Tablet laptop in my xB - UPDATED W/PICS!
06-06-2006, 05:48 PM
#21
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Ya, for those of you deciding if you want a stand alone dvd/nav system vs a laptop, I think there's no comparison. A laptop let's you do anything at about half the cost compared to 2 things at twice the cost.
Just today I was driving down I-5 simultaneously burning myself a new music cd, listening to itunes through my aux port, getting directions to East Bumfuk to some customers house from my gps software, watching myself drive around through google earth, updating a spreadsheet, talking to someone via skype, putting on makeup and writing this post, all at 90mph.
And when I stop at people's houses to do my sales thing, my trusty laptop is busily downloading bitporntorrent movies off peoples' unsecured wireless networks. Do that with your garmin!
Just today I was driving down I-5 simultaneously burning myself a new music cd, listening to itunes through my aux port, getting directions to East Bumfuk to some customers house from my gps software, watching myself drive around through google earth, updating a spreadsheet, talking to someone via skype, putting on makeup and writing this post, all at 90mph.
And when I stop at people's houses to do my sales thing, my trusty laptop is busily downloading bitporntorrent movies off peoples' unsecured wireless networks. Do that with your garmin!
06-20-2006, 04:39 PM
#22
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this is a cool idea but personly i dont like a big thing sticking out
i was thinking about seting up a mini case with like a 7 inch touch screen in dash
i think it would more cleaner
did you think about doing this or no?
i was thinking about seting up a mini case with like a 7 inch touch screen in dash
i think it would more cleaner
did you think about doing this or no?
06-20-2006, 07:10 PM
#23
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hey kp,
I wanted a huge screen next to the driver. my laptop has a 12.1" touch screen. I felt that it would be a waste of money to buy a touch screen laptop only to output the video to a 7" touch screen monitor...
also, i wanted a huge display in the front. in the day, yeah, absolutely, it looks ugly. at night - you'd be surprised how many SUV owners pull up to my front doors and look in - and to show off, i play around with it for a second or two until the light turns green! lol
another thing - i park the car in a ____ty neighborhood. if i had a screen in the dash, people would break into my car quickly. also, if i hid it, i would have to run wires and all that crap which i don't want to do. i'd rather it look ugly than have to run all wires and take apart the interior, etc. im lazy plus i dont have a lot of time... these two factors coupled together produce ingenuity and not-giving-a-f$ack-about-how-it-looks-ness. hahahahahhahahaa! making up words rocks.
- sh00k
I wanted a huge screen next to the driver. my laptop has a 12.1" touch screen. I felt that it would be a waste of money to buy a touch screen laptop only to output the video to a 7" touch screen monitor...
also, i wanted a huge display in the front. in the day, yeah, absolutely, it looks ugly. at night - you'd be surprised how many SUV owners pull up to my front doors and look in - and to show off, i play around with it for a second or two until the light turns green! lol
another thing - i park the car in a ____ty neighborhood. if i had a screen in the dash, people would break into my car quickly. also, if i hid it, i would have to run wires and all that crap which i don't want to do. i'd rather it look ugly than have to run all wires and take apart the interior, etc. im lazy plus i dont have a lot of time... these two factors coupled together produce ingenuity and not-giving-a-f$ack-about-how-it-looks-ness. hahahahahhahahaa! making up words rocks.
- sh00k
07-17-2006, 03:39 AM
#24
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for the mac guy... if there's a place in a mini cooper that you can bolt on a mac mini and hook up a screen and all, it can be done in any scion. they had a whole writeup about it in another forum, just google mac mini and mini cooper and you'll find it.i'd like to rig my future scion (whether its an xB or xA, which so far is my choice) with that. if not, i'll prob bolt a foldaway laptop table in the rear seating area. cool setups, but the one thing i noticed was how the screen rises far enough to seem like it abscures some of the driver's sight. if youre using gps, wouldnt it be a bit too high for driving?
07-17-2006, 04:32 AM
#25
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Depending on how you mount it, it's not high at all. Actually, the way that I current mount my tablet, I can still access the head unit controls (most of them, anyway) while not moving my tablet. having the tablet in the location it is in now, however, blocks the temp controls for me. I am thinking hard of a way around this but it's only an issue when I need to use the controls - like in the winter or when it's raining, etc.
To answer your question, in my case, the tablet does not obstruct the view of the drive one bit since the top of my tablet is still lower than the dash.
- sh00k
To answer your question, in my case, the tablet does not obstruct the view of the drive one bit since the top of my tablet is still lower than the dash.
- sh00k
07-17-2006, 02:55 PM
#27
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Benefits/cool things i've been doing with the tablet thus far:
1) I now have navigation and didn't have to pay the dealer $3,000 for it
2) I have only 2 cds in my car and both are my moms. all of my music is played via the laptop. I have almost my entire collection of mp3s on the laptop since i have a 60gb drive
3) when my girl is bored, she watches music videos on my tablet - i have about 100 copied onto there.
