CaptainMorgan
05-27-2008, 07:59 PM
I decided to start a new thread to start listing off the build that I'm going for as I sort through the possibilities myself. This is simply a notebook for me as much as anything else.
Pieces of the system I have
Computer: Dell Inspiron 8600, 1.8 Pentium M, 528 memory and 100 gig HD.
Power Supply: Lind DE2045-1342 - Car charger Power adapter
Arrived today (5-29-08)
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u103/CaptainMorgan628/Lindbox.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u103/CaptainMorgan628/Lindpoweradaptor.jpg
Tested and it works, talk about a bargain.
Sound system:
Audigy 2 ZS NB version - ordered and in the mail for $51.00, because it does support kx project, but it's a PCMCIA which is great for this system, but that does mean I'll need an adaptor to use it in a build it yourself carputer (cheap to do though). All I'm looking to use this sound card for is output through RCA, which is fully functional.
-Got it in the mail and it's broken. ****. I will open a dispute with the guy when my window opens at ten days. Time to order one that is new, not used.
-GlobalSat BU-353 WaterProof USB GPS Receiver (SiRF Star III) - in the mail as well now for 41 bucks shipped new.
-Got this puppy in the mail and this one works just fine. I don't have any software, but it has a config program to test it though. Now to figure out what I want for software.
-Mitchjs' HDR-RS232 HD radio patch cable - Just ordered for 25 bucks shipped
Pieces I'm considering
I'd like to look into dropping an aftermarket center channel in the dash with a small one channel amp to drive it. Nothing really special, just enough to run 5.1 if I want to.
-Options I'm looking at right now are JL Audio TR350-CXi or Infinity Kappa 32.9cf, they are the right size to mount one of them right in the center dash, but I'll look into custom mounting both of them in there somehow. With a little trimming of the defroster vents it looks like it could be done. I plan on picking up a 4x40 amp to power the front center channel and the rear 6x9s.
More options for this that I'm finding, I'll sort through pros and cons after I've completed my list here.
Polk Audio DB351 3.5-Inch Coaxial Speakers (105W peak, 35Wrms, 90Hz - 22kHz) - 54 bucks shipped - these sound like a solid option
MB Quart DKC108 - MB Quart 3.5" Discus Coaxials (25-60Wrms,75Hz to 32,000Hz)- 40 bucks shipped - can be gotten cheap and the measureables are good, but I just don't know. Something doesn't seem right with these. How does a titanium tweeter compare to others? Why is the Freq range so different than other speakers? The sensitivity is also only 85.5 dB, which is lower than others but how low is this number really?
JL Audio TR350-CXi
Infinity Kappa 32.9cf - sounds like a great speaker, but its 2 ohm which doesn't really fly with my 4 channel amp plan so maybe these aren't the best choice. I'm used to dealing with 4ohm for car audio, so what would I be looking for in an amp to power these bad boys. I think I understand it, but I hope I'm ignorant and can be enlightened. I guess the real question for me is can a 4 channel amp run 2 channels at 2 ohms and 2 channels at 4 ohms? Hmm wait a second, I just saw the speaker listed as either 2 or 4 ohm. Interesting.
Diamond Audio M331I - 30Wrms, 60 peak
Eclipse SE8235 - Eclipse 3.5" 2 Way Coaxial Speakers
Boston Acoustics S35 - Boston Acoustics 3.5" 2 Way car speakers
Infinity Reference 3012CF 3.5" Round Component System Speaker
I've also decided that I need to look into if I could mount a 4" speaker in the dash there, because the options open up a lot more at 4", but I'd really like to find a way to cram in there both 3.5s if possible.
The factory center channel is a hair over 2.5", but a 3.5 or even 4 could easily fit there. I'm not so sure about two 3.5s though.
