Why a computer in a car?

It seems like like every time I told some one I was putting a computer in my car, their only question was why. If you are wondering that same question then this page is probably not for you. Either way, here is why I wanted a computer in the car:

• GPS Navigation
• DVD movies
• Emulated video games (passengers only)
• MP3's, lots of them
• Read info from the car's onboard cpu (ODB-II)
• A very obvious BLING BLING factor

Thoughts so far

I knew that it was going to be a lot of work. But I did not think I would still be working on it, months after buying the first part. In my defense, I do work a full time job, but thats no excuse. This is just a time consuming project. I am glad that I did not try to plan out every little detail before I started, especially the cost. I bought the screen first, which is perhaps the most expensive part. After that, I was comitted to finishing. All in all I have spent WAY to much time fabricating dash pieces out of fiberglass and finding spaces for computer components in the car. Setting up the computer is the easy part.

Would I do it again?

You bet I would. I would not, however try to do this to a new car. I am familiar with the inerds of dash and electrical system of my car from working on the car stereo. It saved me lots of time knowing ahead of time exactly how to take dash pieces out, where I could get the power connections I needed, and what the general space restrictions where in the car. I would recommend this as project to anyone who is willing to drive around with their cars interior temporarily all ripped up, who has the basic knowledge of electricity, and who has the funding to screw some stuff up and still be ok.