No I havent got one but I just saw this bit of news and thought Id pass it along



Runs a car specific flavor of Unbuntu and has built in GPS, 7-inch touchscreen, 250GB hard drive, 2GB DDR2 RAM, 3G HSDPA modem, and three USB 2.0 ports. All for about $400

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/22/v...t-in-gps-fina/

 

That is awesome. I'd be tempted.

 

+1, my stock one is messing up, screen goes blank periodically and Ive been looking for something to replace it. this may be it, especially for the price.

 

just took a look off of a link on that engadget page about the winners of 2010.

Seems a little biased . not trying to knock apple as they do have some good things but just seems a little biased

 

I believe this is what I've been waiting for. score!

 

Seems like something I may be looking into more.

 

That's what I'm talking about!!

 

bummer the manufacture web site is down, would love to know more about what's inside to actually produce sound.

 

400 bucks huh. Looks awesome, but I'll wait for some consumer feedback.

 

really cool, itd be nice to see some more of these rather than vanilla navi double din units

 

Double din units without a proper OS are a thing of the past at this point. At least for me.

I installed a double din touch screen in both my summer and winter cars, and I will never ever look back.

 

I'm beginning to agree. Although we've had other options for years, Android has really changed the mobile world.

I can appreciate the ease and little knowledge required to install/operate the mainstay bulk of double-din navi headunits out there. But it's quickly becoming easier and cheaper to use a truly customizable OS to create your headunit into anything/everything you could ever imagine.

 

Head units so far have been proprietary pieces of garbage, made with a specific life, and made to be only so good until the next years model comes out.

Accessories have been a ripoff (want an ipod connection? This box will be 100 bucks!), and the whole unit is obsolete as soon as the next year rolls around.

Adding gps to my carputer was 30 bucks. Adding ipod playback was... nothing. I just plugged it in. Bluetooth - built in.

And if I want the next latest and greatest motherboard, it'll cost me 80 bucks. No 600-1000. I'm perfectly fine with that. Good riddance, sony/alpine/whoever.

Also, I'm not so much talking about android. I'm curious to see if you could run an android style os on normal computer hardware.

 

Wow. Although I agree, don't know if I'd be quite as harsh.

You must be young. You do know that automobiles had headunits before personal computers even existed right? Flash forward. I had a Pioneer CD headunit in my car while personal computers were STILL not common place (1996?). I, nor my friends, had one in their house. What's bluetooth? MicroATX (or whatever form factor you use) wasn't even a twinkle in anyone's eye, but yet Pioneer is a multi-million dollar company. Flash into the early 2000's. Sure everyone has a PC. But VERY FEW, if anyone, has a CarPC. Pioneer, Alpine, JVC, Sony and Kenwood are all multi-million dollar companies that have been giving consumers exactly what they want, for years now. You mean I can have maps with navigation right in my car?!?! Awesome!!!

In the year 2011, we're spoiled with the features and comforts that were expensive add-ons in the past. Despite Pioneer (and the like) being multi-million dollar companies, if they refuse to drastically alter their product lineup and include a CarPC, they'll all eventually fall by the proprietary wayside. A company that refuses to innovate cannot sustain. Ask polaroid. Or the pony express. haha

 

Oh BTW..... does your CarPC do cloud computing? Pshhh * proprietary piece of crap*

 

Lol true firebird

 

Think i might get this right now.....

 

I miss my 8-track tape deck!

More seriously from my POV and age, I'm very tired of "technology" directed primarily at being "high tech". A perfect example are microwave ovens. The original ones had basically an old-fashioned mechanical kitchen timer which was a dial-**** one rotated to the cooking time. Food in, close door, spin dial to an about, say 3 minutes, done. All the modern versions have electronic controls. Modern: food in, close door, punch in 333 or 300, select the food type, push start (hoping you didn't accidentally push 3333). The old will never ever break (though an occasional spritz of oil in the timer might be needed ever 10 years), the new is in danger of a lightning strike frying some unobtainable board or some capacitor drying out et. al.

The old, single purpose, simple devices did what was needed in a unobstrusive way and would do it for decades without failure.

As a hobby, the Carputer is fine. As an answer to a question, I'd like to know what the question is. Personally, I didn't buy a sports car so I could fiddle away time/energy on a computer. Additionally, the RX8 is quite unforgiving of distracted driving, and little displacement of the steering wheel which does nothing in a minivan, will put you 3 lanes over in the 8. More distactions? No thanks!