In Car PC

My current in-car-computer consist of a Dell Inspiron Notebook that has been cut down.  If you have ever owned one of these laptops then you are probably aware of the keyboard issue (the keyboard has a tendency to die).  A search for these keyboards is fruitless (over $40 for a laptop keyboard is not my idea of a good deal).  I could hack in a cheap usb keyboard but that just wouldn't look right (and I have other laptops for my general use).  

So what did I do?  I ripped the keyboard off of it. folded the display back on itself, now I have a very nice "removable" in-car-computer.

I am using a delorme earthmate usb GPS receiver, which has been painted black (the bright banana color was the equivalent of a  "steal me" sign)

Click on the pictures below for a bigger version.

For Mp3's I use Winamp 
OS is Windows 2000

 
The good thing about this install.  I can unplug and pull it all out
 (to take in the house for testing etc).
  Its also easy to put back into the truck at any time.

This is a picture of the laptop mounted in the truck


This is a picture of the simple mount I made, The top simply screws on and off.
I can also unscrew the mount at the base.


Here is a picture of the computer, mount, and the inverter
which is used to power the system