Thread: What I want in a Doube-DIN motorized LCD.

How to do a CarPC if you have a double-din? Too often the doube-din is too small for a full PC, and space-wasting with just a flat-LCD on the front of it. I've seen DIN-PCs and DIN-LCDs, but I need more space and like having a bigger computer in the trunk. The problem is wiring everything from the trunk to the cab. I therefore thing a good double-din LCD / secondary case would be an awesome product. Here's my thoughts on such a case:

The monitor would come out of the center and have 4 positions:

1) Closed: The monitor is retracted in to the center displaying the buttons like the DWW-700M does.
2) Open: The monitor comes out of the slot held by two arms (one on each side of the center LCD slot), then spins to face the user at one of 3 angles, then retracts a bit (once the monitor is spun flat, the arms can retract to bring it closer to the face of the unit).
3) Load-Disc: The monitor re-extends (so it can spin), then spins so the light of the LCD illuminates the top half of the double-din unit. A slot-load DVD player at the top of the unit would then eject the DVD/CD.
4) Security: The LCD would spin so that you are looking at the back of it. It would then retract to fully cover the face of the double-din unit. The back of the LCD could say "Security" on it in yellow and have a red flashing LCD.

The bottom half of the unit would have deeply resessed USB slots (so that most normal size flash-keys could be left inserted when the monitor is in security mode). The slot-load DVD on the top would be the slim laptop-sized with a USB-to-SlimCD adapter.

In addition to the slot-load DVD on the top, the space inbetween the LCD and DVD could have a 2 or 4-line character LCD and some buttons for using the CarPC with the touch-screen LCD closed.

This unit should come with VGA, USB, and non-regulated 12V/GND/Ingition input (with all that room, why not include a 12V/5V regulator to power the screen, USB hub, and the DVD-ROM). The Ignition would have to triger a count-down to auto-Security mode the screen and then fully unpower the screen & hub (no dark-current drain). Actually on second though, you should use the PC's USB 5V power as the switch, not Ignition.

A single USB connection to the PC should connect to a powered hub that provides recessed USB ports on the bottom, the Touch-Screen controller, the USB DVD-ROM, and the character-LCD/button interface.

It would be really cool if the button's were just the normal up/down/left/right/enter from a normal USB keyboard. I'm not sure the best way to do a character LCD interface... maybe a USB-to-Parallel Port chip? To really pimp it out, you could add a tempature sensor and maybe some Internal USB slots for things like blue-tooth or WiFi USB dongles. Maybe even an internal HDD with the IDE-to-USB converter too (laptop and/or normal since you already have regulated 12V for the screen).