I had another thought too, with the 300 dash, a speaker could easily be put into the center vent without affecting airflow at all. I'm not sure if I like this idea yet, but it's something to consider. It's a better speaker location with not having to reflect the sound off the glass, but I don't know if it would look as good. I also don't know if a 4" could fit there. I'll measure that tomorrow.
As far as amps go, there are 2 obvious ones I'm looking at
Pioneer GM-4300F
Alpine MRP F250
The rest of the sound system is already in place right now (other than subs, but that's not happening yet), I'm not going to delve into that.
Video:
Just gonna run off the VGA from the computer that is already there, but eventually the system will need a video card that can run the touchscreen and a pair of headrest screens. I'll start listing options once I actually get to researching this.
Storage solutions: Use the 100gig drive thats in there for now, but eventually I'll want to upgrade that too. I also have seen some of the more durable hard drives designed for applications such as a car, but I'm not sure what is good/worth investing in. I may pick up a larger 3.5 HDD to use as the multimedia drive with kepping the 100gig in the computer for the boot drive w/all the system files, and then possibly create a partition on the larger drive that is a ghost of the C drive that can be booted off of. I'm starting to grow more fond of this idea, but I've never done a backup system like that. I know that a raid setup can be used to do this, and would probably be the simpler solution. There would be no backing up to do, it would just always write everything to both discs. I'll look more into how/if that can really be done.
-Samsung Spinpoint T166 500GB Hard Drive - 7200, 16MB, Serial ATA-300, OEM - would be a good disc to use as the second to add on. I need to find out how much it would really cost me to order. I would also stick it in a case to make it an external which would let me bring it inside easily to load up with stuff if I need to.
Keyboard:
The logitech dinovo looks like a solid solution, and the mini is pretty sweet but I'm more interested in a full keyboard, not one that I thumb type on. I definitely need one that has some type of mouse device. I wouldn't mind looking into a smaller one that is still a full keyboard, but I haven't really figured out what other brands to look at yet.
CD/DVD drive: not sure on this one yet, as I haven't decided if I want a burner or not. It's one of those things that naturally I say yes, but practically would it really get used? Maybe, if I installed DVD ripping and burning software on it because then I could just pop in a DVD at a friend's house and make myself a copy. CD burning is obviously very useful for a system built for music as a primary purpose. I need to look into other brands more, but this one from mp3car looks good for the all out solution.
Panasonic UJ-875 Slim Slot load DVD±R/±RW/+RDL/RAM Multi Drive
Samsung WriteMaster(TM) SE-T084L looks good, but doesn't look as easy to find. Even if the stats are better, it's not needed here so unless I got a great deal on this I won't bother.
PIONEER SLIM DVDRW DVR-K06RS 8X8 ATAPI 2MB 150MS DUAL SLIM-LINE BLACK - another interesting possibility to look into
A separate volume knob such as the one at mp3car looks like something I would like to incorporate into the dash setup.
Back up camera? - where would you mount it?
Bluetooth hands free phone hookup - A big priority for me eventually
HD radio tuner - Either the Visteon HDZ300 or the Directed Electronics DMHD-1000 - pretty much whichever is cheaper
A card reader to mount into the dash would be very convenient for picture taking occasions, but it isn't a must. USB ports straight to the camera can work, so this depends on if I find one that is for a good deal.
Screens: I'll get into listing my options so far later
Software:
Front End: Definitely going RR for now. Not only is it good, but it's free and will be a good learning experience for carputing even if it doesn't end up my final solution.
GPS: No idea yet, as I've been doing some reading and while there were some people working on the traffic updates/rerouting on iguidance, but there does exist supposedly this feature on other systems.
I need to look into some of the sound processing software that is out there to see what does what I want.
Full plan for power solution
-Use an Auto power on module like the one W3bMa5t3r over on mp3car makes to turn the computer on.
-Wire the power adapter through a relay so that when the car is off, it is disabled. This way the laptop can be set to hibernate after X number of minutes, but when Windows inevitably gets stuck on shut down only the laptop battery gets drained, not the car battery.