4) since i am a very busy person and barely have enough time to do any projects other than work and school, this tablet was the best setup - i save a ton of time and money by NOT installing/hardwiring a computer into the car
5) with my mount, the setup is completely removable within 30 seconds. i hide the wires and when you look in through the window, you can NOT tell that i have anything special in the car. i can either throw the tablet beneath my seat or take it with me if im going to class or work, etc.
6) one of the other coolest benefits of having my tablet - the screen is 12.1" versus the 7" in dash option from the dealer. not only is the screen easy to read, i have TONS AND TONS of suv's pull up next to my window and stare inside and wonder what the hell im running or doing in there... lol.... i have had people tailgate me (at red lights) to peer through the back window since you can see the tablet that is mounted in the center.. lol...
7) when im bored and sitting and waiting for my gf to come out of her place, i get online and check my hotmail since the tablet has a built in wifi
i am sure there are more but these are the more glaring/easy to notice things...
- sh00k
1) I now have navigation and didn't have to pay the dealer $3,000 for it
2) I have only 2 cds in my car and both are my moms. all of my music is played via the laptop. I have almost my entire collection of mp3s on the laptop since i have a 60gb drive
3) when my girl is bored, she watches music videos on my tablet - i have about 100 copied onto there.
4) since i am a very busy person and barely have enough time to do any projects other than work and school, this tablet was the best setup - i save a ton of time and money by NOT installing/hardwiring a computer into the car
5) with my mount, the setup is completely removable within 30 seconds. i hide the wires and when you look in through the window, you can NOT tell that i have anything special in the car. i can either throw the tablet beneath my seat or take it with me if im going to class or work, etc.
6) one of the other coolest benefits of having my tablet - the screen is 12.1" versus the 7" in dash option from the dealer. not only is the screen easy to read, i have TONS AND TONS of suv's pull up next to my window and stare inside and wonder what the hell im running or doing in there... lol.... i have had people tailgate me (at red lights) to peer through the back window since you can see the tablet that is mounted in the center.. lol...
7) when im bored and sitting and waiting for my gf to come out of her place, i get online and check my hotmail since the tablet has a built in wifi
i am sure there are more but these are the more glaring/easy to notice things...
- sh00k
07-18-2006, 02:39 PM
#29
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^^^ exactly the reason why i chose such a simple and idoiot-proof mount for use myslf - i didn't want to rack my brain to make a mount so that's why i went the half-assed-yet-effective route.
- sh00k
- sh00k
08-17-2006, 04:24 PM
#30
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Cool idea, but isn't 95% of the reason to have the navi is to have GPS so you know where you are, otherwise you just have a $2600 google maps dispaly (that i can do on my $100 cell phone) and having something with that many options and display is 10x as dangerous to even have in sight when driving. I know i can get very distracted when im changing songs on my Zen...
08-17-2006, 07:37 PM
#31
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I guess if I was a bad driver, I would be using the laptop as I drive but this is not the case - sort of...
I set the navigation (when I use not, not often though) when i'm stopped and when the navigation commands begin, I leave the unit.
As for music - I have a huge playlist that loads and all I do when i drive is tap the "next" button to switch songs - no different than tapping next no the radio.
As for movies/tv shows, I have only played these recently in my car ( going to and from new hampshire ) and that was only for the passenger and my aunt in the back... I wasn't watching the show or anything like that. I only use it when i am on a straightaway and there are no cars around me - trust me, i make sure of this.
It is distracting to have the screen on HIGH brightness at night but I always set it to the lowest brightness at night...
Having a front-end makes it easier. It's not like i'm in windows explorer searhing through folders for a song while doing 90 mph on I95! lol
the screen for my tablet sits right in front of the AC controls so it's not like it's blocking my view or anything like that. at night, with the brightness on low, i can look at the road ahead of me just fine without any distraction coming from the screen. In the daytime, there is no distraction at all - when i want to use the tablet, i look at it (again, making sure there arent cars near me) and change the song if i wish... I am using a front-end software called RoadRunner which makes playing and searching for songs very easy...
As for the $2600 google maps comment, If i left my laptop in the car and only used it for gps, yeah sure, i guess that would be a waste and yeah you can do it with your $100 phone... This laptop doubles as my school and work laptop and i take it with me absolutely everywhere. i see no need in leaving it in the car and only using it for in-car use. that'd be a waste.
- sh00k
I set the navigation (when I use not, not often though) when i'm stopped and when the navigation commands begin, I leave the unit.
As for music - I have a huge playlist that loads and all I do when i drive is tap the "next" button to switch songs - no different than tapping next no the radio.
As for movies/tv shows, I have only played these recently in my car ( going to and from new hampshire ) and that was only for the passenger and my aunt in the back... I wasn't watching the show or anything like that. I only use it when i am on a straightaway and there are no cars around me - trust me, i make sure of this.
It is distracting to have the screen on HIGH brightness at night but I always set it to the lowest brightness at night...
