Introduction
When I was growing up, I didn't exactly ooze money. So I made due with what I had, which included cramming some house speakers into the back of my car. Despite that, my car was always the one with the trunk (or hatchback) open so everyone could hear the music. Since my misspent youth, I've pretty much accepted the factory installed stereo in all my cars (which are too many to count or shock the general public with). Seeing as how I ooze a bit more money now than I did when I was younger, I decided to start squirreling some away to see just how much damage I could do.
I initially looked into more traditional options, such as replacing the head unit and speakers. But in today's world, the car is venerable playground for dorks such as myself. Though not entirely uncharted as it was several years ago, it still requires a bit of finesse to cram technology into a vehicle. My goal became to add a full fledged (and appropriately named) carputer. The first step in any such installation is planning (more details will come in future installments).
The Screen
The key piece of any carputer is the display screen. The overall expense and installation complexity will vary greatly based on this important decision. Since I'm not entirely handy when it comes to fabrication of parts, I had to try and keep things on the simple side. I have a Jeep Liberty, which has limited space in the dash compared to some other vehicles. Rather than mount a screen to my dash (or something more fancy), I decided to go with a slide out screen that would replace the existing factory stereo. Not the most elegant solution, but definitely the simplest.
There are a number of slide out carputer screens on the market, though not nearly as many as the stand-alone screens. After careful evaluation I decided to go with the Xenarc MDT-X7000 [1]. Unlike many of the other screens, this one includes a built-in amplifier, DVD player, and radio. Since I will be replacing my existing factory stereo, having a built-in amplifier negates my need to purchase and (most importantly) wire up another amp. The DVD player is nice, because it can play DVDs/CDs/etc without the carputer and also mounts as a DVD drive on the carputer. The built-in radio is nice mostly due to the fact that AM/FM tuners for computers have all but vanished in the past few years or cost much more than I feel an AM/FM radio is worth ($150+). Either way I plan to add satellite radio later, so the AM/FM radio is a VERY minor plus.
Front-End Software
Front-end software is a necessity in a carputer. The user interface built into every major operating system is very much dependant on the accuracy of either a mouse or (in the case of a tablet PC) a stylus. This does not go over well when the primary means of control will be a finger from someone attempting to manipulate thousands of pounds of steel and plastic down a road. Front-end software developed for a carputer uses nice big buttons and (for the most part) a minimalist approach to make control easier whilst driving.
There are a handful of front-end options ranging from free to several hundred dollars. The free options, while easier on the bank account, were a bit frustrating and would take more time to configure than I was willing to dedicate to the project. After numerous trials, I eventually decided to go with one of the prepackaged interfaces. Since I knew I would be using a Windows-based operating system, I was left with two primary contenders: Centrafuse [2] and StreetDeck. I eventually chose Centrafuse mostly due to the fact that StreetDeck was pulled off the market for a redesign when I was ready to buy. The options and functionality of both was very similar, so it really came down to availability.
The Carputer
Since I already have a Mac Mini operating as my Media Center PC in my living room, I decided to reuse it as a multi-environment entertainment solution. This not only made more use of a device that spends a majority of the day doing nothing but also saved me the expense of buying/building a whole other computer. However, I did need to make sure I could power the thing in my car. An old fashioned DC-AC converter would work, but is far from an elegant solution that would require me to startup and shutdown the computer on my own.
After some digging I found the Carnetix CNX-P1900 [3], which is a power supply made specifically for carputer installations that can automatically startup and shutdown the computer. The Carnetix guys were nice enough to create the MacPac Power Cable Kit [4], which is (as the name suggests) a power cable specifically designed for the Mac Mini that connects to their line of carputer power supplies. The plus side is, the kit also comes with a splitter that would allow me to keep the functionality of the power button on the Mac as well as control it with the P1900. The power supply also has auxiliary power outputs allowing me to power other devices as needed (mainly an external USB hub).
Internet Connectivity
There are a number of ways to get Internet connectivity into a carputer. Like most options the level of convenience increases with the cost. For my needs I decided to use my HTC Mogul for both phone and Internet. I just couldn't justify installing and paying a monthly fee for a mobile connection when my phone will be there all the same when I'm in the car and Wi-Fi is just not widespread enough to be a viable option. The only limitation I'll have using my mobile phone is I won't be able to simultaneously use the Internet and the phone. A minor inconvenience that is well worth the saving another monthly fee.
GPS Navigation
Centrafuse has built-in GPS navigation software, but it requires a GPS receiver to use it. As a result, I had to add a USB GPS device that was compatible with Centrafuse. I must admit, I did not do a significant amount of research on this, relying solely on the options available on the mp3Car.com Store. At the time, only the BU-353 Weather-proof GPS Receiver [5] was available. Since I did not need mapping features (as they are included in Centrafuse) or any other bells and whistles that tend to increase the cost, I found the BU-353 to be a good value.
Voice Recognition
The last component for consideration was a way to utilize the voice recognition features in Centrafuse. I could hook up virtually any microphone to the Mac Mini (including my Bluetooth headset) but I needed something that could handle the noise level present in most cars while driving. Again, I deferred to the options available to me on mp3Car.com, which were limited to either the moderately priced or the ridiculously expensive. I decided to go with the former, which left me with the Andrea Electronics Superbeam Array Microphone Bundle [6] (there's a mouthful).
Future Mods
Some features I plan to add in the future (in general order of interest):
- Better "Aux" Inputs - The fallback input devices when dealing with a carputer are a keyboard and mouse. I'd like to add something compact for use in the car (by passenger or when parked...of course).
- Satellite Radio - I'm not a fan of over-the-air radio and the price to integrate it into Centrafuse is cheaper than adding satellite (negating the monthly fee), so why not go that route?
- Enhanced Audio - The sound card built-in to the Mac Mini isn't the greatest, so I'd like to replace it with something better.
- Backup Camera(s) - To make my life a little easier...I hope
- OBD-II Scanner - Allows Centrafuse to read data from the car's computer. More of a dork feature (to me) than anything else.
Links
[1] Xenarc MDT-X7000 (http://www.xenarc.com/product/MDT-X7000.html)
[2] Centrafuse (http://www.fluxmedia.net/)
[3] Carnetix CNX-P1900 (http://www.carnetix.com/CNXP1900.htm)
[4] MacPac Power Cable Kit (http://www.carnetix.com/optional_cables.htm)
[5] BU-353 Weather-proof GPS Receiver (http://store.mp3car.com/BU_353_Weather_proof_GPS_Receiver_p/gps-002.htm)
[6] Andrea Electronics Superbeam Array Microphone Bundle (http://www.andreaelectronics.com/Buy/ProductDesc/superbeam_mic_bundle.htm)