PC satnav options

[happypaul]

Hi there, im interested in getting a satnav but was also interested in building a pc in my car with tft screen on dash..

Was wondering what programs are good for satnav on computers?

Ive used a tomtom before and i liked the 3D view and the ease of use, would i be better off getting a standalone or is there any good computer programs, with 3D and 2D maps, also auto remapping is essential..

Any help would be appriciated.

[happypaul]

also ones that show my speed would be helpful..




If not what satnav would you recommend, cheap ones tho, up to 250 ish, do they all show speed on them?

cheers

[gpsn3wbie]

i dont know much about carputers cos i never got round to building so not sure what PC satnav is best one, sorry.

if its just satnav then get a TTGO from www.totalpda.co.uk . i bought mine there a few weeks back and its brilliant and shows your speed. there are a few models but im sure you'll find one for less than £250.

[mikealder]

Paul, it can be done but you need to pay special attention to the power supplies, and the conditioning of the area the PC is going to live. A car is a very hostile environment for a PC to live in with extremes of temperature/ humidity etc. I would recommend you have a look at the EPIA Mini ATX or even the micro ATX, they also do a power supply module for the device to run of the cars 12V DC system.

The voltage for the screen is more likely to be problematic, the one I have needs 240V AC so I have wired a pure sine wave inverter to feed this unit, be careful with the choice of inverter as most cheaper products output a square wave, which can overheat and damage the power supplies for most equipment of this nature.

For the GPS side of things I use a Garmin GPS 35 HVS its a wired unit that bolts through the roof of the vehicle, not as good as the SiRF-III devices, but in practice it works very well as it is on the outside of the car.
Software, for on the PC for navigation try AutoRoute, although there are other packages, I wouldn't worry too much about the software for the moment, you have got your hands full getting the hardware working.

One final tip, when the car goes for its MOT take the screen out (design the installation with easy removal in mind) as the tester failed my car last year when the dash lit up stating Windows XP Professional, I had no option but to take it out. Mike

[Synth]

Are you going to put the computer in a VW Beetle? Then you would have a PC in your Bug

I’ll get me coat.

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