Mini PC (not laptop) onboard

whipper_snapper

whipper_snapper

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I am looking for a small PC to run nav software, email, etc. I do not want a laptop, I want a permanently mounted box to which I can attach a waterproof keyboard and mouse and a monitor mounted on a bulkhead. It would need CD/DVD, several serial ports, ethernet, USB. Most importantly I would like direct 12-15VDC power input and a totally enclosed box with a fanless low power CPU.

I half remember someone posting here that had built or bought something like that.

Any suggestions ? I found a site selling exactly what I need as 'rugedised industrial PCs', but they were impossibly expensive.


Thanks
 
Given the power options, surely a bulkhead mounted laptop with a wireless keyboard and mouse would be a good solution wouldn't it?
 
Re: Mini PC (not laptop onboard)

Yep - built a shuttle for exactly this purpose. It's not on the boat right now - I'm using it here until I fix my big box. I kept the specs fairly low to minimise power consumption; AMD Sempron and 250MB of RAM. The 12v PSU is a sod to install and remove - things are quite tight inside the box and if you've got sausage fingers like mine a pair of plastic tweezers are handy. PSU was from Opus and I ordered direct from the US.

I got a cheap LCD screen that came with an AC adaptor that output 12.3VDC - so I just ditched the adaptor and run the screen direct through a 12v voltage regulator (to prevent overvoltage, which can kill LCDs)

Keyboard is a waterproof rubber chinese one from eBay that cost a fiver and works fine.

I think the whole lot cost less than £300 to make. I run Dolphin Maritime's chart plotter on it, using ARCS skipper charts.

What would I have done differently? Got a smaller screen. The LCD is 14" which doesn't seem very big on the workbench but it dominates space in my small wheelhouse. If I can find a cheap 10" I'll get it.
 
Power consumption is part of it. But mostly I want robust system. I have found working with a laptop on a small wet chart table to be very difficult, it cannot be made tidy and you drip sea water off your sleeves, straight into the guts of the machine. It takes up space and is generally a vulnerable nuisance. I have in mind a small box, securely mounted out of the way and just a tough keyboard and mouse on the chart table.
 
Re: Mini PC (not laptop onboard)

Hi, Last year I tried a few different options - the one that I have stuck with is an ACER Aspire L310 machine bought out of Comet - comes with a laptop type power supply so it can be powered directly from the battery bank rather than thru an inverter. This cost me £330 for the system unit; mouse and keyboard without monitor (I already had one) and comes with 1Gb Ram; 60Gb HDD; sound; dvd writer; graphics card; NIC etc. and Vista Home Premium. the best thing is that it has a very small footprint - smaller (except height) than a laptop so it can fit easily onto the shelf above my nav station without any extra fittings.

Acer Aspire L310
 
Re: Mini PC (not laptop onboard)

Thanks. I am not sure that I am up to building my own shuttle without a lot more hand-holding, but the Acer looks interesting and ticks most boxes.

I see all new PCs these days come with Vista. I suspect that might cause problems with my software: an old version of maxsea, passage planner and airmail driving a pactor modem. Would you expect problems ? Is there any reason to/not to install Win XP ?
 
Re: Mini PC (not laptop onboard)

I would imagine that installing XP wouldn't really pose any problems. I'm not a great supporter of Vista, but I know that like XP with previous versions of windows, it does allow a fair amount of backwards compatibility - you do have to specify the 'mode' to run it under...

The Acer does not come with re-install disks - it does however come with 2 blank DVDs so that once you have gone through the setup procedures you can then save a baselined copy of the system to the blank DVDs. I would recommend that if you get the ACER, you complete the Vista setup and save the system to DVD before you scrub and load XP- at least this way you'll have a backup of Vista should you ever decide to re-install.
Good luck..
 
Re: Mini PC (not laptop onboard)

Dell make a Ultra Small form, we use them for our reception desk.... Dell Optiplex 755 Ultra small form.

