I am considering to build a decent permanently mounted PC for my truck.

I have done a lot of research on the computer hardware. I actually have hardware that I may use, know about the car based power supplies. Question is what is a good touchscreen LCD that would fit into the stock location. I want flush mount and dont want anything motorized. I have found a little bit on the net, but the site says everything is sold out and I dont know if its been updated with the latest models.

Here is the plan, I have to get permission from the boss (wife) to go for it. I often use my laptop in the truck but it flops around and I get concerned that its a theft target even though my windows are tinted.

Athlon processor 1700 or 1800+ possibly underclocked for heat/power consumption (have 2 complete) May go with pentium M or VIA if I decide to get a new board. Built in sound card on existing boards. Also have a SB card and a turtle beach card on hand.
One of the various car computer power supplies
512-1024 memory
7inch LCD touchscreen as mentioned
FM tuner card lookin at hauppage (will be TV capable as well)
160gb hard drive desktop version
XP pro or media center
microsoft streets and trips with gps (perm mount steathly)
Verizon Wireless USB Rev A card for internet access on the road (work there).
Old XM250 2 channel amp to power the speakers.
Wifi card (usb) to allow me to upload new music/software from the home.

Since I'm too cheap to buy an IPOD right now, I am considering mounting a DOS based MP3 player in the truck and playing through the factory stereo. I already had the PC working on the bench. I have to go back to the original setup and get it working again. Its an AMD k62 the software will run on any pentium, so I may underclock.


Any thoughts or proven parts for the main post idea?

 

Are you familiar with this site? http://www.mp3car.com/ It is a site dedicated to the car computers. A lot of questions can be answered there. I used to have a Xenarc carputer case in my camaro. I molded a 10" touch screen monitor into the dash. That was some years ago. Theives raped the car in the driveway and destroyed my fully fiberglassed dash and door panels to get my gear. .....sigh.... them bastards

Anyways check that site out. Some really cool info there. The Xenarc stuff can be seen at www.xenarc.com

Some cool carputers can be seen in action on youtube as well.

 

I have been on mp3car.com. I'll review the forums as well, which I have not done. My big problem is that I dont want to spend $1000 for this setup. I want the dash setup to be clean, look factory, and be solid and stable. I am fairly well versed on the computer hardware part and I am confident that I can make that work even using the recycled hardware that I have.

 

This will be an interesting one to see. Sounds like you've got a good idea. I've seen laptop mounting systems, some of the bosses at work have them, but they are ugly and sometimes they take up the whole passenger seat.

 

Lilliput 619 or Xenarc 700TSV in a double-din mount using the Metra 99-5807 kit are the best setups I've found for the application. Paired with a metra double din kit you can remove the Lilliput/Xenarc from it's housing, trim the housing and glue it to the metra panel to house the screen and components. This setup is a direct bolt in solution. I'm currently working on a center console with a 10.4" screen.

How to install Xenarc in the Metra kit (Post 348)