E30 Zone

I want to add a Hard Drive into my car.

My head unit accepts standard hifi inputs

I was thinking of having something like this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mp3-MP4-3-5-HDD-m ... dZViewItem

That I can control by remote + it has a small screen.



my only problem is that it need 240v AC I have a converter that converts 12v into 240v AC but it uses the cigerette lighter.

I want it so that you can hardly notice it - what is the best way to get power to the thing?

Thanks

Use exactly what you said, use the cigertee lighter converters, but just dismantle it and HARDWIRE it into the accesory loom behind the glovebox.

They are quite loud though arn't they? And they need a goodish airflow.

im looking into bassically mounting a whole computer in my car, most likely a laptop being run of touch screen monitor but it will need to be ventilated properly, and as you said you will needs a 240v adaptor.

why does it need a 240v converter, when they drop them back down to about 12v in normal computers? or am i being stupid? what do car computers run on? I have a small hard drive running through mine its a snooper one as we have a trade account with them. seems good but it doesnt like my current head unit

padi: you aren't being stupid, pc's do use 12v but, they also need a 5v supply, it is much easier to use 240v invertor and let the PC power supply do the hard work, lol.

Gwynleym10: If you have a touring as i have you can use the rear storage compartments to store the PC gubbins, no case neeeded so it makes things a bit less complicated. If you got a saloon im sure there will be somwhere to mount them. As suggested, use the invertor you have and hard-wire it to the cars power via a fuse at least. Mount a couple of fans in the storage compartment if need as well. all you need then is two sets of cables running the length of the car:

1: audio cable from PC to aux on head unit

2: monitor/mouse combined to a touchscreen monitor

Hope this helps, just starting the same project at the mo so we'l see see who finishes first lol. good luck with it

Ive been thinking of this idea for ages now, but never actually bothered to make a start on it, as werent sure where to start, plus cant think of a place to put it in, most of my space is already being used up.....Would still like to make a start on this somehow, but my imagination is stopping me as i will never stop adding little gadgets to the car...

I'd be terrified of the car being nicked. I'd prefer it if you could take it out with you like a laptop.

What would the insurance company think of it? would they add it to the value of the car?

well i know that on the likes of a playstation people take it apart so they can remove the 240-> 12 volt converter and wire it in straight.

Why increase the power for the hard drive to decrease it back down to the original feed, that's if it runs on 12 volts of course

pssst. Do it like how I did it.

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... t=carputer

But seriously, it is better to go DC-DC rather than DC->AC->DC. Plus if it's a permanent install I wouldn't go off the lighter plug because the wire is liable to catch fire.

guizai, where did you fit the hard drive as i have an alpine flip screen and have the hard drive for that in the glove box but would like to move it to somewhere out of the road

looks really well btw

well originally, i had it all located in behind the ashtray and cubby hole, where the AC would normally be. I found it a bit hard to perform updates. Now I keep it in the glove box.