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BTW why not just buy some cheap 9"LCD touchscreen panel with vga and usb connector, and plug into eeepc? normal monitor and USB cables can be extended to several meters length without signal loss - opposed to micro form factor sized pcb cable connectors.. (you can even remove the original LCD altogether when going for a carputer this way). Alas, what else should the ext.monitor connector of your eee be good for.
And before someone comes up with topics like "how to extend keyboard for carputer", the keyboard pcb cable connector doesn't even have metal conductors, its made of carbon-ish stuff, no soldering possible.
So your probably best bet for "extending" the keyboard would be using some kind of external USB keyboard...
Oh and I have some old ext. synaptics touchpad with PS/2 connector lying around, you could always get hold of one of these and make it fit with a ps2-to-usb adapter. Easy extended touchpad, voilà.
Even can connect all of those via just one USB-hub (what a realizing 
)
to summarize: connect external devices instead of internal ones if you need more cable length. First install peripheral devices into your car, run wiring as needed, install preconfigured eeepc into car, connect wiring. Enjoy.
Last edited by AlphaCentauri (2009-02-04 12:16:03 pm)
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why dont you get a small lcd screen with vga i found this one
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Portable-8-4-Colo … 240%3A1318
its the smallest i could find with vga but there are smaller screens if you can find a vga-component adapter
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-5-TFT-Color-LCD … 240%3A1318
and just hack up a keyboard or remote into the dash to controll it all and for security you could just unplug your eee and go.
Last edited by GEOFRANCIS (2009-02-04 6:28:49 pm)
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That 8inch screen is available in a higher resolution:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? … 0153710694
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? … 0153710677 (with built-in touchscreen)
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thats exactly what I was trying to suggest in my above post. 
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Bump, so everyone pretty much agrees that this is either a) impossible or b) not worth the time/effort/risk of screwing something up??
So the best options to make the Eee a Carputer are a) use an external touchscreen lcd or b) somehow get the Eee to fit behind the monitor in the dash???
End of story.
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Depends on your modding skills,
Option C) http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=66783
Look at post #32 on the second page for what the finished product basically looks like.
Options A & B are just the easiest, you can even just use a USB version for option A and just connect the Eee PC from anywhere you can place or mount it.
All 3 options require you to consider weather, hard drive or SSD, and how you will keep the Eee PC powered and not drain your car battery like leaving your lights on overnight can do.
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zeo wrote:
Depends on your modding skills,
Option C) http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=66783
Look at post #32 on the second page for what the finished product basically looks like.
Options A & B are just the easiest, you can even just use a USB version for option A and just connect the Eee PC from anywhere you can place or mount it.
Wow! That thread definitely gives me hope! I think I'm going to try to fabricate my own LVDS cable. Because A and B are starting to look less viable.
zeo wrote:
All 3 options require you to consider weather, hard drive or SSD, and how you will keep the Eee PC powered and not drain your car battery like leaving your lights on overnight can do.
Well the weather down here in Florida is only terribly hot during the summer... Do you know the operating temperatures of a Eee?
I've got a 701 with no HD, and SSD soldered onto the mobo I believe.
I'm planning to use a car charger (12VDC -> 9.5VDC) wired into a switched, ignition-on source so that basically the laptop is charging anytime the car is on. Then I will just activate/deactivate it with a remotely mounted power switch that takes it in and out of hibernate.
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I believe it's been stated that it'll take 120 C before auto shutting down, you can check with Asus specs on your model to be sure but I have seen the 701 kept on a hot radiator and still boot, so should be fine up into the 80's and work fine as long as you keep it well ventilated and keep moisture from building up on it from the humidity in your area. The moisture is the main concern, especially over night and before the car heats up. So something to keep humidity low in the car or at least around the Eee PC may be needed.
For the car charger, just make sure the Amps don't go higher than 3A. . . it's more dangerous than the voltage.
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Hmm... so the Car adapter won't regulate amps? What's the best way to make sure this doesn't happen? 3 amp fuse?
And DampRid should take care of the moisture.
Last edited by firstorbit84 (2009-10-08 7:25:13 am)
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Fuse helps, check the car if there is one already available and just change the fuse. Otherwise you can either just use an inverter, power efficiencies are up to 80% to 90% with the new ones. Preferably pure sign wave, you can get a basic 150 Watt for a good price and then just use the normal Asus Power Brick. The inverters have their own cutoff and fuse protection.
Or you can get the more advance Asus car adapter, it looks just like the regular adapter except it has a car plug instead of the AC plug.
