Car Project : Part 2, Hardware

I've manage to get all the hardware for my car PC. Here are the hardware spec for my car pc:

MAINBOARD - Intel D201GLY2

For this project, i use Intel Mini-ITX D201GLY2 measuring just 6.75"x 6.75". It has built in graphic, sound and network which makes it suitable for this purpose. It also has 1 pci slot for expansion but i'm not planning to use it since i'm trying to make this pc as small as possible. This motherboards comes with an Intel Celeron 1.2Ghz Processor which is not that bad. But the heatsink could have been a bit better though. The temperature idles between 55 C to 60 C. I'm now looking for a 40mm CPU fan to cool it down a little. This mainboard has 2 back USB with 4 optional connection. I'm using 2 on the internal usb connection for my bluetooth and wifi adaptor.

Memory - 1GB DDR2 RAM

Nothing much to say about this one. Just a standard 1GB DDR2 RAM. The motherboard only have one RAM slot so if i want to upgrade, i have to replace the ram with a bigger one.

Power Supply - Pico PSU 60W supply by 12V 5A Adaptor

Since i'm trying to make his as small as possile, i've chosen the smallest PSU i've ever seen. It doesn't get any smaller than this. Got this off ebay for less than a standard PSU. It can only supply 60W at 12V (5A) though but that should be enough for my use. It has a standard 20pin power socket with 4 pin 12V power supply. Comes with one 4 pin harddisk power supply. The only problem i had was the weird 2.1mm DC power connector doesn't seem to fit any of the power supply i had. I had to buy a replacement 2.1mm DC Socket to replace this connector.The original 2.1mm DC Socket on the left. Looks the same but just doesn't fit.

Harddisk- 80GB IDE Laptop Harddisk with IDE Converter

To make this pc even smaller, i've opted for a laptop 2.5" harddisk instead of standard 3.5" harddisk. I have two main reason why i wanted a laptop harddisk. Firstly, it's lighter and smaller which helps me in achieving my purpose, a small car pc. Secondly, it has lower power consumption which is very important because i only had 60W to play with. I use a 3.5" to 2.5" IDE converter to be able to use this harddisk.

Display - 7" Tevion DVD Player Monitor with Built in Speaker

Some might wonder why i'm using a DVD player as my monitor. Well, firstly, this is already available in my tool box, which means i don't have to spend an extra £50 just for a monitor. Secondly, the dvd part of this player is broken. Doesn't play DVD anymore. So, might as well use this as a monitor instead. It has a built in speaker which translate to less component in the system. It accept standard RCA connection(Yellow connector) for the video which means i need to have RCA output from the motherboard. The only problem is , in the motherboard manual, it says, S-Video is optional. That means i have to find the connection and make it usable and then convert that to a RCA video output. I'll get more into this in my next post.

Communication- Wifi, Bluetooth, 3G

For wifi, i use a BT Voyager 1055 usb dongle connected to an on board 9 pin USB connection. The semicircle looking dongle in the picture is the USB Bluetooth dongle. It is very small and it works with microsoft built in driver. Will be using bluetooth for my wireless mouse and possibly internet sharing through my Tytn II. Another option for 3G connection is using USB connection to my Tytn II.

Keyboard and Mouse - USB Mini Keyboard with Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse

Last but not least, i use Microsoft bluetooth mouse and a mini keyboard as an input method. If everything goes well, i might consider placing a touch screen over the DVD player monitor. See how well this project goes.

Well, that's it for the hardware. My next post about this project would be the s-video connections. How to make it usable on the motherboard and converting it to RCA output. Stay tune.

Pocket PC Mag Software Award 2008 Results

For all pocket pc fan, the annual Pocketpcmag.com Software award results for 2008 is out. It's amazing the number of nominated categories compared to last year. It's also nice to see some software develop by www.xda-developer.com here. I've just finish browsing through all the categories. Definitely more software choices for us Pocket PC fan, and i believe much more to come next year. It would be interesting to see how long it will take for the Android community to overcome Microsoft Windows Mobile.

