What component will only last a few months? The ride is not too rough for me... I also could use a solid state HD...

Edit: Check this out http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...002-carpc.html

 

Actually the hdd would be the first to go out. A solid state hdd would be a good alternative, but they are very expensive. You could always get a big flash drive andboot tothat instead :-) iirc they transfer at about the same speed, but the sata interface on the hdd would be faster and therefore reduce access times.

 

^ flash drives ARE getting bigger and bigger. but ehh i'd go with the fireware external hdd just for capacity and durability.

and mmm wireless peripherals

 

Well looky here http://www.toshibastorage.com/main.a...ives/MK8050GAC

Maybe solid state is not needed?? 80 GB may not seem like a lot, but that could potentially be 120 Xvid movies, or 16,000 mp3's. After coilovers, chip, dv, rims, I gunna do this.

 

That's a cool idea. The key there is the "operating shock" of 300g. Most hdd's are not operating shock of 300g. I bet they will be expensive though. I've seen customer's laptops have their hdd's go out in 4-5 months because they had it mounted in a car. And not just a sports car, these were luxury sedans.

 

I used to work for a consulting firm that mounted tough books in Police cars... They never had issues with it (except the f'n software!), but then again they were toughbooks. If this drive is too expensive, and space/case allows, maybe I would do a solid state OS drive, and have a cheap HD for the media that I have backed up somewhere. HD Fails, simply replace it. 80GB Normal drives are 40-45 bucks, and I prob have a few in the closet. If I have to swap it out 1-3 times a year, that won't be too bad.

 

Toughbooks have rubber dampening mounts and special shock resistant hdd's. Those things are amazing in terms of rsistance to wear and tear. The laptops i'm talking about are just your plain ole consumer machines, not even the business variety.

 

theres always the micro pcs, which are flashed base, no moving parts

 

or pick up a phatbox on ebay...

I listen almost exclusively to satallite radio, so I've almost forotten about the CD changer. I use the cartridges to bring a small collection of CD's in to work, thats about as much use as it sees from me.