701 normally doesn't use much power but the LCD extension could increase the load and you shouldn't go over a meter. Basically try to keep impedance as low as possible with your cable choice. Since it will take more power to send the video over the cable the longer it is.
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Here's the one I just ordered http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19383
It says 2.5A out. I'd prefer not to use an inverter as I already have one and whenever I use it and then listen to music I get noise in the line. Plus, doesn't DC->DC make more sense than DC->AC->DC ??
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Efficiency wise you won't notice much difference. It's just a little safer with the inverter, since it has the fuse and automatic cutoff that you won't necessarily get with the DC to DC. The Pure Sine Wave type inverter would also not give you any noise. But as long as it is set up right then either option will work.
The one you ordered though has no protection, but if you use a fuse on the power line you use it on then it should be okay and just make sure everything is properly grounded.
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Thanks for the info.
As for the "automatic cutoff", I'm going to wire the charger to a switched 12V signal that is only on when the key is in and in the On position. So, I shouldn't have to worry about battery drain.
Should I wire the fuse on the 12V input side or the 9.5V output side? Or will it function the same either place?
Do you know how many amps a typical automotive electrical system will put out? What would cause a spike over 3 amps?
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thanks for those links. however, the last two would be more useful if I could read russian.
I am going to use an external CD-ROM case as my new home for the 701. Similar to this one:
The Eee fits perfectly in there, even with the case still on, so I'm sure that I'll have plenty of room once its disassembled. For cooling I think I was going to go with a set of these:
to replace the under-keyboard aluminum shared heatsink. They're $13.99 for the set from NewEgg
Now the question is which components get the hottest?
It looks like the Celeron processor is on the right. And I'm assuming that the other two are the Graphics processor and Motherboard chipset??
I'm also going to stick a RadioShack 12V Micro DC Fan at one end of the case:
Is all that overkill? I should have the case fan blowing outward and evacuating the hot air, right?
What voltage does the OEM Eee fan run on? Would I be able to use the same power connector and/or controller to run these?
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that little fan is probably gone be noisy, if i was doing it i would cut a opening on the top big enough for a low speed 120mm fan, then have air vents on both ends of the cdrom case for a place for air to get sucked in.
edit: have you thought about using this: http://www.mimomonitors.com/ found 1 for 150 here http://www.amazon.co.uk/UM-740-Screen-P … amp;sr=1-2
Last edited by markp1989 (2009-10-10 5:32:37 pm)
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firstorbit84 wrote:
thanks for those links. however, the last two would be more useful if I could read russian.
What can I say, some of the most interesting mods have been done by Russian modders. But all you have to do is Just run it through a translation site like...
http://translate.google.com/translate_t#
firstorbit84 wrote:
Now the question is which components get the hottest?
Depends what you are doing, GMA can get the hottest when playing video. My 901 is normally cool unless I play video. The CPU and motherboard chipset can get a little warm and your RAM can also generate a bit of heat. SSD and other components are normally not generating much of any heat. The aluminum plate, with the thermal tape, handles the CPU, GMA, and chipset as a passive heat sink.
The coating you see on the interior of the case helps conduct the heat to the fan, not very efficient but you can just have a fan hit it to improve convection of heat to the air.
firstorbit84 wrote:
It looks like the Celeron processor is on the right. And I'm assuming that the other two are the Graphics processor and Motherboard chipset??
Small chip on the left is the CPU, ATOM is tiny and most of that space is just the connection points to the motherboard. To save space all three are BGA, meaning solder balled to the motherboard instead of the socket pins you'd see in regular computers.
firstorbit84 wrote:
Is all that overkill? I should have the case fan blowing outward and evacuating the hot air, right?
It depends on how hot it gets in your car, the more air flow the better. If you keep the car air conditioned then you'll need less, otherwise an in and out fan will maximize air flow and increase transfer of heat to the air. Your Eee PC can take quite a bit of heat though, so do what you feel comfortable with and judge by how stuffy and hot your car may get.
firstorbit84 wrote:
What voltage does the OEM Eee fan run on? Would I be able to use the same power connector and/or controller to run these?
Not sure about all Eee PC's but it should be 5v and about 0.19A. But since you're keeping the case, if I may suggest, just use some Arctic Silver and/or thermal tape, maybe a few dabs of glue, to stick on a radiator to the aluminum plate after removing the keyboard and just have an external fan hit it. The radiator vanes/fins help increase surface area and maximize transfer of heat to the air. Point the case exhaust in the same direction and it should work very efficiently.
