blaxer

I am a bit torn on going the car PC route or a traddional navigation type head unit. I just got a new car and have had 2 car PC's in the past and although it was a ton of fun it was not without it's problems and constant tinkering. The biggest problem has always been the screen. I live in Las Vegas so lots of sun and sometimes very high temperatures that LCD's really don't like. My new vehicle has a double-din head unit and so is the perfect place to put a ~7" touchscreen but I am still hesitant.

In the past I had a "standard" 7" lilliput and a 7" xenarc, can't remember the model #'s but both were in the ~$300 range. No offense to anyone who has had good experiences with these screens but they just "felt" so cheap, the images were dull, dim and fuzzy compared to let's say an expensive pioneer, alpine, etc navigation head unit. I have read up on the sun readable screens but I fear coming from lilliput or someother manufacturer like them there are still going to be quailty issues. A friend of mine has a AVIC-Z110bt and it's not a sun-readable screen but it looks great in the sun and is always sharp and crisp, not to mention the touchscreen is always dead nuts and doesn't require calibration as the temperature changes.

So I am willing to spend alot of money to get a great screen, and it has to be double-din or I need a kit to transplant it into a double-din enclosure. But I really need something that is high quailty. I love the idea of using the Alpine screens they look so much better than any lilliput I have seen but that doesn't seem to be a reality quite yet, so is there something out there that is double-din/touch and really super high quailty that I can buy right now?

Thank you in advance for your assistance!!

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hithere

blaxer, in my experience (Zenarc 701tsv), the monitor itself isn't of low quality, it is (as you say) the sunlight readibility that is the major downfall. If you are able to mate the display to a device that will provide a native resolution it can lock on to, then it behaves as it should with regard to sharpness and clarity, it just can't handle glare. Outside of sunlight, I'd compare a native resolution front end on my 701 favorably from a sharpness and color reproduction standpoint to any of the Pioneer displays on the market currently...just not in sunlight. At night, I'd say my older monitor was better than what I've seen from Pioneer, etc. in a double-din dash unit.

It is therefore desirable, imho, for you to pursue any of the current lilliput transflectiv displays, but just make sure you research the particular model in question, purchasing a "known good" display adapter and monitor combo that is capable of displaying native resolution (if such exists, and I believe it does). I don't have a suggestion as to model numbers in that regard, but rest assured that this is what you're probably looking for.

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