I bought a new TruckPC

[Malaki86]

I thought it was about time to replace my almost 3yr old laptop. So, I went on ebay and got this:

Get the power of a fully loaded PC plus the fun of a digital entertainment center in one innovative, space-saving machine: the Pavilion Slimline s3400t. Added bonus: it features a more energy efficient power supply and processor than ever before.

Compact and versatile
Just a third the size of a traditional HP tower PC, the Slimline fits almost anywhere. It's perfect in the kitchen or a spare bedroom for looking up recipes, chatting online, paying bills, and reading the news.

Good things in a small package
The petite Slimline s3400t packs all the functionality of a full-sized PC: plenty of memory, a fast processor, and lots of hard drive space. The s3400t also includes 5 USB ports (1 front and 4 back). It even has a 15-in-1 digital media card reader, so you can quickly transfer videos, photos, and music directly to your PC.

Heavy-duty processing power
Our Slimline s3400t PCs offer an Intel Pentium Dual-Core processor.

PROCESSOR
Intel Pentium Dual E2200 (2.20GHz/32kB L1/1MB L2 Cache)

MEMORY
3GB DDR2 SDRAM (1x2048/1x1024MB)
Total memory slots: 2 DIMM

HARD DRIVE
500GB SATA-3G Drive with 8MB Cache

PRIMARY MULTIMEDIA DRIVE
Lightscribe 16x/8x -DL DVD+/-RW 12x RAM SATA

GRAPHICS CARD
NVIDIA GeForce 7100

TV TUNER
N/A

SOUND CARD
Realtek High Definition Audio

COMMUNICATION
Wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n

NETWORKING
Realtek A210 10/100 Mb/s

KEYBOARD
HP multimedia keyboard

POINTING DEVICE
HP scroller mouse

DIMENSIONS
13.89"(L) x 4.21"(W) x 10.87"(H)

EXPANSION SLOTS
PCI-Express x16 - 1
PCI Express x1 - 1

EXTERNAL PORTS
Front:
15-in-1 memory card reader
One USB
Headphone

Back:
One VGA
Four USB
One IEEE-1394
One LAN
Audio (speaker out, line-in, microphone)

DIGITAL MEDIA
15-in-1 memory card reader

OPERATING SYSTEM
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32 bit)

SOFTWARE
HP Total Care Advisor
Microsoft Works
Recovery Manager
Muvee AutoProducer Basic
Easy Internet Services
Hardware Diagnostic Tools
HP Photosmart Essentials
Cyberlink DVD Suite Deluxe
Adobe Reader
My HP Game Console

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=009

Nice little (and yes, they're very small computers) for $389.

Now I just have to buy an LCD monitor. I might go 20-21". That depends on the price compared to a 19" though.

[Malaki86]

Had to get a monitor to go into the truck since I won't be using the laptop any longer. It took me all of about 5 seconds to decide on this one:



http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Acer-...oductDetail.do

Specifications:

• Acer P Series 22" LCD Monitor
  Screen size (diagonal): 22"
  Widescreen: Yes
  Maximum resolution: 1680 x 1050
  Brightness 300cd/m2
  Static contrast ratio ?
  Static contrast ratio: 2500:1
  Response time: 5-millisecond
  Viewing angle width (degrees) 170 horizontal/160 vertical
  Speakers included No
  DVI (Digital Video Interface): 1
  UPC 099802102999
  Manufacturer's part number P221W

[belpre122]

How's the setup working out for you so far hillbilly? :wink:

[Malaki86]

Right now the laptop is still in the truck. The new pc and monitor won't go in the truck until later this week if I get by the house, or next weekend. The pc won't arrive until Monday.

[belpre122]

Cool, I'm anxious to hear how the setup works out for you.

Be safe out there! God's country. :wink:

[Malaki86]

Got home and found the box sitting here waiting for me. Now the fun part of installing all the necessary software, then installing it in the truck.