I would also suggest power the external fan(s), 120mm would be both quieter and more efficient, independently on a separate power circuit. You can wire it to the same power on/off switch but add a 30 second delay circuit, or just a capacitor battery, so it will continue to cool the Eee PC after you shut it off. This makes sure it cools down a bit more after shutoff and prevents too much heat being trapped in the case that can potentially damage it depending on how much thermal energy is left in the case when you shut it down.
Still air is more of a insulator than a heat conductor after all. Even a small breeze can make a big difference.
Last edited by zeo (2009-10-10 5:50:16 pm)
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The coating you see on the interior of the case helps conduct the heat to the fan, not very efficient but you can just have a fan hit it to improve convection of heat to the air.
Sorry I don't buy that. The interior coating of the case is not there to "improve convection of heat to the air" - it is called "shielding" and helps reduce electromagnetic waves leaving the eeepc.
I would also suggest power the external fan(s), 120mm would be both quieter and more efficient, independently on a separate power circuit. You can wire it to the same power on/off switch but add a 30 second delay circuit, or just a capacitor battery, so it will continue to cool the Eee PC after you shut it off. This makes sure it cools down a bit more after shutoff and prevents too much heat being trapped in the case that can potentially damage it depending on how much thermal energy is left in the case when you shut it down.
Yeah, the thing becomes really hot as soon as you switch off the power, really. 
(thermal energy "being trapped in the case", "left in the case"?? Doesn't it convect to the air maybe? )
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AlphaCentauri wrote:
Sorry I don't buy that. The interior coating of the case is not there to "improve convection of heat to the air" - it is called "shielding" and helps reduce electromagnetic waves leaving the eeepc.
Incorrect, it's not just for shielding. It's a Thermal dissipation and EMI shielding coating!
Especially the aluminum parts are heat conductive. Some other netbooks take better advantage of this by putting a polished part of the coating just past the fan to speed up the heat conduction. Not as much room for that in most Eee PC's however but you'll see this even in notebooks that use more efficient copper heat pipes to channel the heat directly to the fan. After all plastic is not the best heat conductor!
Yeah, the thing becomes really hot as soon as you switch off the power, really.
(thermal energy "being trapped in the case", "left in the case"?? Doesn't it convect to the air maybe?
Look up the physics and surface area of air, without assistance air is more of an insulator than a conductor of thermal energy, which is why water cooling is so much more effective by absorbing thermal energy 1.2 joules faster than air can and having a much higher heat capacity. Air on the other hand with its lower heat capacity and density needs much more of it to effectively move the heat away from the source.
So we design heat sinks and radiators for maximum surface area to transfer the heat to as many molecules of air as possible. But unless that air can be cycled rapidly then it will take additional time before basic convection can move it away and replace it with more air molecules to absorb more heat. Thus why we need fans and heat sinks in the first place.
Also generation of heat doesn't stop instantly when you turn the computer off. So without proper heat handling then the internal temperature of the case can potentially increase to dangerous levels if the interior was already near the limit after using the computer extensively.
Though netbooks do generate far less heat than many notebooks, they still require cooling and the small interior can easily trap heat unless they designed the case to help conduct the heat away from the motherboard.
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Personally decided to use an Intel MB Atom based CarPC. I tapped into the NAV system in my car and mapped out the knobs on the radio to the application running. I only have it set up for music/videos but in my older car its setup for internet access via my HTC tethering. Someone out there wrote an application (I have to find it) which makes your PDA cell phone a remote to your car PC via BT or WLAN which really is a good idea. Theoretically you could redo the base OS on say a GPS with a CE base / BT to provide a remote touchscreen for your EEEPC. This way you could literally put the device anywhere without "hacking" up the car on say a 4.3" GPS. It would mean two PC's instead of one though.
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Great discussion folks.
First of all, spending another $150 or $230 for a 7" monitor defeats the purpose of using the Eee PC which already comes with one of these. I'm still going to try to extend the LVDS cable first.
As for cooling and mounting, my original plan was not to keep the 701 case intact, and just find a way to mount the motherboard inside the CD-ROM case with all custom cooling. But after reading these posts I may keep the bottom end of the case as well as the under-keyboard aluminum and just slap an old celeron/p3 heatsink over the processor and have some good airflow at either end of the case.
I've got one of those little radioshack fans in my current desktop on the northbridge and I definitely don't hear it over the case fan or GPU fan, so I'm not sure how noisy it really is. I could always pull it out and experiment with it before I buy another one.
I agree that it may be a good idea to have it on a separate switched circuit to allow the PC to cool down after.
