**Audiomotive Gruppe** - Morex/Epia Car PC Systems!!

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 07-18-2005, 11:03 AM
  #1  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Audiomotive's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 29
Car Info: 2005 STi
**Audiomotive Gruppe** - Morex/Epia Car PC Systems!!

We can also offer a discounted package if anyone is interested in a complete system. The system price will be as follows:

1.3ghz system, 512 meg memory, 80gig hard drive, 512meg Kingston memory, 24x24x24x8x CDRW/DVD Combo drive, Morex 3688 (choice of black or silver case) with dc-dc powerboard as well as AC adapter. Regular price is $607.95 of purchased separately, Special package price $575.00 plus shipping.

1.2ghz system, same specs as above but instead with 1.2ghz via c3 cpu and built in PCMIA and CF reader. Regular price $557.95 Special package price $535 plus shipping.

I only have a few units of each setup so this price is while this supply lasts.

Although both units come with a DC-DC power board we highly recommend upgrading/replacing it with an intelligent power supply like the Opus 120w here http://www.audiomotivegruppe.com/in...p?categoryid=24. It monitors the car's battery status and also properly shuts down the PC when the ignition is off.


Dre
Audiomotive is offline  
Old 07-25-2005, 01:21 AM
  #2  
9 to 5 mod
iTrader: (6)
 
sigma pi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Chavez Ravine
Posts: 57,387
Car Info: 03 Impreza WRX
wow where do you put this and can i see a pic of it please

how do you control it run a mouse and keyboard in the cabin?

you can run a wireless acesspoint to steal interent right?
sigma pi is offline  
Old 07-25-2005, 09:10 AM
  #3  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Audiomotive's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 29
Car Info: 2005 STi
Originally Posted by sigma pi
wow where do you put this and can i see a pic of it please

how do you control it run a mouse and keyboard in the cabin?

you can run a wireless acesspoint to steal interent right?
You control the setup with a touchscreen lcd like the ones we have listed on our site. The PC run on WinXP (stripped down of unnecessary services and drivers). You then use a front end app that's basically a GUI thats operates full csreen so you dont see XP in the background. The frontend basically is a gui with buttons that are mapped to various apps such as navigation software, m3 player, dvd, etc. The front end is customizeable and many have done some nice skins to match the theme of their cars. I'm making the radio trim below to house my Xenarc 7" touchscreen monitor and CDRW drive.

Audiomotive is offline  
Old 07-25-2005, 10:16 AM
  #4  
Registered User
 
Dice's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: New York
Posts: 758
Car Info: 2002 WRB WRX
im interested in this can u post more pics, and hint your link is bad
Dice is offline  
Old 07-25-2005, 10:50 AM
  #5  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Audiomotive's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 29
Car Info: 2005 STi
This is the actual pic of the carpc we are selling. This is the one I am using for my car minus the dvd drive you see there. I decided to mold a slot style drive in the dash trim instead as seen in the above pic. The Morex case measures 8"x10"x2.5". The specs are listed in the frst post. I may mount it under my front seat or I may show it off in my trunk setup. The motherboards have integrated Via C3 cpus and are fanless. The link that isnt working is for an Opus intelligent power supply that basically shuts down the windows correctly and also monitors the status of the car's battery. Try and see if this link works: http://www.audiomotivegruppe.com/pro...t&productid=24.

Audiomotive is offline  
Old 07-25-2005, 10:59 AM
  #6  
Registered User
 
unstble's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: East Bay Area
Posts: 1,769
Car Info: WREX
So basically all we would need is this Car-PC unit, an touch-screen monitor and an Opus power unit to have this fully working in our cars? Would we have to use a specific monitor to be compatible with your car-pc?
unstble is offline  
Old 07-25-2005, 11:16 AM
  #7  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Audiomotive's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 29
Car Info: 2005 STi
Originally Posted by unstble
So basically all we would need is this Car-PC unit, an touch-screen monitor and an Opus power unit to have this fully working in our cars? Would we have to use a specific monitor to be compatible with your car-pc?

