Jump to content
LegacyGT.com

Tablet PC as Carputer?


MatsuDano

Recommended Posts

That kinna sucks then. If I want to install my Nexus 7, I'd have to get a nav bezel then, which I don't own at the moment. Plus I'd have to relocate my OEM mpg gauge and airbag passenger warning light unit.

 

Personally, I would LOVE to have a nav bezel which gives a very good fit of the Nexus 7 AND a lid on it like the cubby bezel. This way, when I am out of the car, I can close the lid and 'hide' the Nexus 7. I would seriously love that.

Edited by xt2005bonbon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 885
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I wonder if there's something we could fabricate to act as a deterrent to wandering eyes. The lady and I are in downtown Milwaukee tonight and we made a special point to park in a well-lit area so as to prevent thieves from looking inside
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if there's something we could fabricate to act as a deterrent to wandering eyes. The lady and I are in downtown Milwaukee tonight and we made a special point to park in a well-lit area so as to prevent thieves from looking inside

 

I am totally with you. I currently have a fairly expensive sound system in my car but I've made sure during the install that nothing can be seen when one looks inside.

 

Until I find a way to get a lid on top of the nav system (or Nexus for that matter), I'll probably wait to do this mod.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm considering mounting high strength magnets on the roof of the cubby behind the nexus - then making a custom cover with magnets which can couple on the top of the dash and cover the nexus. I am very certain that it will work with large enough magnets and will be invisible when not in use. I'll detail the project if I decide to take it on. Remember, if you've done a good job installing the tablet, no one will know you've done anything at all. If you try covering it up - it will increase the temptation and curiosity of thieves, wondering what's worth hiding.

 

As for battery life - I found that pandora is the worst written app ever. I had to uninstall Pandora permanently because I cannot prevent it from draining my battery 15% overnight. It'll just be sitting idle in standby with all of the radios disabled and drain my battery like mad. The moment I switched to streaming podcasts in chrome - my battery drains like 1% every 8 hours in idle, which now recharges in a minute or two while driving.

 

In summary - Pandora made it impossible to keep the battery charged - but now that its uninstalled it it never goes below 90% range and daily recharges to 100% in under 10 minutes driving.

Edited by Crazy Goat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

^^ Just a thought ... If you have any old hard drives lying around there are some pretty strong magnets inside them. Older the better / more powerful. I took some out of a 500MB hdd and put a $20 under it on my buddy's fridge. Stayed there for many months, even with scrape marks around it. :D
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I started mocking up my nav cubby to fit the Nexus. Got everything to fit, now I just need to make a worthy charging cable and I should be all good to go. I have a ProClip for my GS3 that I want to mount over the right vent to hold my phone with, but I don't want to impede the viewing angles of the Nexus for the passenger. I guess I'll mock it up and then make a decision depending how bad it is
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a ProClip for my GS3 that I want to mount over the right vent to hold my phone with, but I don't want to impede the viewing angles of the Nexus for the passenger.

 

Yea, it's going to impede the view for sure. My proclip basically blocks half of the nexus screen to the passenger. There is a little bit of room to move it further to the right, but then that would impede the vent's airflow. I guess it's a toss up between the view or the airflow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Well I've solved my charging woes. I ordered a 6' long, 24/28 AWG USB cable off amazon. This thing is beefy and it makes all other USB cables you've seen look wimpy. I did a little around-town driving last night with the tablet plugged in and it increased the charge by a few percent in the couple minutes I drove. This morning I turned bluetooth on, gps on, wifi on, and played music from the tablet and it stayed at 100% charge from the time I turned the car on until I got to work (40 minutes).

 

I decided I didn't like the hack job I did on my cubby bezel, so I did a little work to the nav bezel and got the Nexus to fit just like CrazyGoat's. The only thing is I don't have the OEM nav buttons, so in their place I just taped over with scotch tape and put down a ton of hot glue so it's flush with the nav bezel surface and it fills in all the gaps. Those will be there until I can find the nav bezel buttons to go back in their place and I'll wire up the power on/off switch (again) like Crazy Goat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I decided I didn't like the hack job I did on my cubby bezel, so I did a little work to the nav bezel and got the Nexus to fit just like CrazyGoat's. The only thing is I don't have the OEM nav buttons, so in their place I just taped over with scotch tape and put down a ton of hot glue so it's flush with the nav bezel surface and it fills in all the gaps. Those will be there until I can find the nav bezel buttons to go back in their place and I'll wire up the power on/off switch (again) like Crazy Goat.

 

pics?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just put some clear packing tape over the front, and start filling in with hot glue. The white glue had been sitting for a week and the clear glue is stuff I literally set a minute ago (to fill in the cracks I couldn't see from before because I used electrical tape) but it will also turn white with time. Keep in mind this is just a temporary solution until I find the nav buttons.