The installation into the truck shouldn't be TOO painful, I hope. I have to do it on Sunday before I head out. Stupid shop wanted my truck this weekend for some maintenance.

[marylandkw]

You will of course post pictures, please?

I seem to remember a post of yours from a couple of months ago and your setup was impresive.

[Malaki86]

Yup - as soon as it's installed and tidied up, pics will definitely follow.

I gotta say one thing: I thought the 17" screen on my laptop was big - until I started using this 22". As a comparison for the size, my tv set at home is a 27". When there's a widescreen show on (the tv is a 4:3, not 16:9), the picture is almost identical in size between the monitor and the tv.

[Malaki86]

Not the best pics, but they'll do for the moment. I'll take some better ones during the day and when the truck isn't running (vibrating the camera):

[belpre122]

Not the best pics, but they'll do for the moment. I'll take some better ones during the day and when the truck isn't running (vibrating the camera):

What's the scoop so far? Working out pretty well?

[Malaki86]

I'm loving it!!!

The only issue I have is with the GPS receiver. When the computer comes out of the standby mode in the morning, the receiver doesn't reset. I have to manually unplug/replug it. No biggie.

I'm going to try to get my permanent monitor mount put together this weekend. Thanks to the idea from Rev, the monitor will mount over top of the lower window in my Volvo. I'll put a tilting mount in it for a little adjustment.

Other than that, it's been great. The slimline computer is a low power computer. The power supply is only 185 watt. Also, the way I have it setup, as long as I'm running Centrafuse (my front-end software), the standby/sleep/screen saver is disabled. Once I exit that, it's on a 5 minute timer for standby, so it's not pulling hardly any power at all when I'm not using it.

I received my monitor-sharing box this week also. Just have to get the correct cable for it this weekend.

[Frebond]

Pretty nice setup.

[matcat]

$389 for that system with intel dual core, 3gb of ram, and 500gb hd, that's a steal!

[Malaki86]

ebay!!!

Actually, I have a system at home that's almost identical. I bought it at Circuit City last year for maybe $75 more.

The main thing I like about that computer is it's physical size. It's 11" tall, 5" wide and 17" deep (allowing for cables). Also, it's extremely quiet.

Another good plus is the port on the front of the computer for an HP Pocket Media drive (which my home pc also has). I just take my 160gig drive with me at the end of the week.

[MaL]

Just a little follow-up on this...

Yesterday I was coming across I-68 in Maryland. Nice smooth road. I managed to find a pothole that rattled the truck pretty hard. The bad part is that it also rattled the computer. It instantly "blue-screened" on me. Since then, she won't boot up.

So, I'll be switching back to my laptop. I was worried about a normal pc in a truck. Oh well - I can make use of the faster pc when I'm at home.

[matcat]

Sounds like something came loose. Should be a matter of just cracking her open and resetting all the components properly into their respective spots.

[MaL]

Tried that - no go.

I *think* it's the hard drive, but not 100% - that's up to HP now - thank God for warranties.

Every time I try to start it up, it either freezes at the Microsoft "loading" screen (with the scrolling bar), or it gives a blue-screen, normally with a "Unknown Hard Error". It won't do a recovery from either the recovery partition or from the recovery dvd's.

Oh well - it was worth a shot and now I'll have a better system to use at home.

[jegzus]

Sounds like your drive is scratched, just like a bad CD. A new HDD should be all it needs, but this time maybe use some foam to put underneith it?

Also how were you using it as a GPS if the screen was in the bunk?

[Malaki86]

I switched back to my laptop in the truck and am using the new pc at home. As far as the screen, I have a 7" touchscreen mounted on the sunvisor in the front. Works perfect for the GPS.

[jegzus]

I switched back to my laptop in the truck and am using the new pc at home. As far as the screen, I have a 7" touchscreen mounted on the sunvisor in the front. Works perfect for the GPS.

Sweet, sounds like a nice setup then. Sometimes I really wish I didn't slip seat so I could bring my laptop with me.