navisurfer II: a complete pc in your car’s dashboard on [technabob]

navisurfer II: a complete pc in your car’s dashboard

posted: February 6th, 2008 13 comments author: technabob

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a computer designed to fit inside your car, but it’s definitely the first one I’ve seen which can fit entirely in the space of your old car stereo.

Navisurfer II Dashboard Linux Computer

The Navisurfer II occupies a single DIN slot in your car’s dashboard, and manages to cram in an entire PC with a flip-out touchscreen 7-inch color display. The LCD monitor has a nice 800 x 480 resolution, and can be adjusted on both horizontal and vertical axes. Since it fits neatly into a standard radio slot, all you need to do is connect the computer just like you would with a car stereo, and you’re all set.

The system can run Windows XP or Linux (no OS is pre-installed, though) and can serve as a media player, GPS navigator, rear view camera, gaming console, or used to display vehicle diagnostic information, among other things. To enable these features, you’ll need to purchase additional USB or Bluetooth devices such as a GPS receiver or a video camera (only supported on the 120GB model).

It’s all packaged in a shock-resistant enclosure, and is designed to hold up to the voltage irregularities of cranking your car’s battery. The Navisurfer II is available in configurations ranging from 40GB to 120GB of hard-disk based storage, and from 256MB to 512MB RAM. Prices range from $578 to $656 USD.

13 comments comment

1. www.giftgadgetgateway.com | February 6th, 2008 at 9:08 am

I have seen forums where people build their own car-pc from scratch by carefully choosing suitable components and I must give credit to them for having that thought and creativity. Today, there’s actually a factory-made computer designed to fit in a car. The demand will be great as a lot of people do not want to have the hassle to DIY.
2. chelsea | February 6th, 2008 at 3:05 pm

if it only could run os 10.
3. JB | February 6th, 2008 at 3:31 pm

if only you mac people had the intelligence to use Windows.
4. wumpus | February 6th, 2008 at 3:34 pm

does it play songs
5. technabob | February 6th, 2008 at 4:36 pm

If you install some media player software (Windows Media Player, iTunes, Rhapsody, etc), sure.
6. curious | February 6th, 2008 at 4:53 pm

Do you any of these car pc’s come with a usb slot?
Does this one?
7. wawul | February 6th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

if only you Windows people had the intelligence to use Unix
8. Jedi Master | February 6th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

If only you Unix users weren’t pricks…
9. NewJohnny | February 6th, 2008 at 5:32 pm

If only you people had the patience to read the goddamn article:

“…To enable these features, you’ll need to purchase additional USB or Bluetooth devices…”

That means it has USB ports!

“…and can serve as a media player…”

That means it can play songs!

And you OS bashers should realize by now that you’re the only intelligent ones left. Start doing some good for world instead of in-fighting all the time.
10. NewerJohnny | February 7th, 2008 at 6:15 am

Hooray!
11. TallgeeseIV | February 17th, 2008 at 3:39 am

Ok… But where do you buy it? Google just turns up this article on 20 different pages….
12. technabob | February 17th, 2008 at 7:29 am

Here: http://www.vic-ltd.com/buyonline.html
13. TallgeeseIV | February 17th, 2008 at 3:41 pm

oh wow, thank you so much