Dimensions
H: 10.3" W: 3.5" D: 9.95"
H: 26.3cm W: 8.9cm D: 25.2cm
 
Installed a system like that, an abandoned project found on Ebay.
VIA integrated processor fanless ITX board, normal desktop HD - but foam mounted-and DVD player. Runs directly off the battery with special power unit 12-15 V. The box is suspended under the charttable. On the bulkhead is a secondhand ACER 15 inch screen, rated 15 V, also directly (yes, fused) on the battery.
Would never go back to a laptop. That said, being the worrying kind, in a cubbyhole is an old CF-M34 Toughbook... but that is a different beast altogether.
A friend is pleased with his HP Micro PC E-PC 42 P4 . Lots around second hand, and small and cheap, but runs of a small inverter.
 
Referring to computer on board. Apple mac provide mini computer, 'macmini', tiny size 16.5cm sq.by 5cmtall., around £400 you have to supply own monitor. worth a look at.
 
I built a mini-itx system a couple of years back. The front panel is the size of a car radio, but about 250 mm deep. The case is very tightly packed, mostly because of the power and parallel disk and CD drive cabling. This may be easier now if SATA drives are available. Assembling these things yourself is no big deal - just fiddly.

Some things to bear in mind:

1. The PC will continue to draw power even when it is switched off on the case, unless you use a special power supply for automotive (or boat) use. See http://www.itx-warehouse.co.uk/ You will need this anyway, to sort out the spiky and variable raw 12v. boat supply.

2. You need to check whether you are going to have enough USB ports. I found I needed 4, but 2 of them were on the front of the case which was inconvenient. I didn't have a serial port, so I had to use a bidirectional inline serial to USB converter (from Maplin)

3. Finding a decent small 12v monitor is difficult. I tried to find a 10" to 12" monitor with at least 1024 x 768 pixels - and failed. I was using "Software on Board" for chartplotting and it wasn't really happy with the 800 x 600 which I had to eventually settle for.

I don't use the mini-PC on the boat any more. The main problem was power consumption. I found the PC and monitor were drawing over 2.5A (at 12v) which was just too much when in use all the time. I needed the anchor alarm function most nights while living aboard in Greece. Also the problems of running anything indispensable under Windows XP. So now I'm back to using a B/W chartplotter because it uses less than 500mA, but I use a laptop as backup, route planning, and email etc.
 
You want ITX format.

IIRC There is one board that does not require fan cooling (v large heat sink)

That will reduce the power consumption, but biggest culprit will then be hard drive - more expensive but more robust and frugal with power are solid drives which are available in large Gb capacities these days. With a few of these and something like windose 2000 this will work very well. Minimise the use of CD/DVD - perhaps using a usb connection for these. Then all you need is a 12v sunlight display.
 
What ever unit you go for I would strongly recommend a Trackball mouse. I use a Logitech unit that is screwed down on the dash. With Seaclear that I use, most input is from the mouse and having it secure transforms the use. My keyboard is screwed in a vertical position to a bulkhead. I use a 17 inch LCD but I have plenty of room.

The tracball I bought off Ebay as a refurbished unit, they are expensive but worth it.
 
Thanks all. I have asked ITX warehouse to spec-up a machine for them to build. I will see if they reply!


Any thoughts on a minimum processor/speed/RAM to run maxsea smoothly under XP?
 
I have used a micro PC as from the below link for some 5 years with great success. It is so small you can mount it on a portable CD player A/V mount for added integrity and the optical drive is built in. I power it from a high quality DC/DC converter at 16V for reliability. Has 1 serial port (not found on today's laptops, 2 USB ports, ethernet port, Ir port and I use an Acer Ir compact combined keyboard/mouse. The only downside is the onboard sound chip isn't good enough for decoding audio AIS signal input but I got round that by plugging in a Trust USB sound card.

http://www.cappuccinopc.com/cappuccino-gx1.asp
 
I have maxsea 10.3 - this runs fine on a 400MHz machine, but screen changes are very slow. I prefer running on a 1.5GHz machine but would think 800 MHz - !1000 would be fine. For me Maxsea and CM93 is not the performance problem, whereas the AIS does need the at least 1000 machine for screen draw due to processor load working out cpa problems using www.shipplotter software.
 
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