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June 19th, 2007 - My Infil T3 Car Computer that I bought earlier this year has died. It's still under warrenty, but mp3car.com can't get a replacement anytime soon, so they have agreed to replace it with a new Dual-Core machine with a separate touch screen. Installation won't be as easy, but it should be a better machine.
August, 2007 - The new computers are in at mp3car.com and they are putting one together for me to replace the Infil T3.
September, 2007 - I've received the computer, but the display is still on backorder. I powered the computer up and it seems to work. One thing I like already is that it can run on 12v or 120v, so I'll be able to bring it inside for updates.
October, 2007 - Still waiting. No idea when the display will ship.
November, 2007 - Still waiting. Again, no ETA on the display. Powered up the computer again to make sure it still works. Got to use the Microsoft automated product authorization phone line to reenable Vista. It worked great!
December 10, 2007 - MP3Car.com says they are shipping the monitor! UPS verifies that it is in route.
December 17, 2007 - The new display arrived today from MP3Car.com! Team FJ has a big job ahead fabricating the dash to work with the new display, but we have some ideas.
December 14th, 2007 - The new touch screen, a Liliput Transflective, has arrived! Time to set everything up and prepare for the install.
January 01, 2008 - Happy New Year! I decided to put everything together today so that I could install in the FJ. Everything worked, but I just realized that the HD AM/FM Radio isn't in the box! I emailed mp3car.com and found out that the device still hasn't been certified and that they hope to get it done "after CES".
February 13, 2008 - As you can see from the photo, the FJ Car Computer project is still grounded, though I have installed a new webcam and Microsoft Office Communicator and that all works great. The problem is I still don't have a radio. I could just rely on recorded music or internet streaming, but I think I'd really miss being able to flip on the radio to get the local news. It's been eight months since the Infill from mp3car.com died (under warrenty) and I still can't predict when I'll be able to install. I would not recommend a home grown car computer unless you really, really are patient and ready to debug a lot of problems. It might be easier to just go buy a new Ford truck with the Sync option.