In car pc question

[syntronyx]

I'm planning an in-dash/under seat sff pc based on one of those new low-power platforms [atom/nano] I'm wondering if it's safe to run S3 [Suspend to Ram] from remote accessory power. Doing so would allow it to standby when the car isn't running and resume quickly when I need it. I'm concerned that standby current would drain the battery too much while car isn't used for a week or so. My other option would be to force hibernation/STD instead of S3.
Anyone have any specifics on standby current for Intel Atom/Via Nano platforms?

Thanks.

[powerarmour]

IIRC all up power consumption for both the VIA Nano and Intel Atom platforms is <30W, the Nano looks to be a more powerful CPU and runs at a higher wattage than the Atom (<25W vs <3W), but at the moment the Atom uses a more power hungry 945 chipset which consumes more than the Nano chipset so it makes up the difference.

Either of those platforms is pretty fine for car PC's, but if you wanted to buy something right now I'd look at the current VIA EPIA mini-ITX boards that are out, they all sip power and I'd imagine you'd be fine running S3 standby off a car battery for at least a few days.

I've run a VIA C7 1.5Ghz motherboard (iDOT PC3500G) at work off a UPS battery before for nearly a couple of days, which isn't as powerful as a car battery even.

[wonkanoby]

cannot see you will get a week out of any thing

seeing as how a simple coolbox can flatten the battery on my bongo

in a matter of hours

[powerarmour]

[wonkanoby]

not sure there

it might be as you say the transformer

[powerarmour]

Could be, if you run straight DC from the battery it's always a lot more efficient than running off a transformer/inverter for AC/DC, just the inverter alone could be drawing 6A.