i have the same exact set up and it cost me $370....Looks better than the cheap ebay double din and passengers love watching movies and i love listening to my I-pod!

 

Here is mine

 

You can argue that sound quality is bettter with a carPC. I have 5.1 surround in my car using a Creative xFi soundcard and the Alpine PDX amp. The amp connects to the soundcard using normal audio cables, and the soundcard is connected to the computer via USB. Stock speakers for now but it still sounds amazing

 

The real question should be, is there such thing as a 2.5 din navigation unit out there? Imagine how big of a screen could be utilized with the extra blank space!

 

^^

No there is not a 2.5 din aftermarket Navi, there just isn't the market for it.

What are the voltage outputs of the sound card? I would like to put up my 5v preouts going to my JL amps against a carpc and see what the difference is.

I really like how integrated you can do the carpc, and they are pretty inexpensive compared to the double dins

 

My friend (2.5tsoarer) and I are one of the only few who have used the factory Lexus radio faceplate and cut it, as well as the touchscreen monitor faceplate in order to put them together to create a stock looking aftermarket double din monitor in the factory radio location.

I had to do something different since I didn't like the way aftermarket double din HU stick out in our cars. Plus the carpc route is much more versatile and open to a thousand possibilities if you have the time for it. Here are some pics of my setup in the car.....




Video of my carputer in action.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkuT_...layer_embedded

If you all have any questions about it first look at my thread in my signature first (carpc info is on pg 16 and 17), then if anything is unclear or you want more info don't hesitate to ask me

Price for the carputer, including cables and new amps, speakers, etc....right around 700. Yes I too have 5.1 surround sound so I think the sound is pretty good...although I had no problems with the stock sound system either.

 

This

 

 

Sorry been busy all night.

The car computer is running windows xp as this was the decision for the ECU software. It hadn't been made compatible fully with 7 at the time. I am however thinking of putting windows 7 on the pc maybe on a separate ssd for now to test it. Using windows media centre to control it all with a few plug ins i'm sure i can have it running nicely.

It sounds good actually and its all going through an alpine amp.







This was when i was doing the build they are now secured down.

The skin i got for winamp is rather cool it has day colours and night colours that change automatically as the time on the computer changes. At 8pm it goes to night colours and changes back at 8am

Its also really cool having the internet in the car. I'm using a plug in 3g dongle but its great for just quick browsing etc

Another thing i have plugged in is a webcam that i record as a track camera. Makes really good video's.


Sorry if this hijacked the thread just answering a few questions

 

Here's mine just got it a coupe of days ago :

 

Pioneer Avic-Z130BT


Hopefully it was a fluke but the 1st one I had died within 3 months. But I know from avic411 that others have had issues with this new unit.

 

^ have that same loading page on miine! got it frm avic411 haha cept mines a z1 old school modded to z3