# Wiring Laptop/In Dash LCD into car.



## Char (Jun 16, 2005)

So I have a busted up laptop Im thinking about just using in my car. The screen is pretty cracked, about 1/4th of it is unseeable, but it has a AGP out so I want to get a in dash LCD and just put that above my head unit in my car. But I need some help with wiring up these two things because I cant really figure out how to do it myself. 

First is the in dash LCD.. I already have a Alpine head unit which is my actual stereo.. love it, bought it recently and would rather keep it. But as for the LCD.. thats all I want it for, a LCD, doesnt need to have sound or anything going through my speakers. Would I be able to just splice the power wires to my harness along with the head unit? 

Second.. Power for the laptop. Like I said.. its a pretty beaten laptop, really unusable for the average use. The connecter for the power on the back was smashed when it was dropped so I just soldered the PSU wire right to the motherboard.. and as stated the screen is so cracked its a pain just to use. But how will I wire it to get power from the car? Its going to have its own battery for when the car is off/starting so it wont be disrupted. Stated on the back of the PSU, Input: AC 100-240V 50/60Hz Max 1.5A, Output: 19V 3.68A. Id rather not use a power inverter to just plug it in for AC.. it would be so clunky and messy. Wouldnt I be able to just cut off the PSU all together if I can find another 19V line? What could I use for that? My first idea is wiring it into the back of the cig lighter, but thats 12V, Id need a way to increase that. Any other way? 

If you are all curious to why Im doing this.. mostly for GPS in my car. I can put the laptop on its side (will make the hard drive more resistant to shock) in my trunk with a USB GPS Receiver, run a AGP line to the LCD in my dash and a keyboard/mouse under my seat for inputting addresses and such. I would just go out and buy a car GPS.. but I already have this laptop that is getting unused because of its problems plus I can just buy a USB GPS unit for like $30 and I already have all the software for it. 

Also the software has a voice to tell you before hand about a turn. I was thinking of putting a small speaker somewhere so I can hear it even with my stereo going.. but just curious, what would happen to a speaker if you ran two signals to it, would it play both or mess things up? If I can I will just run sound from the laptop to my two front speakers, but Id rather it not interfere with my stereo.


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## Sethticlees (May 30, 2002)

Tell me you're kidding... right  




Not trying to offend anyone but... dude, a lot of the questions you're asking are not so easy to explain and if you could understand this you would probably realize what a total waste of time this is, at which point you may be able to more clearly rationalize the REAL decision needing to be made here...

"Should I buy a GPS or a NEW laptop for my car... or both???"


Sorry, if that sounds a little harsh. :cheers: 



BTW, this should be in the Audio Forum


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## Char (Jun 16, 2005)

Oh Im buying a new laptop, but why should I let one go to waste when all thats wrong is its LCD screen. It would be a hell of a lot cheaper to just do this.. plus it can do more then just GPS if I ever wanted it to.

You dont sound harsh, Ive had my friend bug me every single time Ive mentioned putting a computer in a car. It may sound like I dont know what Im doing.. but I have the basic ideas. I do such things a lot, but when it comes to things like this.. Id rather find out some information first before fucking up my car too.

And I wasnt sure what forum to put this in.. I figured since this actually has more with my B14 wiring then it does the audio set up. But if you like you can move it, they would probably know more.


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## captain_shrapnel (Sep 10, 2004)

The forum you need is right here: www.mp3car.com

They specifically address how to turn a laptop into an in car computer.


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## Char (Jun 16, 2005)

Ive been there before when I was thinking of just a normal PC.. I didnt find it very useful other then DC to DC power supplys. Though I did just get the idea.. why not just buy the Car Adapter for this laptop and cut the plug for the lighter and wiring it directly to it on the back. Problem 2 solved.

Now this question is what would have lead me to the audio section.. With my Alpine head unit installed already using a wiring harness and all.. will I be able to just crimp the In Dash LCD to the harness too for power and have it not affect the stereo? And about connecting two audio sources to one speaker.. what would that do?


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## white99sel (Jan 30, 2006)

Don't splice into your wiring harness for the ground or the power (constant hot/memory) if you are going to install a monitor. The car's wiring harness is probably not designed to use as much current as your head unit and the monitor would require, especially if the monitor folds out. You might start blowing fuses if you do that.

Get some 10 ga. power wire and a fuse holder from your local car audio shop and connect it from your battery to the monitor. Connect the fuse holder within 12" of your battery. The fuse should be rated lower than the power wire is rated at. This fuse is to protect the wire from melting. The monitor will probably have it's own fuse also. Be sure to run the wire through a grommet in the firewall. Connect the ground from your monitor to a clean spot on the chassis of your car behind your dash. The only wire that I would splice into on the Alpine harness is the acessory wire. This one is only used to tell the head unit when it is okay to run. You should probably consult your local car audio shop before you do this just to be sure.

I would not feed sound to a speaker from two sources at the same time for the GPS. If you do want to use your computer for mp3 playback you could use the auxillary input on your head unit if it has one. Some head units require an adapter that is sold seperately. You can use an fm modulator that will just play the sound through a selected audio frequency if an there is no auxillary input.

It would probably be a good idea to talk to a professional before doing this.


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## Char (Jun 16, 2005)

It has one but it is being used by my iPod.. I dont mind though, I will just mount a small speaker somewhere just so I can hear the directions and wont have to constantly look at the screen and crash. ^-^

I will be just buying some cheap unmotorized screen.. it just needs to be a screen nothing more. But thanks for the help, sounds easy enough. I will double check everything with someone that does it for a living though just to make sure. I didnt bother at first because Im in a smug ass place that every shop wont really tell you how and tell you they will install it themself.

Thanks for all the help.

But to double check.. if I take the laptop (or any in another case) power that is meant to be plugged into the lighter and cut it and wire it directly to the back, the ligher itself should be fine to be used with other things such as a cell phone charger? Its what I use it for now and Id like to keep it free just incase.


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## white99sel (Jan 30, 2006)

If you don't fell like hard wiring the lighter, you could use a cigarette lighter dual plug socket adaptor. Radio Shack will probably have one or you could go here.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=265-566

I know what it's like when the shops won't talk to you because they're not installing it for you. You would think that this is bad for business, but they don't get it.


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## Char (Jun 16, 2005)

white99sel said:


> If you don't fell like hard wiring the lighter, you could use a cigarette lighter dual plug socket adaptor. Radio Shack will probably have one or you could go here.
> 
> http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=265-566
> 
> I know what it's like when the shops won't talk to you because they're not installing it for you. You would think that this is bad for business, but they don't get it.


 Yeah I knew about the dual plug adapters.. thats why I was double checking if its okay to just hard wire it.. I want to keep it as clean as possible. As is Im probably going to be putting a wireless keyboard under the seat instead of running more wires.


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## white99sel (Jan 30, 2006)

I have seen people splice into the back of the lighter for radar detectors and the lighter sitll worked for other accessories.


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