As far as monitors go, you will need a VGA LCD preferably touchscreen if you wish to minimize/eliminate keyboard use. There are a few brands arounds, but we carry Xenarc which I belive to be some of the better quality screens around. A lower cost alternative is Lilliput, but many have had quality issues with them ie ghosting, touchscreen failure, etc. The Xenarc I'd recommend for is the Xenarc 700TS (or 700TSV which adds 2 sets of RCA inputs as well as a wireless remote) The screens can be found here : http://www.audiomotivegruppe.com/ind...?categoryid=20.
We are authorized Xenarc dealers and the screens all come with a no dead pixel guarantee. Here is a link to one of the more commonly used front ends called Frodoplayer:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=41594.

Much of the software needed for the CarPC is free but you will need to do research on what best fits your needs. There is so much software available and hard to say which is the best.

Dre
Audiomotive is offline  
Old 07-25-2005, 05:25 PM
  #8  
9 to 5 mod
iTrader: (6)
 
sigma pi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Chavez Ravine
Posts: 57,387
Car Info: 03 Impreza WRX
ok i totally have no clue how this stuff works, sorry you have to explain it to me like im a 6 year old almost. so what do i need bottom line to make it work and how hard is it to install/use

edit can i use the mattjk screen set up?

and nice washer and drier

Last edited by sigma pi; 07-25-2005 at 05:31 PM.
sigma pi is offline  
Old 07-25-2005, 09:00 PM
  #9  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Audiomotive's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 29
Car Info: 2005 STi
Originally Posted by sigma pi
ok i totally have no clue how this stuff works, sorry you have to explain it to me like im a 6 year old almost. so what do i need bottom line to make it work and how hard is it to install/use

edit can i use the mattjk screen set up?

and nice washer and drier

Wiring wise it's not much harder than installing a head unit. The intelligent power supply is 3-4 wires (12v constant, ignition, ground, and trigger is optional if you have an amp or other 12v device you wish to turn on with the system). It will be helpful to have experience building and configuring a PC. Not that difficult. The hardest part is configuring the software. You can check out www.mp3car.com for more info than you will ever need on carpc's. Or if you want you can hit me up on AIM at AudiomotiveSales.

Dre
Audiomotive is offline  
Old 07-25-2005, 09:18 PM
  #10  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Audiomotive's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 29
Car Info: 2005 STi
Here's another pic of the bezel after hitting it with some hi build primer. It will need some minor touchups before priming and painting. BTW I forgot to answer your question on using the Mattjk screen. Unfortunately his screens are standard NTSC screens with RCA inputs. You will need a VGA LCD and preferably a touchscreen.



Dre
Audiomotive is offline  
Old 07-26-2005, 11:42 PM
  #11  
9 to 5 mod
iTrader: (6)
 
sigma pi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Chavez Ravine
Posts: 57,387
Car Info: 03 Impreza WRX
yeah just steal matts set up i was going to use the touch screen

ok i have some one in the socal forum that can help me
sigma pi is offline  
Old 08-02-2005, 12:29 AM
  #12  
Registered User
iTrader: (26)
 
dunnojack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 1,748
Car Info: '07 STI
hey, i'm interested in this set-up too. but i have no idea what anything means that's been mentioned here, so please, in a non-professional term, how much all together, what do i need, where does it go, what do i have to do, and who do i pay?
dunnojack is offline  
Old 08-02-2005, 10:16 AM
  #13  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Audiomotive's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 29
Car Info: 2005 STi
Originally Posted by dunnojack
hey, i'm interested in this set-up too. but i have no idea what anything means that's been mentioned here, so please, in a non-professional term, how much all together, what do i need, where does it go, what do i have to do, and who do i pay?
Basically a CarPC is a full PC just scaled down. It runs off a stripped down version of Windows XP. I've seen stripped down installs of WinXP be around 250 megs. Win XP is stripped down to speed up boot up times. All the unecessary services, games, and drivers are removed to make the install smaller/faster. After you have Windows XP installed you will need whats called a front end program. Theres quite a few choices here and many are free of charge. One of the more popular ones is Frodoplayer. Basically when the front end is loaded it will take up the full screen of your touchscreen monitor. You will not see XP running in the background although it is still accessible. The front end acts as a control center for all the major carpc functions ie buttons are linked to your dvd player, mp3 player, GPS, cell phone control, etc. There are so many possibilities and the front ends are very customizeable. There are many custom skins so you can choose a skin that matches the theme of your car.