That's all I'll save into this post for now, but I'll be updating this as I learn more.
Pieces of the system I have
Computer: Dell Inspiron 8600, 1.8 Pentium M, 528 memory and 100 gig HD.
Power Supply: Lind DE2045-1342 - Car charger Power adapter
Arrived today (5-29-08)
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u103/CaptainMorgan628/Lindbox.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u103/CaptainMorgan628/Lindpoweradaptor.jpg
Tested and it works, talk about a bargain.
Sound system:
Audigy 2 ZS NB version - ordered and in the mail for $51.00, because it does support kx project, but it's a PCMCIA which is great for this system, but that does mean I'll need an adaptor to use it in a build it yourself carputer (cheap to do though). All I'm looking to use this sound card for is output through RCA, which is fully functional.
-Got it in the mail and it's broken. ****. I will open a dispute with the guy when my window opens at ten days. Time to order one that is new, not used.
-GlobalSat BU-353 WaterProof USB GPS Receiver (SiRF Star III) - in the mail as well now for 41 bucks shipped new.
-Got this puppy in the mail and this one works just fine. I don't have any software, but it has a config program to test it though. Now to figure out what I want for software.
-Mitchjs' HDR-RS232 HD radio patch cable - Just ordered for 25 bucks shipped
Pieces I'm considering
I'd like to look into dropping an aftermarket center channel in the dash with a small one channel amp to drive it. Nothing really special, just enough to run 5.1 if I want to.
-Options I'm looking at right now are JL Audio TR350-CXi or Infinity Kappa 32.9cf, they are the right size to mount one of them right in the center dash, but I'll look into custom mounting both of them in there somehow. With a little trimming of the defroster vents it looks like it could be done. I plan on picking up a 4x40 amp to power the front center channel and the rear 6x9s.
More options for this that I'm finding, I'll sort through pros and cons after I've completed my list here.
Polk Audio DB351 3.5-Inch Coaxial Speakers (105W peak, 35Wrms, 90Hz - 22kHz) - 54 bucks shipped - these sound like a solid option
MB Quart DKC108 - MB Quart 3.5" Discus Coaxials (25-60Wrms,75Hz to 32,000Hz)- 40 bucks shipped - can be gotten cheap and the measureables are good, but I just don't know. Something doesn't seem right with these. How does a titanium tweeter compare to others? Why is the Freq range so different than other speakers? The sensitivity is also only 85.5 dB, which is lower than others but how low is this number really?
JL Audio TR350-CXi
Infinity Kappa 32.9cf - sounds like a great speaker, but its 2 ohm which doesn't really fly with my 4 channel amp plan so maybe these aren't the best choice. I'm used to dealing with 4ohm for car audio, so what would I be looking for in an amp to power these bad boys. I think I understand it, but I hope I'm ignorant and can be enlightened. I guess the real question for me is can a 4 channel amp run 2 channels at 2 ohms and 2 channels at 4 ohms? Hmm wait a second, I just saw the speaker listed as either 2 or 4 ohm. Interesting.
Diamond Audio M331I - 30Wrms, 60 peak
Eclipse SE8235 - Eclipse 3.5" 2 Way Coaxial Speakers
Boston Acoustics S35 - Boston Acoustics 3.5" 2 Way car speakers
Infinity Reference 3012CF 3.5" Round Component System Speaker
I've also decided that I need to look into if I could mount a 4" speaker in the dash there, because the options open up a lot more at 4", but I'd really like to find a way to cram in there both 3.5s if possible.
The factory center channel is a hair over 2.5", but a 3.5 or even 4 could easily fit there. I'm not so sure about two 3.5s though.
I had another thought too, with the 300 dash, a speaker could easily be put into the center vent without affecting airflow at all. I'm not sure if I like this idea yet, but it's something to consider. It's a better speaker location with not having to reflect the sound off the glass, but I don't know if it would look as good. I also don't know if a 4" could fit there. I'll measure that tomorrow.
