Windows Tablet car install

[Phil 68]

I'm looking to the 8" tablets, as the 10" take a lot of real estate to install in a console. That narrows it down to very few choices:
- Acer Iconia W3. Gets really lousy reviews for its display, but about to be replaced
- Acer Iconia W4. Great reviews, but not released yet
- Dell Venue 8 Pro. Available now, seems like a nice little unit

For a 12v USB Hub, search on CNX-P5USB It can be configured so that it stays powered up for a certain amount of time after "Key Off", then shuts down. Might be the best out there for purposes of supplying power to the tablet while also getting multiple USB devices hooked up.



Cheers
Phil

I picked up the little 8" Dell tonight. Was able to drop the resolution to 800x600, at which point the EFI software nicely fills the screen (this software, for the Powerjection III, has a fixed window size)

Need to finish the console and see how it works.

[scott_fx]

nice. i tested one of those but the glaring issues (pun intended) was how hard it was to read when light hit it. if i were you i'd throw it in your car temporarily and drive around with it for a bit to see if you're happy with it. second being, how are you going to deal with the start up and shut down of the unit and powering it while connecting usb to it?

[Phil 68]

Installed.

Yes, there's glare in the daytime. Main thing is I can start a data log from the EFI at any time, via the touch screen. And when not driving, I can pop it out of the console for use (change a calibration file, look at a log file, whatever). And its cool.

10 hour battery life, so at this time I'm not worried about the issues of charging with the microUSB and using it for data at the same time. There are some workarounds out there in the forums for that.

[scott_fx]

cool. it's a great tablet none the less. almost held on to it... just to have one around

while not data logging are you going to use it for media/music playback?

[Phil 68]

Will try using it for music soon - should be able to Bluetooth to the Alpine head unit instead of cable to the aux in, keeping the install as clean as possible for a tablet that is planned to be quick and easy to pop in and out.

[scott_fx]

Will try using it for music soon - should be able to Bluetooth to the Alpine head unit instead of cable to the aux in, keeping the install as clean as possible for a tablet that is planned to be quick and easy to pop in and out.

i'd suggest using a small usb hub and a usb soundcard or dac. it'll save you from having to connect to through bt all the time and you already will be hooking plugging in the usb cable for your data logging. I do have another solution for you, it's wireless but a bit more involved in the setup.
here is an untethered solution i worked out for a boat project i was working on:
http://youtu.be/CUr1leHiZ58
it involves adding a router and a network usb adapter. but it is wireless and it would solve your charging issue as well. as you can see from the video i have an external hard drive, a dac, and various usb relay boards.

for music, look into riderunner (that is whats in that video as well) you can use it as your front end for music and gps and you should be able to also launch your efi program from within the program as well