PC in car for mp3z

[Confused]

i'm thinking of putting an old 486 (or k6-233, whichever will be easiest) into my car, purely to play mp3z. what things will i have to watch out for that may go wrong??

thanks in advance!

 

[TonyT]

Assuming you'll be using a hard drive to store the mp3's, you have to watch out for vibration caused from traveling on the road.

vibration + spinning hard drive = dead disk

 

[Conroy9]

off topic..

i wonder if it would be possible to adapt philip's acoustic edge (or the chip that does the qmss) to work in a car's receiver so you could have real 4 or 5 channel sound in your car from all stereo sources

i would be happy if i had that

 

[Ornery]

• Thiz Zhould Make Your Life Eazier

 

[MC]

get some MP3 Player will make your life easier than putting an old 486....

 

[Confused]

i have the problem that i'm gonna be 17 in a couple of months time, i gotta pay out for insurance, road tax, petrol (in UK it is a LOT more expensive than almost everywhere else in the world), an mp3 player can only hold a few songs wivout spending hundreds on upgrade cards, i can't afford $300 on a mp3 cd player (plus, i don't have a cd burner), and i have a 233 sitting here doin nothing, or i can get a 486 for next to nothing, so that is the cheapest route for me to go

i understand that there is the problem of vibrations, but my dad is a mechanic, so i'm sure he can think of something and he can do all the mods needed to the car to put it in there.

what other probs will i have to worry about? (also, would a 486 (or it may even be a 386 ) be good enuf for purely os and mp3 software?)

 

[MC]

for your last question....486 will be moreee than enough!

 

[TonyT]

I don't know how well a 486 would serve for running an OS and mp3 decoding software. In my experience, 486's are too underpowered to do a good job at decoding mp3's, especially at CD quality. If I had to choose, I'd use the 233 that you have lying around.

 

[Relf Lauren]

Download WinPlay3 (16-bit)...

Then you can listen to mp3s on windows 3.1! Hmmm, maybe you can get away with using a 386!


Relf Lauren

 

[Relf Lauren]

By the way, I am curious as to how you are going to control what song you are listening to....I am assuming the computer is going to be in the trunk, right? So how do you interface with the computer? I have heard of minikeypads, but is that what you will be using? And how will you cycle through the playlist?

I have been interested in this too...


Relf Lauren

 

[Modeps]

jest git http://www.empeg.com
haha.. its really inexpensive

 

[SonicFlux]

Back in the day when I had my 486 DX4+ 120Mhz, I remember having to configure the winamp output for mono, 8-bit in order to maintain a smooth system. I seriously doubt you will be able to play mp3s in 16-bit stereo on a 486. Take my advice and avoid the hassle. It wouldn't be worth it. I would save up and look for another alternative.

 

[quadcells]

Just so you know, I just saw this in-dash cd player made by Aiwa that plays music CDs, CD-r, CDRW, and cds encoded with mp3. cost $280 US.

 

[Confused]

it probably won't be in the case, it will more than likely be bodged somewhere, just mobo and whatever cards are needed. everything will be everywhere (just like everything else of mine ), with a tiny little monitor mounted somewhere. i was thinking of putting the keyboard behind the dash, and assigning buttons to jobs, and make some sort of faschia which will have labels for all the controls. i was thinking of the 486 cos, 1) it's cheap and 2) won't drain much power from battery, cos almost no cooling needed, and a low power chip.


will there be a way to use the 12v supply from the car battery, and then step it up/down to whatever needed?? the other option is to use a transformer (which i can get for about £20) to step it up to 240V and 3-pin plug (i'm in the UK) and then use the puter's PSU to step it down again.

 

[TheCorm]

I would really wait around for an alternative to putting an old pc in your car, surely the old pc's use more power than modern ones anyway, and the older the hard drive, the less mp's and the quicker it will get knackered from vibration.

To do it successfully you would need a laptor 2.5" hard drive that handles vibration better which would be expensive.

I would go for the Aiwa CD Unit that quadcells mentioned, should be under £200 here, it's just like your normal aiwa cd head unit with the ability to play mp3's and display their included track info.

I am 19, male, uk and Insurance?, Expensive in the uk for young male drives, never. lol theres the american teens with their "small" 3 litre runarounds.

Would be run to have a pc in your car I suppose but I would save up, get a CD Writer for a bit under £100 and look out for the aiwa unit.

Corm