 

uploadfromtaptalk1358461434070.jpg.0bbc185df083883f6fb53c9088f8a11c.jpg

Edited by SCHM1AN
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally got my gestures app downloaded and realized I had to root the Nexus to get it to work. Everything is back in working condition and the Nexus should be ready to be mounted (for good) tomorrow after work.

 

Yeah - the GMD Gesture Control app requires root, but it's AMAZING. I have gestures to kill applications, play or pause music, open common menus. It's the best app for my carputer.

 

Great job! I ended up backtracking my project a little and put the USB and headphone back in their original location. The line interference was due to the PCB of the USB/Headphone not being grounded properly (the screws that affix it to the chassis ground it against the MagAlloy structure). Ordered the new Asus Nexus 7 dock and might tear it apart and install it in the car for better cable management. But as of yesterday it's all put back to normal - but the cables mess with my right vent's fins. :(

 

Last week I replaced all of the lights in the cabin/trunk with LEDs. Total cost was about $20 from amazon - so much brighter, cleaner, and much lower power draw.

 

Last night I also installed some RAAMat (dynamat competitor) and my Polk DB6501 in my passenger door. Found that it was filled with a few pounds of broken glass. (The factory weather seal is really hard to remove and reinstall without completely replacing the seal. The previous owner/shop must have thought it wasn't worth the effort.) I suspect the car was broken into at some point (I bought it used).

 

Working up the energy to do the driver door next.

Edited by Crazy Goat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crazy Goat,

 

With the Nexus7 dock, how does that tap into the tablet if the USB and 3.5mm ports are on the bottom of the tablet (the side, in landscape orientation)?

 

EDIT: Answered my own question. It looks like it uses the pogo pins on the bottom

Edited by SCHM1AN
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crazy Goat,

 

With the Nexus7 dock, how does that tap into the tablet if the USB and 3.5mm ports are on the bottom of the tablet (the side, in landscape orientation)?

 

EDIT: Answered my own question. It looks like it uses the pogo pins on the bottom

 

Pogo pins indeed - one could build the pin assembly themselves, but its kind of a pain to source those pins in single digit quantities.

 

Which LEDs did you get?

 

8 of these (2 x four pack)

(Two map lights, the dome light, and all four doors)

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009W09HG2]Cutequeen White 31mm(1.25") 12-SMD 12V Festoon Dome Light LED Bulbs DE3175 DE3021 DE3022 3175(pack of 4) : Amazon.com : Automotive[/ame]

 

 

2 of these (1 x two pack)

(One for the trunk and one for the license plate)

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006R34PB4]2pcs 20-SMD T10 12V Light LED Replacement Bulbs 168 194 2825 W5W - White : Amazon.com : Automotive[/ame]

 

 

 

They're both of similar quality - very bright, white light. Airs in the side of blue-tinted, ever so slightly. Looks like 10000k-12000k HID lights - looks super classy compared to the yellow lights it replaced. It's a direct fit - just pop the plastic covers off, remove the bulb and put these in. Took 10 minutes to replace all the bulbs in my car.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can they also dim when for instance you close the door?

 

Surprisingly, yes. For instance, there's two different brightness levels for the map lights when you open the door (dimmer) versus manually turning them on (brighter). When you close the doors and lock the car with the fob, the lights slowly fade out. Works really well!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Surprisingly, yes. For instance, there's two different brightness levels for the map lights when you open the door (dimmer) versus manually turning them on (brighter). When you close the doors and lock the car with the fob, the lights slowly fade out. Works really well!

 

That's great. I'll probably buy them as well. Thanks for the feedback.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't know if you kids saw it already but over on the nabisco forums they mounted a Nexus 7 in an 08 STi.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2459432

 

Cool, detailed install and his mounting bracket thing was impressive...

 

sti_n7-14.jpg

 

There is also some good info if you scour the reddit thread.

Also some ideas about connecting a backup camera ...

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9784683/android-external-camera-options-overlay-on-top-of-video-stream-no-middleman-s

Edited by EquinnoxX
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

CrazyGoat, how did you tap into the nav buttons? Did you remove the board and solder onto the big white squares in the first picture or did you solder onto somewhere on the back of the panel in the second picture?

 

uploadfromtaptalk1361732053744.thumb.jpg.f288662449562545ea687c8429214cc1.jpg

 

uploadfromtaptalk1361732135034.jpg.10a539be16eef67f22cdc94f86b44cb9.jpg

 

You'll have to forgive me- I'm an ME and electronics just aren't my thing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use