[mythtvnz] Lightweight PC (Car PC?)

[James Booth]

On Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:22:59 Jonathan Hoskin wrote:
> 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
> _______________________________________________

Hi Jonathan, yes, I checked out the tablet option, and while definitely a 
great tool, decided it was just too restrictive, and actually not all that 
much cheaper. The boat already has an inverter, but I'm looking to install 
something that is as efficient as possible, and running the inverter would add 
more power losses.  She's not a small boat, and could handle the inverter 
route no worries, I'm just geeking out and want to put something in 
specifically designed to be compact, power efficient, and able to run without 
an AC power source if possible.