Having a front-end makes it easier. It's not like i'm in windows explorer searhing through folders for a song while doing 90 mph on I95! lol
the screen for my tablet sits right in front of the AC controls so it's not like it's blocking my view or anything like that. at night, with the brightness on low, i can look at the road ahead of me just fine without any distraction coming from the screen. In the daytime, there is no distraction at all - when i want to use the tablet, i look at it (again, making sure there arent cars near me) and change the song if i wish... I am using a front-end software called RoadRunner which makes playing and searching for songs very easy...
As for the $2600 google maps comment, If i left my laptop in the car and only used it for gps, yeah sure, i guess that would be a waste and yeah you can do it with your $100 phone... This laptop doubles as my school and work laptop and i take it with me absolutely everywhere. i see no need in leaving it in the car and only using it for in-car use. that'd be a waste.
- sh00k
08-17-2006, 07:55 PM
#32
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Not at all saying your a bad driver, was just curious.
Also you might want to design a better system to retain the laptop, in the case of an accident i dont think the insurance company will pay for your laptop is its to um say... fly out the windshield
.
thats very ture, hadn't thought that far into it...
None the less, still a easy and non-permanant mod for your toaster.
Also you might want to design a better system to retain the laptop, in the case of an accident i dont think the insurance company will pay for your laptop is its to um say... fly out the windshield
.
As for the $2600 google maps comment, If i left my laptop in the car and only used it for gps, yeah sure, i guess that would be a waste and yeah you can do it with your $100 phone... This laptop doubles as my school and work laptop and i take it with me absolutely everywhere. i see no need in leaving it in the car and only using it for in-car use. that'd be a waste.
None the less, still a easy and non-permanant mod for your toaster.
08-17-2006, 08:06 PM
#33
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^^^ Thanks dude. Yeah, the mount that I am using was my first-attempt at making something that would hold it... It's ugly, not the BEST way to do it but it works for me. I've been really busy with work and school and haven't had time to run to a shop (looking for a sign shop) that would help me make a better mount... I've already drawn up how I want it to look and it's, yeah, much sturdier than the eyesore that I'm using now! hahaha!
I have so much stuff on my todo list!!!
1) go to a sign shop and work with them on builing a new mount for my tablet
2) go to a sign shop and work with them on builing a new mount for the 19" LCD screen I'm putting behind the driver/passenger seats! =D
3) Go to buy some L shaped mounts to mount the new Hella SuperTwin horns that I bought online yest.
4) Wire UV LEDs into the cupholders that I've been thinking about but just haven't done yet!
5) Fix the dent from the jackass that hit me (with only 1600 miles on the odo)...
6) Flipped the rear washer dispenser upside down but now I want to get a single "stream" nozzle... and i want to point it horizontally backwards! =]
7) Mount the 9-LED "Cluster" that i MASHED together so i could have a dome light for the cockpit area - lol
Sorry, just putting my list of TODOs on this board so I can keep track! I see my car only 2 days a week (sometimes less) so I can't really do these things during the rest of the week... =/
- sh00k
I have so much stuff on my todo list!!!
1) go to a sign shop and work with them on builing a new mount for my tablet
2) go to a sign shop and work with them on builing a new mount for the 19" LCD screen I'm putting behind the driver/passenger seats! =D
3) Go to buy some L shaped mounts to mount the new Hella SuperTwin horns that I bought online yest.
4) Wire UV LEDs into the cupholders that I've been thinking about but just haven't done yet!
5) Fix the dent from the jackass that hit me (with only 1600 miles on the odo)...
6) Flipped the rear washer dispenser upside down but now I want to get a single "stream" nozzle... and i want to point it horizontally backwards! =]
7) Mount the 9-LED "Cluster" that i MASHED together so i could have a dome light for the cockpit area - lol
Sorry, just putting my list of TODOs on this board so I can keep track! I see my car only 2 days a week (sometimes less) so I can't really do these things during the rest of the week... =/
- sh00k
08-28-2006, 08:19 PM
#34
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Nice work on the setups you all have. I've pondered the use of my iPAQ as a GPS locator and my MP3 player for a while, but need to find a good dash mount setup that is easy to reach (I HATE how far the rearview mirror and display are from you). Anyone have any experience with this type of integration?
08-28-2006, 09:00 PM
#35
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Get really creative and try to make a mount yourself. You can easily make a "reachable" mount by placing it by either the xB oven (like I did) or even in the cubbies that are to the left and the right of the steering wheel - the cubbies that are like 5" wide by 3" high and maybe 3" deep... that would make a good base since your pda is really light.
otherwise you can go here
http://www.arkon.com/pdamount.php
There are other sites with other products but that's a good site to start off with. Also make sure your pda has a STERO port (headphone jack) so you can directly connect it to the aux input on your xb.
hope this helps,
- sh00k
otherwise you can go here
http://www.arkon.com/pdamount.php
There are other sites with other products but that's a good site to start off with. Also make sure your pda has a STERO port (headphone jack) so you can directly connect it to the aux input on your xb.
hope this helps,
- sh00k
08-29-2006, 08:52 AM
#36
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well my TomTom software and OnCourse BT GPS receiver are on the way. So many options for a dock, but I suppose it's best to see how this systems cables and such could affect the best choice. Next on the list, John Cleese as my navigation voice.
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