Car PC Project : Introduction

I've been meaning to make my own car PC for years. I've stumbled upon pico itx motherboard the other day when surfing the net. That is what triggered this project. I've look on ebay for pico itx motherboard but they are way too expensive for me. I've settled with an Intel mini itx motherboard. I'll be sharing my experience making the car PC over the next few days, or weeks.

When i started this project, my wife didn't really approved of it. She said what is so good about having a PC in a car? This really make me thinks, really hard. I mean, really, what is so good about having a PC in a car. What would i use it for? For GPS, nah , I've got my HTC Tytn II for that. For internet and email, nah, i've got my HTC Tytn II for that. To watch movie in the car, nah, i still got my HTC Tytn II for that. Wait, why would i want to watch tv or movie in the car, I'm suppose to be driving. Come to think of it, i can do all the things i want with my 'small pc', the Tytn II. It just seems like a great idea a few years ago, when 3G Smartphone are not so popular.

What the heck.... i've got all the parts and now am ready to built one. Lets just built one for the fun of it. No other reason. The only good thing i can think of is that i'll have a bigger screen than my HTC Tytn II.

Stay tune for Part II. To be continued............

Yahoo Messenger 9 (Windows Only)

Yahoo Messenger 9.0 is already out for windows. Mac user still stuck with YM 3.0 Beta. I guess i'll be using Adium for now. You can read more about it here. It does look bettter than version 8.0.

(Credit to CNET Networks)

Firefox 3.02 is out!!!

Updates for firefox 3.02 is ready for download.

Firefox 3.0.2 contains the following updates:

* Fixed several security issues. * Fixed several stability issues. * Official releases for Sinhala and Slovene are now available. * Beta releases for Bengali, Galician, Hindi, Icelandic, Kannada, Marathi, Telegu, and Thai are available for testing. * Fixed a number of minor issues with the layout of certain web pages. * Fixed several theme issues that affected right-to-left locales. * Fixed issue that caused some users with customized toolbars to have their Back and Forward buttons go missing(bug 426026) * Add new Extended Validation (EV) roots to Firefox 3.0.2. * On certain IDN sites, the password manager would not fill in username and password details properly. * Fixed several hangs and crashes that occurred when using screen readers. * Fixed Mac-specific issues: o Keyboard shortcuts would stop working in some cases. o Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Indic characters can not be entered (using IME) into text fields in Flash objects (bug 357670) o Firefox 3.0.1 could not be used when the user profile is stored on an AFP directory (bug 417037) o See the Firefox 3.0.1 release notes for previous changes.

Google Android G1 Video

A little Video Ad for Google Android T-Mobile G1.

Android Push Gmail, is it worth it?

Android is out. The rumors about the google powered device that circulate the web months before it's release are mostly true. It's a T-Mobile branded device by HTC named T-Mobile G1. Specs include Qualcomm 528Mhz which is not the fastest processor around. Screen size also moderate at HVGA 320 x 480. A VGA would make it so much better. Memory is on the low side at 64 MB RAM / 128 MB ROM. Communication protocol includes WIfi and Bluetooth. It looks like the G1 specs is more or less the same as currently available mobile on the market. Nothing special here.

However the fact that google is integrating it's google apps into Android is quite interesting. What does this mean? Well, Gmail now is real push instead of Imap. Android also provide almost realtime sync for Google Calendar. If you're really into Google Apps, then i would say this phone is for you. In fact, anyone who buy this phone must be a google fan. You need a google account to activate the phone and no native sync with outlook or exchange. In my opinion, if push mail is the only concern when getting a new phone, the android is not your only choice. Many companies are offering sync solution with google for S60 or WIndows Mobile. I personally use GooSync and have a lifetime subscription. There's also OggSync which i never tested because i'm happy with the way GooSync handle my contact and calendar. I've also tested the mobile me 60 day trial but cancel it shortly afterwards since i don't see any reason to pay $99 a year for a syncing solution knowing that there are many other free offering available.

As of now, i don't see any reason to like the android. It seems like i can do everything it can and more with my HTC Tytn II. When a better spec android device is here, i might take another look, but for now i'll stick to my Tytn II.