PC's In Cars... Anyone?

[Wayne <Wayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hiya all,
Having been playing around with PDS'a and bluetooth gps gizmo's, kinda
got me thinking - how far could you realy go with this computing power
in a car thing...

I've been looking around the Mini-ITX.Com web site and found that there
indeed are cases that have been built for car mounting. Even with PSU's
that sense when the car has been turned on and starts the pc, monitors
for 'off' and shuts down. All nice and automatic.

Was thinking about wifi to auto sync to the house when I get home, mp3
transfer the odd film etc. Even to link to a 'hot spot' when out and about
Bluetooth to connect the phone (mobile internet) and gps device.

Then comes the 'how to use' side...
Ok, small screen - would have to be touch panel (where 'would' you hang
a keyboard (ok a small BT set when your parked)), audio routed through
the stereo (there's ipod 'fm senders' that may well work here). But what
sort of programs (if any) have been created for this (big buttons etc).
You kinda need a cross between XP Media Centre and XP Tablet Edition.

Also what about interfacing into your cars engine management system?
Want to turn on a bit of power or tweak the fuel economy or even have a
computer readout of how its ticking (if only to look flashy!)??

I'm just throwing a few ideas in the air to see which way they fall, the
main question realy - has anyone ever tried anything like this and would
care to share their experiences?

Thanks
Wayne.