I've made a few changes since I last posted any pictures of my interior mods. Thought some might be interested. Any comments are welcome and if you want to post your own interior mods to this thread, I have no problem with that at all.
The biggest change is the computer system. I always used a laptop computer, hooked up to a GPS for mapping, since I used USGS based maps for our historical research and site explorations. The USGS maps are the most accurate maps, show lots of sites and the GPS allows me to use it as a real time mapping system.
For years, I just used a laptop mounted on some sort of mount up front. Both in my old Toyota pick up and in the Land Cruiser. The last laptop I used was an IBM Thinkpad X31. Awesome bulletproof computer that has survived pure hell for years. In the latest iteration, I relocated the laptop to a locked container in the middle rear compartment and ran a touchscreen mini-monitor up front. This reduced having a huge laptop in my face all the time and somewhat reduced the ability for it to be stolen, when parked and exploring on foot, but was still a pain to have to remove and reinstall the laptop everytime I went anywhere, so I started to look at other options. Specifically for a permanantly installed computer. I was really surprised at how expensive the ready made car pcs were. Far more than I wanted to spend for a dedicated computer that didn't need that much computer power and would only be used in my Land Cruiser. Then I ran into something completely unexpected.
An Asus Eeebox B202. Basically a desktop version of one of those cheap Asus laptops you see all the time. Because it was a slightly older model, I got it for less than a couple of bills and it was still brand new. It was worth at least testing, but I thought, first of all, even if I get it to power off of DC somehow, it's not going to have any computing power, much less hold up to the harsh environment of my truck. How wrong I was. At least so far.
It's not quad-core PC with 6 gigs of ram, but the specs are actually slightly better than my IBM X31 and it will power what I need it to do no problem at all. And it's much smaller, uses far less energy and is generally an awesome alternative to a laptop. Here's some specs. Mine is the B202... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asus_Eee_Box
Photo 1
shows the overall view of the cockpit with the Xenarc 800TVS touchscreen monitor and a seperate mini keyboard up front. Both of these peripherals are easily removed and are just clamped down using Ram mounts.
Photo 2
shows a closer view of the monitor without the keyboard in place. The monitor is an 8" monitor with touchscreen capabilities. It works OK. If I were to do it over again, I would get the brightest monitor money can buy. It's sunlight readability is marginal. Hence the "custom" sunshade. In normal conditions, it works great. Brightness is 350 cd/m², which is not bad at all, but 500 or better really is needed for me when I need to monitor things on the go on a bright sunny summer day.
Photo 3
Here is the actual computer, and a coke for size comparision. It's extremely small, not much bigger than a full size external harddrive. It lives in the back in a cubby hole. It's powered using it's AC power supply plugged into an inverter. I have a DC power cord for it that I will eventually just hardwire into the truck.
So far the major advantages to this type of computer set verses a laptop are...it's cheap. If it gets stolen I won't lose sleep and I can replace it for a few hundred dollars. Same thing if it gets broken. Plus it's small enough that thieves will probably have a hard time finding it anyway and unfortunately will probably be too distracted with all the other tasty gizmos they'll be trying unbolt off my rig. And I don't have a huge laptop bouncing around the front of my interior with a screen constantly trying close on me on the rough roads. Just a simple touchscreen monitor up front and that's all, except for a RF mini-keyboard, if I need it.
The biggest change is the computer system. I always used a laptop computer, hooked up to a GPS for mapping, since I used USGS based maps for our historical research and site explorations. The USGS maps are the most accurate maps, show lots of sites and the GPS allows me to use it as a real time mapping system.
For years, I just used a laptop mounted on some sort of mount up front. Both in my old Toyota pick up and in the Land Cruiser. The last laptop I used was an IBM Thinkpad X31. Awesome bulletproof computer that has survived pure hell for years. In the latest iteration, I relocated the laptop to a locked container in the middle rear compartment and ran a touchscreen mini-monitor up front. This reduced having a huge laptop in my face all the time and somewhat reduced the ability for it to be stolen, when parked and exploring on foot, but was still a pain to have to remove and reinstall the laptop everytime I went anywhere, so I started to look at other options. Specifically for a permanantly installed computer. I was really surprised at how expensive the ready made car pcs were. Far more than I wanted to spend for a dedicated computer that didn't need that much computer power and would only be used in my Land Cruiser. Then I ran into something completely unexpected.
An Asus Eeebox B202. Basically a desktop version of one of those cheap Asus laptops you see all the time. Because it was a slightly older model, I got it for less than a couple of bills and it was still brand new. It was worth at least testing, but I thought, first of all, even if I get it to power off of DC somehow, it's not going to have any computing power, much less hold up to the harsh environment of my truck. How wrong I was. At least so far.
It's not quad-core PC with 6 gigs of ram, but the specs are actually slightly better than my IBM X31 and it will power what I need it to do no problem at all. And it's much smaller, uses far less energy and is generally an awesome alternative to a laptop. Here's some specs. Mine is the B202... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asus_Eee_Box
Photo 1
shows the overall view of the cockpit with the Xenarc 800TVS touchscreen monitor and a seperate mini keyboard up front. Both of these peripherals are easily removed and are just clamped down using Ram mounts.
Photo 2
shows a closer view of the monitor without the keyboard in place. The monitor is an 8" monitor with touchscreen capabilities. It works OK. If I were to do it over again, I would get the brightest monitor money can buy. It's sunlight readability is marginal. Hence the "custom" sunshade. In normal conditions, it works great. Brightness is 350 cd/m², which is not bad at all, but 500 or better really is needed for me when I need to monitor things on the go on a bright sunny summer day.
Photo 3
Here is the actual computer, and a coke for size comparision. It's extremely small, not much bigger than a full size external harddrive. It lives in the back in a cubby hole. It's powered using it's AC power supply plugged into an inverter. I have a DC power cord for it that I will eventually just hardwire into the truck.
So far the major advantages to this type of computer set verses a laptop are...it's cheap. If it gets stolen I won't lose sleep and I can replace it for a few hundred dollars. Same thing if it gets broken. Plus it's small enough that thieves will probably have a hard time finding it anyway and unfortunately will probably be too distracted with all the other tasty gizmos they'll be trying unbolt off my rig. And I don't have a huge laptop bouncing around the front of my interior with a screen constantly trying close on me on the rough roads. Just a simple touchscreen monitor up front and that's all, except for a RF mini-keyboard, if I need it.
Last edited:
