Complete Newb with a few questions

[Tekmazter]

Hey everyone, I'm new here and looking for just a little assistance.

I'm looking at buying either a single VK204-24-USB or VK204-25-V to put in my car. It would be hooked directly into the USB adapter on a IBM Thinkpad which will be mounted under the passenger seat in the front.

Question #1: Since the Laptop can usually power USB devices hooked to it, would I still need to run separate power to the laptop for the LCD? The manual for the VK204-24-USB shows two separate wires running to the PC, but only mentions the USB hooking up to it directly.

Question #2: If I were to instead purchase the VK204-25-V, because of its wide voltage support, is this something I could power directly by splicing into the power wire and ground wires on my aftermarket radio and then just run a serial cable directly to the laptop? I assume if this is the case, then this would in turn allow a power signal to the LCD even if the laptop was shutdown. Ideally I would be looking for a way to have it power on at the same time the other car systems do rather than have it be goverened by the status of the laptop.

Yes, I am a waaaaay newbie, but hopefully some of this made sense and some of you have a few good ideas here.

Thanks

[Tom]

Hi Tekmazter,

Thanks for posting at the forums.

Here are the answers to your questions.

1) The VK204-24-USB is the only display that requires extra power to turn on the display. It requires power an unmodified floppy power, and power from the USB port.

2) The VK204-25-V uses a linear regulator to regulate power from 7-15V to 5V. Aslong as your aftermarket radio supplies 7-15VDC, then you will be able to use it.

If you wanted the power of your car system to turn on the display, then ideally the VK204-25-V would be the better choice. The VK204-24-USB will turn off when your laptop turns off.

If you have anymore questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Best Regards,

[Tekmazter]

Hey Tom thankx for the quick reply.

It looks like going with the VK204-25-V-E to get past the temp issues where I live might be even a better option. It can get pretty cold (way below 32F) where I am and I noticed that the VK204-25-V is only rated down to 32F or 0C.

With that, I'd like to shed a little light on my project here. While a lot of people I know have been adding these bad boy's to their computers at home, I am buidling a 'carputer' with both a Character VFD along with a single LCD for movies etc...

The idea behind the VFD is that I already have a dbl-din aftermarket Pioneer stereo in the dash so there isn't a lot of room for an active matrix LCD color screen. The headuntil does have an AUX input which will allow for the addition of pretty much anything I can get onto the port. This is what my laptop would hang off of. At the point I get the VK204-25-V-E installed, I would be looking to display some of the more creative WINAMP plugin's out there so that I may have a HUD for the current MP3 playing, not the mention that the VK204-25-V-E matches perfectly with my already installed dash LED's. Additionally I would also be adding full color LCD's in the headrests for the rear passengers and one in the visor on the drivers side up front.

If you or anyone else has gone down this path before and have some pointers, please let me know. If I could avoid any frustrating hiccups, it would make the whole process that much more enjoyable.

[Tom]

I saw someone put one of our units in his car in the gallery shown at http://www.lcdforums.com/forums/viewtop ... c&start=15 . If you were to use winamp, LCDC has a winamp plugin. For information on LCDC, you can refer to http://www.lcdc.cc/about.htm . This will make your life easier when using computer applications.

Once you are done with your project, feel free to post the picture into our gallery. I would love to see the finished product.

If you have anymore questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Best Regards,