Car PC Hacks: Tips & Tools for Geeking Your Ride

by Damien Stolarz

Overview

A car PC or carputer is a car tricked-out with electronics for playing radio, music and DVD movies, connecting to the Internet, navigating and tracking with satellite, taking photos, and any electronic gadget a person wants in a car. All these devices are managed and controlled through a single screen or interface. The only place car PC enthusiasts can go for advice, tips and tools is a handful of hard-to-find Web sites--until now. Car PC Hacks is your guide into the car PC revolution.Packing MP3 players, handheld devices, computers and video-on-demand systems gives you a pile too heavy to carry. But add a car and put them together, you've got a powerful and mobile multimedia center requiring no lifting. The next time you give kids a lift, you won't hear, "Are we there yet?" Instead, expect "We're there already?" as they won't want to leave the car while playing video games from multiple consoles.Car PC Hacks is the first book available to introduce and entrench you into this hot new market. You can count on the book because it hails from O'Reilly, a trusted resource for technical books. Expect innovation, useful tools, and fun experiments that you've come to expect from O'Reilly's Hacks Series.Maybe you've hacked computers and gadgets, and now you're ready to take it to your car. If hacking is new and you would like to mix cars and computers, this book gets you started with its introduction to the basics of car electrical systems. Even when you're unclear on the difference between amps and watts, expect a clear explanation along with real-life examples to get on track. Whether you're venturing into car PC for the first time or an experienced hobbyist, hop in the book for a joy ride.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780596553128
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	07/27/2005
Series:	Hacks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	386
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Damien Stolarz is an inventor with a decade of experience making different kinds of computers talk to each other. After studying Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at UCLA, Damien co-founded Blue Falcon Networks (formerly Static Online, Inc.), where he supervised, architected and developed networking software for 7 years. He has written and spoken at conferences about Internet video, content delivery, and Peer-to-Peer networking, and created Robotarmy in 2002 to provide high-technology consulting in these areas.

Table of Contents

Credits; About the Author; Contributors; Acknowledgments; Preface; Why Car PC Hacks?; How to Use This Book; How This Book Is Organized; Conventions Used in This Book; Using Code Examples; Safari Enabled; How to Contact Us; Got a Hack?; Chapter 1: Car Power Basics; 1.1 Hacks 1-11: Introduction; 1 Understand Car Electrical Systems; 2 Prevent Electrical Fires; 3 Gauge Your Wires; 4 Connect Your Wires; 5 Calculate Your Car's Battery Life; 6 Upgrade Your Car Battery; 7 Add New Power Connectors Throughout Your Car; 8 Use a Huge Capacitor to Sustain Power; 9 Upgrade Your Car's Alternator; 10 Add a Second Car Battery; 11 Put Home Power Outlets in Your Car; Chapter 2: Automotive Audio Entertainment; 2.1 Hacks 12–22: Introduction; 12 Get a Headful About Your Car Audio; 13 Install a New Head Unit; 14 Get Computer Audio into Your Head Unit; 15 Amp Up Your Computer Audio; 16 Make a Very Cheap AUX-in; 17 Reduce Your Audio System's Noise; 18 Control Your iPod with Your Car Stereo Knobs; 19 Tune Your PC for Radio Reception; 20 Record Radio Shows; 21 Listen to Email, Weblogs, and RSS Feeds on the Road; 22 Find Out What Was Playing on the Radio; Chapter 3: Automotive Video Entertainment; 3.1 Hacks 23–40: Introduction; 23 Understand Video Connectors; 24 Choose Your Screens; 25 Install a Headrest Screen; 26 Install a VGA Touchscreen in Your Dashboard; 27 Install a Sun Visor Screen; 28 Install a Motorized Fold-out Screen; 29 Install a Fold-Down Ceiling-Mounted Screen; 30 Supersize Your Fold-Down LCD Screen; 31 Turn Your Laptop into a Fold-Down or Dashboard Screen; 32 Connect a Car PC to Your Factory Screen; 33 Install a Rearview Mirror Screen and Camera; 34 Boost Your Video Signal for Multiple Screens; 35 Customize Each Passenger's Video; 37 Receive Satellite TV While Driving; 38 Play DVDs with Your in-Car Computer; 39 Put Multi-Channel DVD Surround Sound in Your Car; 40 Install a Video Game Console Computer in Your Car; Chapter 4: In-Car Computers; 4.1 Hacks 41–54: Introduction; 41 Choose an in-Car PC Hardware Platform; 42 Power Your Car PC; 43 Start Up and Shut Down Your Car PC; 44 Reduce the Boot Time of Your in-Car Computer; 45 Keep Your Computer on During Engine Cranking; 46 Turn On Your Car Computer Before You Start Your Car; 47 Boot Your Car Computer on a Schedule; 48 Choose an in-Car PC Software Platform; 49 Install Windows on a CompactFlash Card; 50 Power Your Portable Devices in the Car; 51 Install USB Ports in Your Car; 52 Build an in-Car PC; 53 Build an in-Car Macintosh; 54 Install a Mac Mini in Your Car; Chapter 5: Car PC Interface Options; 5.1 Hacks 55–61: Introduction; 55 Control Your Car PC with a Keyboard and Mouse; 56 Control Your Car PC with a Handheld Remote; 57 Control Your Car PC with a Touchscreen; 58 Car-Enable Clunky Applications; 59 Listen to What Your Car Computer Is Saying; 60 Control Your Car PC with Voice Recognition; 61 Find More Ways to Control Your in-Car Computer; Chapter 6: Wireless Connectivity and in-Car Internet; 6.1 Hacks 62–68: Introduction; 62 Get Online in Your Car; 63 Make Your Mobile Phone Hands-Free with Your Car PC; 64 Transfer Data to and from Your Car PC; 65 View Real-Time Traffic Data on the Road; 66 Videoconference from Your Car; 67 Use GPS on Your Car PC; 68 Find WiFi Hotspots on the Road; Chapter 7: In-Car Applications; 7.1 Hacks 69–75: Introduction; 69 Plug into Your Car's Built-in Computer; 70 Put a Video Jukebox in Your Car Theater; 71 Choose Your in-Car Navigation Software; 72 Play Thousands of Games by Emulating Video Game Consoles; 73 Use CENTRAFUSE as Your Car PC Frontend; 74 Use Neocar Media Center as Your Car PC Frontend; 75 Use FrodoPlayer as Your Car PC Frontend; Colophon;

Damien Stolarz has been studying and working in the car PC market since the late '90s. Last year he started his own company, carbotpc.com, to cater to the entertainment and aftermarket car PC market.