CarDongle CarPC and Sage Android Client

[jarredduq]

Installed this in my car a few days ago and it supports Sage Android client. Screenshots and mini-review here: https://www.facebook.com/CarDongle-U...=page_internal

[gdippel]

Watching SageTV while driving. What could possibly go wrong?

[wayner]

As a fun project a few years ago I built a car PC with an old laptop running SageTV server and an external USB hard drive. My car at the time, an SUV, had screens for the back seat with the a video composite input so I got a VGA to composite adapter. But nowadays kids just use iPads or phones.

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by wayner

As a fun project a few years ago I built a car PC with an old laptop running SageTV server and an external USB hard drive. My car at the time, an SUV, had screens for the back seat with the a video composite input so I got a VGA to composite adapter. But nowadays kids just use iPads or phones.

Similar situation here... when my kids were little (~5ish years ago?) and too small to run their own tablets, we had a minivan with a TV in the roof that had composite in. I bought an HDMI-to-composite adapter and used an HDMI-out dongle on my tablet at the time, with the old (Sage v7 era) web interface website that had some limited streaming capabilities. I was actually able to play stuff on the van TV when testing in my garage... but then we got out on the road and my wife (in charge of entertainment while I'm driving) was like "I'm not going through all that bother, they're just watching a DVD" so it literally never got used!

We recently moved from minivan to an SUV and realized that we could spend $450+ on the factory TV or just buy each kid a cheap 10" Android tablet and a headrest bracket and they could watch their own stuff (plus play games).

But I agree with the poster above (and which I suspect is why this is a device selling on Facebook)... watching TV and movies while driving, what a great idea.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

Similar situation here... when my kids were little (~5ish years ago?) and too small to run their own tablets, we had a minivan with a TV in the roof that had composite in. I bought an HDMI-to-composite adapter and used an HDMI-out dongle on my tablet at the time, with the old (Sage v7 era) web interface website that had some limited streaming capabilities. I was actually able to play stuff on the van TV when testing in my garage... but then we got out on the road and my wife (in charge of entertainment while I'm driving) was like "I'm not going through all that bother, they're just watching a DVD" so it literally never got used!

But think of the geek cred that we gained and the personal satisfaction of making this work!

[jarredduq]

Originally Posted by gdippel

Watching SageTV while driving. What could possibly go wrong?

Not using it while driving. I have a Chevy Bolt, which is an electric car, and it is nice to have some entertainment options when you at a stop charging the car, which I'm usually there around 30 minutes.

There is also a setting that will disable video playback once the car is moving.

A friend of mine has a Tesla, and from the factory, it allows you to watch Netflix when you are stopped. This becomes a similar option for other cars.

The cool thing about this, is it will run any app that would run on a normal Android tablet.

[gdippel]

Glad to hear. IMO today's vehicles have too many bells and whistles that are a distraction. Accidents from distracted driving are increasing as technology advances. But then again, the auto industry doesn't have a good reputation regarding driver safety. They fought tooth and nail against seat belts and air bags. Sorry about the rant. Just saying.

[wayner]

I would bet that the distractions from in-car technology, while significant, are way less than from people using their phones while driving.