CarPCgarage.com CarPCgarage.com

Do-It-Yourself Installations

If you choose to install your own Car PC, at the very least you should arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible. And we should always stress that any local Car PC enthusiast group will provide additional ideas, skills, and moral support to the would-be do-it-yourselfer, so always check there first!

Books

Car PC Hacks

This O'Reilly book will serve to give you a very good overview of what types of things to consider, and it contains enough good ideas that overall it should be considered required reading. But the book tends to break down in some of the detailed areas - they could do a MUCH better job in the wiring and power system chapters, and sometimes they use non-industry standard terms to describe items - Try googling to find their recommendation of an "extendable post connector" for your battery... When in reality you should be looking for "battery post marine conversions" or "battery post power taps"...

Haynes or Chilton Manual for your Vehicle

No book will be more valuable to you if you're doing it yourself than the actual service manual for your vehicle. These books contain wiring diagrams, howto section for tasks you may need to perform to install your Car PC, such as if you have to remove your dashboard, or even just removing the center console where the radio is located. They come in both paper and digital versions, and both cost about the same (~$20), so it's really just a matter of personal preference.

News

News Archive
  • JavaOne 2007

    We have submitted a technical session proposal to the 2007 JavaOne conference titled: "Rev Up Your Car PC with Java Technology". The purpose of the presentation is to show the role of Java technology in the Car PC environment. We also intend to perform a live demonstration of the open-source CarPCgarage.com software if accepted. Check back mid-to-late February for an update on our status!

    UPDATE: JavaOne presentation outline, sample slides and more details are now available HERE!

  • Status Icons

    Status Icons are now available! Any component can issue status messages to the status manager, and the CarPCgarage.com application will automatically notify the user using a status icon in the header of the application.

Coming Soon

  • Bandwidth Optimizer

    Does your Car PC (like most) only have limited internet connectivity? Need to optimize the bandwidth available to synchronize your latest MP3s and video content? Then you'll love the "Bandwidth Optimizer" feature, which allows you to prioritize your downloads on a component by component basis. Check back at the beginning of March for an update on this feature!

  • GPS Server

    Need multiple applications or components to share your single GPS receiver? The "GPS Server" feature will allow you read NMEA coordinates from your GPS module and then re-broadcast the messages in real-time to any interested applications, effectively allowing you to share GPS location information with a variety of simultaneously running applications. Check back mid-March for an update on this feature!

  • Bluetooth Calls

    Soon you'll be able to initiate phone calls from the Contacts component using your Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. Check back mid-April for an update on this feature!