As far as amps go, there are 2 obvious ones I'm looking at
Pioneer GM-4300F
Alpine MRP F250
The rest of the sound system is already in place right now (other than subs, but that's not happening yet), I'm not going to delve into that.
Video:
Just gonna run off the VGA from the computer that is already there, but eventually the system will need a video card that can run the touchscreen and a pair of headrest screens. I'll start listing options once I actually get to researching this.
Storage solutions: Use the 100gig drive thats in there for now, but eventually I'll want to upgrade that too. I also have seen some of the more durable hard drives designed for applications such as a car, but I'm not sure what is good/worth investing in. I may pick up a larger 3.5 HDD to use as the multimedia drive with kepping the 100gig in the computer for the boot drive w/all the system files, and then possibly create a partition on the larger drive that is a ghost of the C drive that can be booted off of. I'm starting to grow more fond of this idea, but I've never done a backup system like that. I know that a raid setup can be used to do this, and would probably be the simpler solution. There would be no backing up to do, it would just always write everything to both discs. I'll look more into how/if that can really be done.
-Samsung Spinpoint T166 500GB Hard Drive - 7200, 16MB, Serial ATA-300, OEM - would be a good disc to use as the second to add on. I need to find out how much it would really cost me to order. I would also stick it in a case to make it an external which would let me bring it inside easily to load up with stuff if I need to.
Keyboard:
The logitech dinovo looks like a solid solution, and the mini is pretty sweet but I'm more interested in a full keyboard, not one that I thumb type on. I definitely need one that has some type of mouse device. I wouldn't mind looking into a smaller one that is still a full keyboard, but I haven't really figured out what other brands to look at yet.
CD/DVD drive: not sure on this one yet, as I haven't decided if I want a burner or not. It's one of those things that naturally I say yes, but practically would it really get used? Maybe, if I installed DVD ripping and burning software on it because then I could just pop in a DVD at a friend's house and make myself a copy. CD burning is obviously very useful for a system built for music as a primary purpose. I need to look into other brands more, but this one from mp3car looks good for the all out solution.
Panasonic UJ-875 Slim Slot load DVD±R/±RW/+RDL/RAM Multi Drive
Samsung WriteMaster(TM) SE-T084L looks good, but doesn't look as easy to find. Even if the stats are better, it's not needed here so unless I got a great deal on this I won't bother.
PIONEER SLIM DVDRW DVR-K06RS 8X8 ATAPI 2MB 150MS DUAL SLIM-LINE BLACK - another interesting possibility to look into
A separate volume knob such as the one at mp3car looks like something I would like to incorporate into the dash setup.
Back up camera? - where would you mount it?
Bluetooth hands free phone hookup - A big priority for me eventually
HD radio tuner - Either the Visteon HDZ300 or the Directed Electronics DMHD-1000 - pretty much whichever is cheaper
A card reader to mount into the dash would be very convenient for picture taking occasions, but it isn't a must. USB ports straight to the camera can work, so this depends on if I find one that is for a good deal.
Screens: I'll get into listing my options so far later
Software:
Front End: Definitely going RR for now. Not only is it good, but it's free and will be a good learning experience for carputing even if it doesn't end up my final solution.
GPS: No idea yet, as I've been doing some reading and while there were some people working on the traffic updates/rerouting on iguidance, but there does exist supposedly this feature on other systems.
I need to look into some of the sound processing software that is out there to see what does what I want.
Full plan for power solution
-Use an Auto power on module like the one W3bMa5t3r over on mp3car makes to turn the computer on.
-Wire the power adapter through a relay so that when the car is off, it is disabled. This way the laptop can be set to hibernate after X number of minutes, but when Windows inevitably gets stuck on shut down only the laptop battery gets drained, not the car battery.
That's all I'll save into this post for now, but I'll be updating this as I learn more.