How cool would it be to have a computer right in my Avalanche?

With the completion of the Onstar Mod, having the laptop in the truck really started getting annoying. First off, it's a P266, takes for ever to boot, it's heavy, and tended to bounce around a fair bit.

So on a limited budget decided to take on the task of "acquiring" parts. Below is information on my Avyputer V1.

 The computer is a BKi810 Book PC, 733 Celeron, 120gig Hard Drive and 512meg ram.  This uses the Intel 810 chipset with VGA out and both Composite and S-video outs. Unfortunately, only one or the other, not both.

This particular unit has 2 USB ports, but no serial port. So, I got a USB to Serial adapter. This website gives you a lot of info on this adapter.

I am using a 4 port USB hub for the following.

	USB to Serial adapter
	USB Wireless Network adapter (Belkin, mounted up in the plastic near the third brake light)
	Spare USB ports for Digital Camera and new Sony MiniDV cam.
	Possible Future backup cam

Nice thing about the wireless adapter is being able to sit in my driveway and transfer music, videos, map files, or what ever.

So far everything seems to work. I am having a small problem with the USB to serial adapter recognizing the NMEA stream from the Onstar GPS as a USB mouse. This can really make things go hay-wire. I have tried disabling the USB pointing device, but then the port does not work. If I boot up first, then plug in the Onstar cable, then all is good. Delorme Street Atlas works GREAT with it's Voice activated commands.

I have not yet connected up the sound, as I do not have a permanent monitor solution yet. Luckily my Pioneer HU has an Aux. input. This should work just fine.

For now I have an RF wireless keyboard and mouse. A little big for my liking, but will suffice until I find a better solution.

I will probably end up using a Xenarc TFT display. Still have not decided if I want the touch screen or not. I have seen a couple of these, and the touch screen seems to take away from the clarity a bit.

Version 2 is already in the works. Of course, this will be a complete change as I will be utilizing something on the micro/fan less design. All this will take is time and money.