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IDK - my eee's fan goes off the very instant the eee itself powers off. No delay, and still no harm done. Oh, did I mention the housing of my eee is closed, filled with *insulating* air.
What a silly manufacturer (its called "Asus" I think, those guys must have no clue), I bet my eee will die from heat in the next days. 
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Hmmm.... that's a good point too. I do suppose that if I was running my computer normally and then shut it down it wouldn't leave the fans on and nothing would get hurt. Nothing will continue to heat up anymore either; it will only cool down slower, which is likely the same heat exposure as if it were just operating at that temperature. However, on my 701 I am usually pretty conscious about not letting my temps get above 60 degrees Celsius for too long and I never shut it down or hibernate it like that.
I believe that my MacBook Pro on the other hand does leave the fans for a minute before going into standby when I close the lid. On my desktop, the fans all go to their highest speed for a few seconds before it suspends as well.
Furthermore, In a larger case with more cooling capacity, I don't see why I need to be so worried about the temps because they shouldn't really be any hotter than normal and, if anything, they should be cooler.
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I hope you're not seriously comparing the normal use of an Eee PC to a carputer setup, AlphaCentauri?
Cause it can get far hotter inside the car than out in the open. And as I previously stated, the case coating and aluminum is what helps. If it was just the plastic then the heat would be trapped because plastic doesn't conduct heat well. It's because they designed the case lining to help with the heat that it works so well.
As for dangerous heat levels, it depends on your ambient temperatures. Like I said, netbooks don't generate as much heat as notebooks but in hot weather and after extensive use they can indeed get very hot. Basically, if you hear the fan then internal temps have already hit 64 degrees and if the fan starts getting loud then the interior is getting much closer to dangerously hot and by dangerous I mean over 120 degrees C.
Though mainly a danger when over clocking, the interior of a car can get hot enough (depending on weather in your area) to make this more of a threat than it would otherwise be.
Really, just remove the bottom panel and look what it's coated with... it's aluminum foil, which it wouldn't need if the heat was just absorbed by the air without any assistance from the case design. Especially on the bottom, since heat travels up. But it's there because heat does get trapped and needs to be conducted away. The top half allows this through passive cooling but the fan is still needed to push more air through to speed the process up and it also speeds up the heat absorbsion by the case coating as the heat energy is conducted towards the fan. Since heat naturally moves towards the cooler area as it is conducted by the coating, the aluminum lining the case interior, and the air convection created by the fan.
The fan itself isn't even that powerful, being a standard 5v @ 0.14A type but even the small amount of air it moves can significantly improve the case temperature thanks to the case design.
@firstorbit84 - if you don't think your car will ever get warmer than say 100 degrees F then you probably don't have to worry, as long as well ventilated there shouldn't be enough trapped heat to be a danger. But if it gets warmer then it could be a danger because it's harder to dissipate heat when ambient temperatures get too close to the heat source temperature and you'll need better ventilation to compensate.
Last edited by zeo (2009-10-12 1:43:33 pm)
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Thanks again for the info.
I live in Florida and cabin temps above 100F are definitely possible during the summer months. (Hopefully, I'll be moving before I have to deal with that again though.)
I think what I'll do is have two of the RadioShack mini fans on either end of the case wired to a switched ignition-on 12V source with a switchable voltage regulator in between to control fan speeds if they are too loud at full speed all the time. The Eee will only turn on and off via a momentary-on switch mounted somewhere on the dash. This way the fans will be on whenever the car is running, and I can wait until it cools down somewhat before I turn on the computer.
If I felt that it was necessary as well, I could potentially turn off the computer before I turn off the ignition so that the fans would still run and cool it down after it hibernates.
My next question is how many USB accessories can the Eee handle without using a self-powered USB hub?? (I have a self-powered hub available, but I'm wondering just how much the Eee can support on its own)
The USB devices I definitely plan to run most of the time are:
GPS adapter/receiver
Mini Bluetooth adapter
MicroSD reader
Blackberry phone
Touchscreen
The devices I may run in the future or at any given time are:
Thumb drive
Keyboard
Game controller(s)
iPod (for charging only)
Webcam?
Hard drive (takes two ports)
The touchscreen kit I ordered is supposed to give me two extra internal USB ports; the Eee already has 3 built-in ports; and I have a 4-pot USB hub that can run bus-powered or self-powered, which would make a total of 9 USB ports!
I likely wouldn't be running all the above devices at once, and I know that different devices have different power requirements, but I definitely expect to get to around 5-6 or more devices running at a time. Is that too much for the Eee to handle?
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