v5 Is In Progress And The New Car Is Here

Well its been a busy few weeks.... mainly because I have been so busy preping my plans for v5.... and in the process I got me a new toy.

This is a Facelift Vectra C SRI 2.2 Auto ( well Auto / manual )... complete with a full Exterior Pack and 19" wheels. SO far I have changed the repeaters for darker ones, changed the locks for my crome ones and stuck my 1/4 wave arieal on. Although I looked at the VXR and could have even got one at the same price the fact that the petrol prices have gone stupid and I believe tough times are ahead for all leaned me towards this car. This time I have gone auto for a few reasons. First of all I loved my old Senitor, it was a joy to drive and to this day I still miss it. Secondly I have noticed the driving I have been doing over the last few years due to the changing roads in the UK and my own job would be advantagous in an auto. Lastly - although its an 'auto' it has also got a great manual option for when I do have the urge to control the car my self..... in all its win win win.

One last feature about the car which may be coming in to play for the CarPC is the in built CD70 Sat Nav system with TMC and colour screen. Although I looked at ditching the CarPC because of the TMC and the fact some of these you can upgrade to have an aux feature this was not one of them and in the end I decided I perfered my CarPC.... what else. The joy of this is that the colour screen can be used. This German modder has been producing a kit ( CID-Interface V4.2/OES Basekit ( details here, here and here ) to alow VGA, RGB, and scart feeds directly in to the screen :). I have emailed him for some details and will post up here when I know more. The last part of this great edition is the inclusion of an external GPS arieal, because of this I have ordered a new USB GPS but one with a MMCX connection. I'm currently awaiting a phone call from company that should be able to provide me a MMCX to Fakra cable to allow me to use it..... if the cant provide me one I'll no doubt make my own assuming I can find the parts to do it with.

For those that want to know my old GSI has gone to a very good home down in Devon, I hope you enjoy it Adamjones2000 as much as I did.

In preperation for my forthcomming v5 install I have just had delivery of the new CarTFT CTF700-H screen which has a high brightness backlight to get past any sunlight and a light sensor to adjust the screen as needed. I'll be installing this in to the double din cage I have as soon as I'm ready and as normal I will document the whole thing as normal for you guys.

I'm still awaiting some feed back on the new Sygic GPS software which I have been able to test. Aparently the new version that is been unvailed at CEBIT 2008 will have RDS-TMC ( bet its not for the UK... I hope I'm proved wrong ) and some more features. I provided them a load of comments based on my tests and other UK CarPCers so with luck they will have listened.

Version 1.7 of the new Flash based front end FreeICE from CDRSkull is now out as of today. There will probably a slow down on releases for the moment as he has hurt his hand but with this version supporting custom menu items and more to boot this should keep us going for a bit.

As for the last bit of news - it seems mini box have released a new 300w Peak PSU called the M4-ATX. It is available from Cartft and its spec details follow...

M4-ATX is an intelligent, high power, vehicle (car / boat / electric cart) DC-DC ATX PC power supply designed for use with car pc or general purpose battery powered applications. Designed to provide power and to control the motherboards's ON/OFF switch based on ignition status, M4-ATX is a wide input (6 to 30V) vehicle / car / battery operated ATX power supply capable of surviving tough car engine cranks (down to 6V) as well as transient over-voltage situations. Connect it to your car / boat / RV / solar battery and power up your PC! By using Patent Pending HyperWatt[TM] technologies, M4-ATX packs an impressive amount of power relative with its small footprint. M4-ATX has several key advantages over traditional power supplies: - Programmable shutdown / sleep modes via optional serial cable.

It its any motherboard equipped with a 20 or 24pin ATX connector.- 100% silent, fanless, no moving parts. It Operates from 6-30V, multi-chemistry batteries supported.- Highly efficient design, does not produce a lot of heat. It works with any Intel Core Duo as well as all VIA or AMD processors.

I'm intending that I will be ready for this years UK CarPC meet and with luck in with a chance for a change for winning something - even if its most Getto.....