Okay, not a lot new since last time. I’ve finished ordering all the parts and I’m waiting for them to arrive. I ended up splurging and getting an 8″ touchscreen instead of the 7″ one I was looking at. The one I had priced at $249 wasn’t actually the Lilliput brand that I wanted and since the price wasn’t that different between the 7″ and 8″ Lilliput, I got the 8″ one for $330 with shipping. Not too bad. This brings the final price to $794.
The hardest part (at least I think) from this point will be wiring into the battery and ignition wires in the car. I think I can do this using wire-tap connectors that connect into the radio wiring. Hopefully that works as easily as I just describe it. The rest of the difficulty is successfully mounting all the hardware in the rather clunky boxes that I have. I’m sure that my solution is a lot cheaper than buying a nice case (like the Casetronic 134 or 138) and also there’s the fact that neither of those cases will fit in my car dash. I’m concerned about heat in the cases (I’m planning on picking up another fan but I don’t know if that’ll be enough) and also [oddly] I’m concerned about it being too cold. It’s quite cold this time of year in northern Virginia and although I’ve always heard that a computer can never be too cold, the motherboard does mention that it shouldn’t be operated below freezing temperatures — perhaps moving parts and possible condensation? We’ll see how it goes. Worst case, I could probably wire in a temperature gauge that shuts off the main power if the temperature is too low — or too high. The front of the case (the part you’ll be able to see while sitting in the car) shouldn’t be too hard. I think that a sheet of plastic with the appropriate holes will do the trick nicely. Slap some paint on and mount it flush with the dash-casing and I think it will work fine.
We’ll see…. I’ll post more as I get the rest of the parts and finish assembling the case. Also, I’ll include some pictures of the project. (I’ve just been too lazy to post any pictures yet).
Until then….
