laptop in trunk

Torner · 12-25-2007, 01:59 AM

Well i've had my car PC (its a laptop) for about 4 months now and its been working great. I have it installed on the floor behind the drivers seat. I would like to move it to the trunk so as to the back seat available but my question is this:

-What are the disadvantages?
-Will there be heat issues?
-I live in Florida and may potentially move to Austin, TX (Both are very very hot places).
-Since its a laptop, wouldn't it pose a fire danger with the battery being in there in the harsh sun.

What do you think? What is my best alternative???

Jayce · 12-25-2007, 08:19 AM

What exactly are you doing with a laptop in your car??

Anyways, being a former car audio audiophobe, I used to deal with the same thing using high powered amplifiers and worried about fire hazards. I'm a bit of a wood working guy, so I'd use some tools we have in the garage to build a stand for the amp. I even ran a relay from the amp to power 4 computer case fans to cool down the amp's heat sink.

You can get pretty creative with it. For example, on my laptop I have a fan on the bottom... so if I were to install a laptop on a platform, I would use a router to ground out a channel in the baseboard to channel out the hot air exiting the laptop.

Just gotta be creative, think slow, measure twice cut once. The other advantage to making a platform is you can add some risers to the laptop stand to lift it off of the platform a bit for greater heat dissipation.

Just some food for thought... since I have no idea what your intention is, I'm just relaying what I did with car audio amplifiers... But both are power consuming hot running devices, I figured they'd be in the same ball park!!

saltynay · 12-27-2007, 06:34 AM

why are you running a laptop through the back of your car??? seems a little peculiar when there are so many car pc cases/components and screens available which include things like GPS and Handsfree surely this would be a simpler option in the UK it sets you back £500 so in the US I am guessing $600-700 for a touchscreen car pc powered off of the car battery and with GPS

12-25-2007, 01:59 AM	#1 (permalink)
Torner Newb Techie Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: London Posts: 3	laptop in trunk Well i've had my car PC (its a laptop) for about 4 months now and its been working great. I have it installed on the floor behind the drivers seat. I would like to move it to the trunk so as to the back seat available but my question is this: -What are the disadvantages? -Will there be heat issues? -I live in Florida and may potentially move to Austin, TX (Both are very very hot places). -Since its a laptop, wouldn't it pose a fire danger with the battery being in there in the harsh sun. What do you think? What is my best alternative???

12-25-2007, 08:19 AM	#2 (permalink)
Jayce Ultra Techie Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 794	Re: laptop in trunk What exactly are you doing with a laptop in your car?? Anyways, being a former car audio audiophobe, I used to deal with the same thing using high powered amplifiers and worried about fire hazards. I'm a bit of a wood working guy, so I'd use some tools we have in the garage to build a stand for the amp. I even ran a relay from the amp to power 4 computer case fans to cool down the amp's heat sink. You can get pretty creative with it. For example, on my laptop I have a fan on the bottom... so if I were to install a laptop on a platform, I would use a router to ground out a channel in the baseboard to channel out the hot air exiting the laptop. Just gotta be creative, think slow, measure twice cut once. The other advantage to making a platform is you can add some risers to the laptop stand to lift it off of the platform a bit for greater heat dissipation. Just some food for thought... since I have no idea what your intention is, I'm just relaying what I did with car audio amplifiers... But both are power consuming hot running devices, I figured they'd be in the same ball park!!

12-27-2007, 06:34 AM	#3 (permalink)
saltynay Master Techie Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 2,528	Re: laptop in trunk why are you running a laptop through the back of your car??? seems a little peculiar when there are so many car pc cases/components and screens available which include things like GPS and Handsfree surely this would be a simpler option in the UK it sets you back £500 so in the US I am guessing $600-700 for a touchscreen car pc powered off of the car battery and with GPS __________________ Raid info: http://www.acnc.com/04_00.html Monitor management: http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/overview/ Linux distro's: http://distrowatch.com/

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