I am halfway into a project like this...
I am running 98Lite on a Libretto 110CT I had doing nothing... The output is obviously amped and then to speakers...
I then have a 802.11 card in the libretto and set it to show up as network drive on my main machine... This way I can export and convert APE's to MP3's via MJ as easy as pie... All i need to do is start the car or leave the ignition on while I am parked in the carport... So thats easy getting data onto the libretto...
For easy of use I am in the process of applying a charging line into the libratto and setting the power control functions to hibernate whenever on battery power for >30 Secs... So turning off the car ignition puts the machine into standby in 30 Secs, by cutting the amp power at turn off it works smooth...
My two next parts of the project are to add a 800x480 VGA touchscreen from Xenarc..
http://www.xenarc.com/product/700ts.htmlI hesitated as I wanted to see how easy the system was to use but I think I will go this way... Plus by having the touchscreen and setting the libretto to come out of hibernate on mouse action simply pressing the touchscreen will boot it... I get about a <10 second lag with 98Lite and hibernate... These look great when embedded into a dash...
I also have a 20 GB laptop HD (currently in my HTPC as my WD80GB died and they are taking ages over warrantee replacement) so that will be dropped into the Libretto once its free...
Currently its still in the spend no money / proof of concept stage.... I like it and it works so adding the screen is a no brainer and will then be a really pro install... I will do some pics once that is in but it may be moneths before I spend the $400 on the screen...
For Car side SW I use Media Engine (
http://mediaengine.org/ ) as its is easy and touchscreen oriented... v2 is due out any day now and should be really good...
Of course you could just buy one of these (and add a USB 802.11 card)...
http://www.xenarc.com/trcinfo.html For forums I strongly reccomend research at MP3Car.com as well as bargain in thier classifieds...