personal use I see no gains from having a computer in the car.

No, I wouldn't compare the cost of a car CD player to a portable or personal stereo but i'm not comparing this idea to anything portable so I'm not sure i understand your point there. When I buy a HiFi system for the car I compare it (both price and quality) against a home HiFi, after all both are "permanent" installations. So it's the same for the computer - £1200- £1500 buys a whole lot of what i would call "useful" processing power that I can use on a daily basis rather than another "gadget" in the car that I neither need nor see any real gain from owning.

My personal opinion of course.

Andy

 

[craigyb]

I am writing the routing software myself. It is based on Microsoft Mappoint and its OCX control. I might have a chat with someone such as TomTom however and see how much a licensing deal would be.

The frontend software will allow access to all the main functions of the complete system and is quite simple in a Media Centre fashion. I haven't considered support or updates yet. I guess I would put up a web-site and make updates available for free - I hate paying to update software I have already purchased that can only be used with the suppliers hardware.

Mappoint is really not the answer, plus it's very expensive and would drive up the cost of your installation. TomTom3 is good, but is it available for PC, no I don't think so. You might want to consider Navigator professional for PC, which is current and covers Europe. It has an OCX interface and is reasonably priced at £100 for UK. It has spoken directions and is written in the UK. I have a pukka copy on my PC and it works very well, much better than mappoint which is really a business planning tool at 2-3 times the cost.