After u get the software setup you will need to get sound setup. There's a couple of ways to do this. You can get a miniplug to stereo RCA adapter from Radio Shack or use one from one of the many iPod accessory manufacturers. From there you can plug it into the inputs of a multichannel amp or you can also plug it into the Aux in if your radio is equipped with one. You can also use the digital out of the PC's sound card and plug that into a digital processor such as those offered by Alpine or PIoneer to get full Dolby 5.1 sound.

As far as power supply goes. The case offered in this carpc has a 60w DC-DC power supply. While it can be wired to 12volts, I wouldn't recommend anyone do that. Car power systems are harsh on the PC components especially during cranking. The way around this with a standard dc-dc power supply equipped carpc is to start the car up then turn the pc on. Then when its time to shut the pc off you have to go thru the normal windows xp shutdown, wait for the pc to shutdown then turn the car off. Most people will use an intelligent power supply like the Opus I linked to in a previous post. Basically it regulates power for the PC so there no surges in power to the pc. Also it allows for the PC to be turned on and off properly without the need to manually start or shut down the PC. It will allow the PC to go into hibernation mode when the car is off and it will monitor the status of the car's battery. If the power gets to low it will turn off the PC. More detailed info on it can be found here http://www.audiomotivegruppe.com/pro...t&productid=24.

To make a complete carpc system you will need the carpc (like the package listed above), a touchscreen mointor, and we highly recommend the intelligent power supply. To add GPS capability you will need a GPS antenna (available in bluetooth, USB, or Serial) and GPS software. We don't sell GPS products yet but I'd recommend you take a look at iGuidance GPS software.

1.3ghz system, 512 meg memory, 80gig hard drive, 512meg Kingston memory, 24x24x24x8x CDRW/DVD Combo drive, Morex 3688 (choice of black or silver case) with dc-dc powerboard as well as AC adapter. Regular price is $607.95 of purchased separately, Special package price $575.00 plus shipping.

1.2ghz system, same specs as above but instead with 1.2ghz via c3 cpu and built in PCMIA and CF reader. Regular price $557.95 Special package price $535 plus shipping.


Screens:
The Xenarc 700TS touchscreen is $349
The 700TSV Touchscreen is $369. This screen differs from the 700TS in that it adds a wireless remote control as well as 2 RCA inputs for sources suchas as PS2, XBOX, rear view camera, external DVD player, etc.

Power supply:
Opus intelligent power supply is $129.95
I only have a few units of each setup so this price is while this supply lasts.

If you have any further questions feel free to call us at 718-558-6788. We accept paypal (we are verified), Visa/MC.

ps- Take a look at www.mp3car.com theres tons of info there, some get very technical for a beginner, but we're here to help.


Dre
Audiomotive is offline  
Old 08-02-2005, 10:29 PM
  #14  
9 to 5 mod
iTrader: (6)
 
sigma pi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Chavez Ravine
Posts: 57,387
Car Info: 03 Impreza WRX
wow thanks for the info now i know what i need and what im looking at in cost.
so about 1k to have the cool set up and get usb wireless interent.

that would be sweet
sigma pi is offline  
Old 08-02-2005, 10:56 PM
  #15  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Audiomotive's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 29
Car Info: 2005 STi
Originally Posted by sigma pi
wow thanks for the info now i know what i need and what im looking at in cost.
so about 1k to have the cool set up and get usb wireless interent.

that would be sweet

Yea it's not as hard as it sounds to set it up. And for the price you get a lot of flexibility. If you plan on doing wireless internet maybe you should consider the 1.2ghz package as that motherboard has a built in PC card slot that you can use for a wireless card or for one of those broadband internet cards offered by cell companies.

Dre
Audiomotive is offline  


Quick Reply: **Audiomotive Gruppe** - Morex/Epia Car PC Systems!!



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:03 PM.