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• I do remember the AutoPC, I was a professional installer when that came out and I put a few in. I have occasionally followed the custom "carputer" scene over the years, after 10 years as a professional installer, followed by the last 9 years as a system admin, and with 17 years of building computers, this stuff still intrigues me. I look at it this way, a laptop or custom 12v base computer is usually not easy to integrate into the factory radio location. While I have seen some amazing installs of custom "carputer" setups in the past, it is far from the norm, and usually you end up with a cluttered car interior that looks like some tech junkie went to best buy and bought all the plug in accessories.. Also, most carputers have components mounted under seats, in trunks, and behind glove boxes, where this is a double din unit. I always had tons of customers looking to make everything look as if it came from the factory. When I think about this product, with a full PC core, a desktop OS, USB, and CANbus interface, I see the ability to have GPS that is tied to your speed sensors, integration into all factory systems (ie factory dvd's, steering wheel controls, etc), the ability to add evdo internet, the ability to load up performance and engine monitoring software, on-board storage of mp3, wma, and even divx, etc, and the ability to do just about anything you can do with a desktop computer, short of playing games. Heck, you could hook up to your slingbox at home and stream all your recorded shows into your car.. Yes, you could do this with a laptop, gps card, aircard, fm modulators, and a slew of cables and external mounts, or you can put it all in your dash, and in the event of an accident, it isnt a projectile that can kill you. My brother paid $2500 for a double din touchscreen dvd/mp3/hard drive, etc head unit a few years back, and that was just a dumb playback machine, not a computer. It is not for everyone, most certainly, but if they have the glitches worked out, I can see a huge market for it. In reply to: "Azentek builds a PC for your car"

  January 11, 2008

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