Another Carputer Thread!

[BlackBravo]

First apologies 4 the lanky thread!!!
Right i have an old laptop

which i plan on using, if use an adapter from the headphone jack to the cd changers phono`s the HU takes the music well (no noise or crackling)

Where can i get a adaptor for the laptop to 12V?

Will Windows media Player 10 run WIN98? Or Frodo Player?

This will fit well under the back seat, what probs will i incur to heat? Any fixes for this??

The HDD`s tiny like 4 Gb, What are external HDD like for my music, quick access? (any recomendations)

Also is 64mb ram ok?
Cheers for the help guys!

Pete

 

[Anonymous]

Where can i get a adaptor for the laptop to 12V? - Have a look on the laptop where the power cable plugs in to see what voltage it needs. If its equal to or less than 12v, then you maybe able to get a ciggy adapter to power it. (You can obviously chop the end off and hard wire it to make it look neater).

Will Windows media Player 10 run WIN98? Or Frodo Player? - As you won't be looking at the screen, i would suggest something a little less power hungry, something simple like Winamp should be ok.

This will fit well under the back seat, what probs will i incur to heat? Any fixes for this?? - It should be ok, but as a precaution just get 2 cheap fans and fit them in near the laptop to help circulate the air.

The HDD`s tiny like 4 Gb, What are external HDD like for my music, quick access? (any recomendations) - a mate of mine is making me a portable HDD from a laptop in a little caddy, this plugs into (and gets the power from) the USB port. If you get a standard HDD, you will need to power it somehow.

Also is 64mb ram ok? - As i suspect you will only be using to play music, 64mb should be fine.

Daz

 

[BlackBravo]

cheers m8, its only a bisic system basically cos it lying around
Pete

Pete

 

[Ash]

computers

SORRY ABOUT THE LENGTH BUT COMPUTERS ARE MY FIRST PASSION/JOB AND BRAVO VERY CLOSE SECOND I HAVE THOUGHT LONG AND HARD ABOUT THE CARPUTER PROJECT HOPE THIS HELPS.


The laptop will be fine to play mp3's media player 10 wont work in 98 period it is for xp! use winamp around the version 2.9 mark is the best for low resource requirements i can email it to u if needed

I wouldn't recommend using an external hdd as they are not built to be shock proof, like a laptop hdd, as they are just a normal hdd in a case and cant take bring bounced up and down while switched on (they have rubber feet cos they are ment to sit on a desk) !!

Also being an old laptop it won't have usb2 so file transfer will be slow only 10mbps rather than 100mbps usb2 provides should be enough but why bother

the best bet would be to replace the internal Hdd in the laptop, with a new bigger one if you look on the side/bottom of the laptop there is a screw you take out then the hdd just pulls out you then pop in the new one fdisk it, format it, install windows and done.

(Check on the Toshiba website to find out the biggest size hdd the laptop can take. should b round 20-40gig for that age laptop you can download the manuals in .pdf format)

Places to get hdd's local computer shop (not pc world computer equivalent of halfrauds)just ask for a 2.5inch hdd or for a used one there are loads on ebay for a fraction of the cost of an external hdd

How do you plan to see what's going on, on the laptop??

I have seen some touch screen monitors going for around £250 but you will need an svideo output on the laptop I think the satellites have it on the back somewhere (if u got one) oh and a spare USB port

or are you going to be brave and rip off the laptop screen extend the cables and dash mount it, with cordless keyboard and mouse (think becklin do some mini mouses and keyboards)

if all you plan to do with the laptop is play music (lets face it it aint eva gonna play a dvd or divx) a much cheaper option would be an ipod hooked up to the aux input on ur head unit! Bonus being u have an ipod u can remove and prevent from being stolen unlike the flashy screen in ur dash!

 

[BlackBravo]

Re: computers

There screen is going to be a liliput. £200.
it works as a monitor VGA 800x600.
The reason to use the laptop is its lying around gatthering dust, so to use the laptop before i can spare building something like the small dell desktop case or a fake shuttle.
Pete

Pete