This is something that i've tried with a few different hubs.
To be honest all my hubs have had optional power chords to provide powered usb. Is your external hdd 2.5 or 3.5?
The hubs I've had have worked for things like scanners, printers, etc, if they have their own power source when i unplugged the power part to the hub, but other things like charging an ipod, etc, didn't.

Another thing to consider is you lose USB 2.0 speeds. Although for playing music you probably won't need usb 2.0.

 

Could you boot off an SD card? They're really cheap these days although a flash drive is definitely another option. And theres always Ubuntu with its live cd and now 9.04beta of that is out. I'm thinking I might just take an old laptop with a broken screen and do it that way with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and an external LCD.

 

my hub does have a seperate power outle and it powers an external that does not have a power cord. Not really sure what why yours wasnt working maybe older technology or cheaper models. It was really just an idea and I really dont see too many down sides to it so far for the price. The pupose built machines need to start coming down in price if you can now get a laptop for $299 price with decent specs. Unless I am missing something I dont see the need to over spend on something as simple as this.

 

i have a powered hub, i ran it into the basment along with an s video cable and audio rca's, a wirless keyboard pick up, xbox 360 controller and a trackball all run off of it. it works great, and i dont notice any lag.

 

You're never going to see purpose built machines come down to the price level of general use machines like these netbooks. It's got nothing to do with using the minimal level of tech to get the job done, it's in volume. Car computers and the specific components that you'd want in order to build them are selling in no where near the same ballpark as netbooks are.

If you want something done cheap and not get laughed at by people after you explain how it costs you 400 bucks for your in-car computer, then you'd better be able to buy your stuff used and save that way or find some way to utilize something like a netbook so that you have it inside and outside of the car.

It really wouldn't be that difficult to mount the netbook under the dash upside down, so that the display is hanging down vertically. Then flip the desktop so things get drawn to the screen in the correct orientation. Then get yourself a cheap rf remote to interact and mount that on the steering wheel and you're good to go. The netbook can then be removed whenever you leave and you aren't left with an expensive piece of hardware that has limited function and use. Plus having it mounted under the dash wouldn't even look bad. All you'd really see is the screen, the dash overhang would hide the base of the netbook.

Unless money isn't an option. Hell, back in the day i splurged and built a 250 dollar semi-embedded router rather than hacking a WRT for 50 bucks. Yea mine's better, but i'm not sure it's 200 bucks better. So it's understandable that some people will still end up spending 3-4 times as much for hardware that has limited to nearly no additional functionality over a 100 dollar gps device that runs winCE so you can add your mp3/vorbis player to play in the background and wire a mini-jack to plug into your stereo. Plus it'll play movies too.

 

hmm this is interesting. This is a similar debate about electronics I had when I built my CNC mill. Everyone said, oh that is dumb or your set up wont work or will wont be powerful enough. However my bench top cnc mill is worth $4000 and I have zero issue with it and it can machine pretty much anything I throw at it and was still able to run all the "extras" everyone else said I wouldnt be able to run. In fact people stop by to see how mine was built before building theirs now. Instead of spending too much money in one area of my mill that made no sense (but is what everyone said I should do) I was able to spend it in other areas such as the tooling for an auto tool changer, and joy stick dongle. You wont see too many home built CNC mills with auto tool changers and joy stick dongles either btw.

I just mentioned about removing the laptop if needed. I have 4 laptops (2 normal laptops and 2 netbooks) and a desktop, I am not worried about removing an extra one from the car.

Money is not a concern, if spending $1500 on a system is what is needed than cool. But if i took this laptop or netbook, stripped out the guts put it in a box and called it a "purpose built" machine would anyone know the difference? I am begining to think not. This is my point, that little netbook seems to have all the specs if not more than these purpose built machines for a much cheaper price. So why would you pay more for a purpose built box when they cant get volume discounts??? So you have a netbook mounted completely out of site, you run a touch screen to it etc etc, and you have saved money using a machine with close to the same specs.

Not sure why people are taking digs at me, go take a look over in the favorite tool thread and you will see my set up, I am not one to go cheap on stuff, I am just not one who wants to be stupid with my money...

MP3car has one that is $425 and considered a "budget" model without an OS. add another $100 if you want one installed.

The one and only thing that no one has mentioned is the hard drive and what is really needed to withstand being bumped around in a car all the time. If I look at the higher priced carputers they mention automotive grade hard drive. Now if that is the case for using a purpose built machine compared to something else then I can understand that.

But if what I need to run my carputer is a $300 netbook, and I can spend a ton of money on other extras then great, I will have a $1000 or $4000 system in my car being run off a computer capable of handing all the same add ons than one that was a couple hundred more and labelled something else.

 

i would have to agree with kos, BTW those tools u built are badas$.

i can take a thinkpad t23 i have lying around, remove the screen, buy a 7in touch screen http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...odlist=froogle add a powered hub to it. 1/16 jack to rca and have a nice little setup for under $1000 and have all the features of a home desktop, minus the internet speeds/availabilty. the thing i am wondering is, how does the gps function work without a constant internet connection? do you have to use your cell phone as a modem?

