It is undeniable that the CarPC movement has put mass production radio manufactures at the ready. More often than not, new radio offerings come now with hard disk drives, iPOD access, 7” inch touch panel LCD’s, TV’s, Bluetooth, SAT Radio, GPS and rear view cameras. Things that we, CarPC enthusiasts have had long before they even though about it. And what about their front ends? They look more and more like our CarPC front ends! Take a look at these links and be the judge:
http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_el...ation/keywords
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-0b6tfIr...&display=L#Tab
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2052277,00.asp
It is obvious that our movement has been noticed by the big guys out there and they are on a race to finally bring consumers what they really want on a mobile entertainment system! I have read many threads about the cons of doing CarPC’s on a commercial focus. My advice is go for it. A year ago I got all these cons on my head but wanted to give it a shot and build a prototype to be show at local car dealerships (Were I live many cars including the Luxury ones do not have our road maps rendering their GPS systems inop, No Bluetooth enable, or SAT Radio). I even entered on a local Young entrepreneur Business Idea Competition and our prototype (I would like to call it proof-of-concept) won in the Consumer Electronics division! Our prototype has endured the rigors of everyday use and abuse on a car environment since Dec 2005. The system is still going strong and making people wonder “what Corolla Model is that one that comes with that Audio System?” My advice to you is: Be wise when picking up your components, read, read, read, and then read some more here, and in other Car-Audio forums. Research the car(s) you are about to work on it. Then take the plunge, build and show your product. There is plenty of room for growth on the uprising CarPC arena.
Linear Mode
