Care to pimp your car, geek style? Azentek have just released a Vista (shudder) powered in-car PC called the CPC-1200 that they claim will be safe for use while driving.
At last, another in-car distraction to boast about. If you haven’t already hooked up your iPod/MP3 and GPS, or your LCD to your DVD, then you're seriously missing out on a whole lot of motoring fun.
Azentek, fully aware of this transformation from humble people-mover to gas-powered entertainment box-on-wheels, have delivered the Rolls Royce of in-dash entertainment. This motoring pleasure-craft can be all yours for a spare $4,000.
The CPC-1200 will connect to your iPod, play HD movies, features an integrated FM and digital satellite tuner and will even transmit data from your car engine computer to inform you that you still haven’t managed how to top up the oil. A handy front USB slot will allow an array of external devices, including keyboards to be connected too.
Under the hood
The CPC-1200 hides a good chunk of hardware under the main dash, although depriving techies of gizmo-overload may be sensible during driving. The standard 1GB RAM is upgradeable to 2GB, but rides under the heavy weight of Windows Vista Ultimate, a scary proposition for a 1GB box.
It’s also going to be available with an XP downgrade for traditionalists (and those with sanity), while there will be a Windows 7 version for futurists (Azentek are obviously keen to jump on the bandwagon, seeing as the OS is far away from release).
An Intel Core Duo T2300 1.66Ghz processor sounds a bit lightweight to us, although the 6.5in LCD-TFT touch screen is easy to use and is a key selling point. The 160GB hard disk can load external programs uploaded by the user (such as anti-virus and spyware - just what you always wanted to spend time doing in your car), but with 1GB of RAM you’ll need to very careful with that little thing called ’swap memory’.
No distractions during your drive
Azentek claim that their new in-car PC miracle will read out your emails and vice versa, transcoding your voice messages back into TXT or email attachments for all those “I’m running late in traffic” emails.
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| The new CPC-1200 in action |
So how safe is it?
As a way of keeping our inquisitive hands off the screen and on the wheel (where they firmly belong), the voice activated OS is an important step in the right direction - although we’re still nervous about any car PC to be reliant and crash-resistant, let alone one that operates while driving. We imagine a sudden ‘illegal error’ screen during driving could be slightly unsafe for those relying on their in-car computer navigation.
When and where?
For now, it’s at least a December wait until these bad boys hit stores and so far, we're told the only retailer on board is JB-HIFI.