 

i have a GPS receiver that is blue tooth that we used to use for our phones I think I still have two laying around.

I can also tether my black berry to my latop and get internet acess, but you have to make sure you have it as part of your plan or you will get charged a ton for internet fees.

I havent started anything on my build and unfortunately kind of high jacked this thread..sorry.

I am still in the planning stages as I want to make some custom parts, or complete custom console that goes right up to the dash...I am thinking of doing some rubber mold molds and reproducing new plastic parts. I have all the molding material etc but have to map it out first.

 

yea, after taking a look back in this thread (havent been following it latley) i kinda contridcted myself, but i was confusing the mention of a purpose built rig as in custom build your own pc ie cpu/mobo ect. like a micro atx mobo and a dual core in a custom built case. anyways my bad.

i see what ur saying now with a cheap laptop. i recently aquirred an old one with a decent proc for free. as for molds n shlt, i dont have any exp on the whole process. sounds kinda cool tho.

the OP hasnt updated it in a while, and it is a cool concept, i wanna see some result from someone either way, lol

 

You dont need much of a hdd for a car computer. couple flash disks should be fine (cf or otherwise), and they're cheap too.

OS can be free. You dont have to run windows and suffer the issues from that.

I wouldn't even disassemble the laptop and reduce it's functionality. Just be a tiny bit creative in how it's mounted and go. Would you rather spend 300+ bucks on something that only works in the car or 300+ on something that works in the car and anywhere else you want to go whenever you feel like? Maybe i dont have the cash burning a hole in my pocket like some others, but i dont see the justification matching the cost for reducing the functionality of what you're buying to such a limited purpose when you dont have to.

The whole wow factor is sort of destroyed when anyone with a male to male minijack cable can reproduce 75% of the features with their 30 dollar thumbdrive mp3 player, with the remaining 20% being handled by the gps unit (that's removable for security reasons and you probably already have anyway), and the last 5% being features you wont hardly use ever. This wasn't the case over 10 years ago, but then, that's why they were cool then, and barely selling now.

 

i hear what ur saying safemode. i wouldnt go out and buy a laptop for this purpose. i do have an old one lying around not in use. i wouldnt use the screen for a few reasons, inconvienet locations, screen is damagaed, and i would rather have a sleek in dash touch screen with the guts of the cp hidden away.

but anyway, i have no plans on installing a computer in my 3rd gen cause its a drag car. hell i dont even have a stereo or hvac in it.

 

Back to some of the previous posts...

My specific built car comptuer has a 12v power supply designed to run in an automotive environment... With a laptop, you would have to get some kind of charger / inverter to run it continously... My car PC has a Pentium M processor (which also takes less power and runs cooler than the Pentium 4 in my home Notebook...

In my case, I have a Knight Rider replica with a 8.4" Xenarc Touch Screen wich works fine... I have an older laptop, which has a screen, it doesn't run with it closed, I'de have to mod it, plus it runs hot as it is, much less in a black car in FL... I'de have to run it close enough to push a button to start it on the laptop as to my car pc, I can hook up a switch anywhere...

I know now a days they have those small $300 mini notebooks... I was actually recommending those to other KR enthusiasts who have the older style dash with 2 5" Monitors (cuz they are tiny & not really usable)... This would be a cheaper alternative than a car PC + a usable screen for those guys...

I guess you could go either way... depending on what you want...

Raf

 

I think I have something to add to this thread. I've been thinking of building my own car computer as a purpose built box using these items:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813121342
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811234022
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118018
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820609330
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812120304
http://www.chinadvdgps.com/lilliput-...a-mon8898.html

which all comes to a final price of roughly $470. You get:
-semi-fast computer
-xp/linux
-touchscreen
-extra outlet for whatever you need to power (cell phone charger, laptop, whatever)
-won't use up your lighter socket
-powerful "stereo" with many many options to shape the audio you're listening to
-Ability to wire the computer to your car's computer, allowing custom tuning/monitoring of car systems in real time for fuel injected models, which unfortunately doesn't include me at this time


I also was debating just getting the Asus Eee thing, here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220355

It would have a final cost of $280, but no
-inverter
-would use my cig lighter socket
-no power outlet for other uses
-no touchscreen
-would have to use the pad and keyboard to do any tasks. Not such a great idea when driving.
-weaker machine (by a bit)

Not to mention the fact that instead of a slick touchscreen monitor wherever you want to put it, you instead have to find a place to build a holder for the little notebook. Not as professional. It all really comes down to purpose, and what you want out of it. I think I will get the costlier version of a purpose built machine and the cleaner look with increased expandability and the option to modify it down the line versus a done and dried notebook that can't be changed, mod'd, or added to.

As for the install, I can mount the inverter and pc box somewhere behind the dash or on the floor over the tranny hump. The monitor can go where my stereo and ac/heater controls used to be. I could also add another touchscreen for my passenger if I choose to spurge on two of them. With our dash's that have that lip, it would work perfectly to block glare and such if the second monitor was mounted on the front of the dash facing the passenger. Not to mention the passenger could mess with a pc and entertain themselves if for some reason you're not driving fast enough to scare the living sh*t out of them