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I'm not a car expert and I have no real interest in modding cars, but one thing I do know a bit about is electronics. Rhia and I have one of those portable MP3 players that plays files off of a CDROM, and the bloody thing is so flaky that it's worth kicking across the street. Instead of spending $200+ on one of those ROM-based suckas, I've decided instead to convert a laptop computer into an MP3 player.  Here's the basic idea:
- The laptop will be de-cased and put in a new casing built by me for this purpose. This casing is being specially designed to accomodate the many bumps and holes in PR roads, so the mainboard and hard drive will be virtually invincible to shock. This unit will be placed in the trunk.
A touchscreen LCD will be seated in the area where a normal car stereo would go (our stereo doesn't work, so it's the perfect place for this) and the wiring will run to the back.
Custom software written by yours truly will power the machine. The hard drive is 3GB, only 50 or so of which will be required to run the machine itself, so the rest can be filled with music. Also, I might incorporate an IDE2USB option to expand its storage capabilities further.
The line out will be connected to a standard amplifier, which will run to the standard speakers.
The only issue I'm facing right now is how to power the unit itself. I would like to use the car's DC connection directly into the mainboard, but this would require removing Dell's proprietary power inlet from the mainboard itself and soldering three wires into the mainboard...not a big deal but I'm not sure if I'll need any kind of power regulation. I could go the easy way...attaching a 150W power inverter to the battery and then just connecting the standard 120V adapter to the inverter, but the power supply costs $60 and the inverter is another $75...at that cost, I might as well just go for the $200 ROM-based MP3 player anyways.
So...any ideas on the power issue? 
I'd knock on wood, but my desk is particle board.
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Sweet....
Ala Plasma? :wink:
I was going to suggest an inverter, before I read the rest of your post. It is the only surefire way of doing it safely, although I guess there may be alternatives.
Make sure you keep us updated
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:o For some1 not to have a interest, thats more than I could think up and I think up this stuff all the time..... now thats going to be one really cool car!!!!!!!111 :wtnod:
Kevin ( x.t.r.GRAPHICS)
![[Image: 11895-r.png]](http://fileanchor.com/11895-r.png)
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Could you use a DC voltage regulator?
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What voltage does the computer run on, and what are the three
connectors? (Is it two different voltages or one is data?)
/post]
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was it plasma who did some thing like this? talk to him.
use the cigaret lighter and get a power convert to 120V to run the laptop...lame isnt?
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Quote:What voltage does the computer run on, and what are the three
connectors? (Is it two different voltages or one is data?)
Three connectors would be Positive, Negative, & Ground... :wink:
Kevin ( x.t.r.GRAPHICS)
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Quote:red_Marvin Wrote:What voltage does the computer run on, and what are the three
connectors? (Is it two different voltages or one is data?)
Three connectors would be Positive, Negative, & Ground... :wink:
Actually its Live, Neutral and Ground/Earth 
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Quote:Rattrapmax6 Wrote:red_Marvin Wrote:What voltage does the computer run on, and what are the three
connectors? (Is it two different voltages or one is data?)
Three connectors would be Positive, Negative, & Ground... :wink:
Actually its Live, Neutral and Ground/Earth
Aye, you really want to get down in it, it also goes by:
Hot, cold, & ground...
Kevin ( x.t.r.GRAPHICS)
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