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l008com · Mar 24, 2002, 02:56 AM

After a post i read recently in another part of this site, I've decided that an iMac is the best choice for the job. Im even considering replacing my entire radio with it, besides that, I already plan for an MP3 player, CVGS, DVD, TV Tuner (USB), Possibly some sort of nightvision. The problem is the screen. Un fortunately, LCD's out side of the computer market are not going down in price. A 6.4" Clarion 12 V screen costs $450. I just bought a 15.1" LCD for my Mac (2nd screen) for about $300. 6.4 is really too small too, I'd like something in the range of 10". I found a few 10" 12V LCD's but they all cost in the area of $1000. Insane. What I need is either a reasonably priced LCD or a way to remove the screen off a powerbook and make it take an RCA or VGA signal.

qnxde · Mar 24, 2002, 06:43 AM

Yes I would like to know this as well. What would be perfect would be a 8-10" touchscreen LCD. 800x600 would be optimum, but 640x480 would be usable. It doesn't even have to be 12v, inverters are pretty cheap nowadays.

qnxde · Mar 24, 2002, 06:44 AM

VGA !!!

l008com · Mar 24, 2002, 01:45 PM

Ha ha touch screen... theres no such thing as a cheap touch screen, and they are very inaccurate. I'm making my own buttons, no need for touch.

COmie JOe · Mar 24, 2002, 10:57 PM

touch screens? why not mind control..... lots more efficient

l008com · Mar 24, 2002, 11:04 PM

You say that like touch screen is far fetched? I think just about all factory installed navigation/dvd units are touch screen. The new ones in Cadillac Sevilles are really sweet. Its just goona be super expensive to do it custom. Plus with the setup I'm doing, I don't need the extra expense, I'm goona do it all with external buttons.

Stoopid · Mar 26, 2002, 07:38 PM

Get an Audrey, the discontinued "internet appliance" from 3com.

I'm actually typing this message on mine now.
3 options (of more, I'm sure)

1.
Depending on how techno savvy you are, you could take its 8" 640x480 lcd touch screen and use that as a monitor for your mac.This would be awesome, but probably hard.

2.
Run your imac in the trunk and have the audrey connected to it via ethernet and run a vnc program on the audrey to control the mac. There is probably a bit of lag in the response time, but I don't know for sure.

3.
Run your imac/linux/wintel box in the trunk and run the QNX mp3 player that you can download to the audrey. The trunk computer would just be a file server.

4.
Screw up and ruin the audrey completely. Or be successful and realize it sucks.. It won't matter because they are only about $59 on ubid. A compatible ethernet adapter is $20 from returnbuy.

Either way, check out audreyhacking.com or google for audrey info. You will surely want one just to play with.

Nicholas Savage · Apr 1, 2002, 02:02 AM

6.4 inch color LCD displays, caseless 12V ~250$
Look for a vendor. I recall seeing that price on a system being sold in the custom car audio department at Sound World in Appleton, WI

Avermedia NTSC scan converters are under 100 dollars.

bam. your done.

BTW Powerbook Screens would NOT be easy to remove or modify for use on another system.

Apr 1, 2002, 11:36 AM

Hey.

Ya might try ebay, search for "LCD monitor". Ya get a lotta extraneous crap, but there's a lotta smaller lcd monitor part-type thingies. Prices vary, but...

splode

alphamatrix · Apr 2, 2002, 11:08 PM

heres a whole setup built around a Performa 6290CD

l008com · Apr 2, 2002, 11:20 PM

Ha thats the 'Geo Metro" of car-computers. You've seen that Pismo in teh Pathfinder right? That Pathintosh? That ones was sweet. I'm putting mine in my Blazer. Behold: The Blazintosh

awaspaas · Apr 7, 2002, 10:55 PM

Originally posted by Stoopid:
Get an Audrey

I won an auction for one on eBay a few minutes ago. I couldn't find any on uBid.

l008com · Apr 7, 2002, 11:15 PM

I got mine, the screen seems like its pretty good, the only problem is i need some sort of diagram how to make a connector so I can hook the screen up to a VGA port.

awaspaas · Apr 7, 2002, 11:55 PM

Originally posted by l008com:
I got mine, the screen seems like its pretty good, the only problem is i need some sort of diagram how to make a connector so I can hook the screen up to a VGA port.

Boy, I don't know about that - you know the actual ready to go VGA LCD touchscreens are so expensive, and I imagine most of the cost goes into converting the VGA signal. So getting VGA to connect to that will not be trivial - it will undoubtedly require much more hardware - maybe you could steal something from an LCD computer monitor.

I just got my audrey cuz it's cool

awaspaas · Apr 8, 2002, 12:11 AM

something like the 3rd one on this list...
http://earthlcd.com/controllers.htm

l008com · Apr 8, 2002, 01:08 AM

Originally posted by awaspaas:
Boy, I don't know about that - you know the actual ready to go VGA LCD touchscreens are so expensive, and I imagine most of the cost goes into converting the VGA signal. So getting VGA to connect to that will not be trivial - it will undoubtedly require much more hardware - maybe you could steal something from an LCD computer monitor.

I just got my audrey cuz it's cool

I don't think so. I mean I don't really KNOW about this, but i would think that getting it to accept a vga signal would be easy. Its just hard for me because they didn't make it that way. I'm sure some sort of small home made adapter would do... that hard part will be the physical connector from the screen itself, If I dont get something that is a perfect fit for that, soldering it in any way is going to be very difficult.

awaspaas · Apr 8, 2002, 01:41 AM

Originally posted by l008com:


I don't think so. I mean I don't really KNOW about this, but i would think that getting it to accept a vga signal would be easy. Its just hard for me because they didn't make it that way. I'm sure some sort of small home made adapter would do... that hard part will be the physical connector from the screen itself, If I dont get something that is a perfect fit for that, soldering it in any way is going to be very difficult.

but.... that's exactly what the things on that page are for. I went and read up on the Audrey's chipsets - the graphics controller outputs a digital signal directly to the LCD's. You need some kind of analog-to-digital converter to get a VGA signal to work with this, and that's what the things on those pages are. An LCD by itself is useless without a controller - even if you have an all-digital signal you want to put on it, it still needs to be controlled. I'm no electrical engineer, but I know that trying to splice the analog output from a VGA cable onto any part of a system like that will not work without a VGA controller.

Let me know if you find any info to the contrary, though.

Stoopid · Apr 9, 2002, 12:26 PM

Audrey is a pretty interesting piece of hardware, especially if you are into x10 stuff or VNC. I have a pretty extensive LAN in my house, so it's fun to put it in different rooms and have it as a mobile email terminal or changing picture frame. A must is the 12 bit display update. Instructions are on audreyhacking.com.

awaspaas · Apr 9, 2002, 05:14 PM

In your experience, how responsive is VNC over Audrey? I'm thinking of doing that to control a trunk mp3-playing computer in my car.

Stoopid · Apr 12, 2002, 09:31 AM

Originally posted by awaspaas:
In your experience, how responsive is VNC over Audrey?

I'll test it out on my roommate's blue g3 this weekend and let you know.

You may have to put it on some sort of imac-like arm. It doesn't have the most obtuse of viewing angles.