[mythtvnz] Lightweight PC (Car PC?)

[Jonathan Hoskin]

On 9/01/2012, at 12:57 PM, James Booth wrote:

> Hi Everyone,
> 
> I want to look at building up a media PC for use on my boat. This would be for 
> providing music and serving videos (but probably no live TV), plus running a 
> few apps such as OpenCPN. 
> 
> I know there has been lots of discussion here about various mini-ITX boards, 
> cases, etc, but I also note various vendors selling "Car PC's", which are 
> small, compact, and most importantly will run off a 12-36V DC power input. 
> Anyone have an opinion on whether these are worth the money, or would I be 
> better putting something together myself?


This probably doesn't answer your question properly, but one of the things that instantly jumps to mind is to use an Android or iPad tablet instead.

I note that neither Android or iOS can run OpenCPN, but there is are alternative tablet apps for such things; and most tablets already have GPS built-in.

If you did need a on-boat server for your media, then you could just hide a cheap PC, WiFi access point and DC/AC inverter somewhere below deck and control it from the tablet.


-Jonathan