what is the cheapest way to power my desktop in my car?

Question

i wanted to install my desktop in my car with a touchsceen monitor should i get a power convetrer and plug it in if so what kind will i need i wanted to hook up a dell with the small tower version or a hp slimline wich both probably use 200- 350watts is that all i have to look at i dont whant to go with a laptop and i dont know what the difference os between a carputer i whant to be able to use word hook up intenet print save music save movies on it play games so if i can do that on the carputer please let me know what the differnece is i dont what a laptop because its to expesive i dont need the monitor and i whant to hide it plus the memory

Answer 1

well it would be much easier to put a lap top in you vehcle. they make brackets that you can get on the internet pretty cheaply and they make a plug that goes right into a cigarette lighter. if you do go for the full size computer tower in the car. I picked up a great power inverter from home depot for my boat that runs my t.v.'s and such for less that a 100 bucks. it is a 850 watt inverter with a safety shut off if the car batery starts to get low. you can get one of these and follow the directions on how to haard wire it to the battery to make it work the best. good luck

Answer 2

Ahh, a carputer.



One idea is to have a "non-hard drive" based computer that runs standalone Windows XP from a Bootable USB drive that runs the music player of your choice using plugins.



Your MP3's are stored on another USB drive that can be removed for editing.



This all ties into your sound system (amp subs/speakers).



No hard drive means nothing will crash. A touch screen display is really the only other peice of equipment needed that can be custom mounted in your dash as you say.



Look up BartPE and Sherpya. These two guys found a way to run the full GUI of Windows XP on a USB drive (under 600 Mb).



A shuttle style computer is all you need for the computer.



Here is a good place to start: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/index.php



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I currently use a bootable WinXP CD for "hard to remove" spyware and virus' from peoples machines.

Answer 3

yeah, wrap it up in blankets, MAKE SURE THAT THERE ARE NO DISKS OF MEMORY CARDS OR STUFF LIKE THT IN IT!!!!!! that is a big issue, i tried doing tht one time with a cd in the computer, it looked like someone took a piece of sandpaper to the bottom of the cd. But other than that and keeping it warm and keeping it upright, it should be fine.