[starman]

So, my mom got this new Mercedes with some badass soundsystem in it. I don't know the name of it, but the screen pops up from the top of the dash, uses a knob on the console for navigation, does GPS, address book, Bluetooth, 5-CD, hard drive for ripping CDs in the car, and some other things.

I don't want a Mercedes, but I want that sound system. However, I'm sure the sound system itself is much more expensive than it needs to be.

So here's the thing...I have a Trailblazer which has one of those "double-height" stereos in it. I've been looking but I can't seem to find a touchscreen monitor that would fit in there. Small touchscreens do exist, but not the size I need.

Any ideas on how to solve this problem? The software isn't an issue, I can write it all myself, it's the hardware that's the problem.

[iMOTOR]

I’d give this company a call:

Planar: LCD Computer Monitors | Projectors | Business Displays by Planar

the only thing is, if they have a size that works, it will probably only be the panel; you will have to wire the cfl inverter circuit and figure out a LVDS interface yourself.

[Angelo78]

Check out these Alpine 2 DIN (the double height you want) head units. They're touch screen units with GPS, Bluetooth, direct iPod connection and a few other nice features. They don't have an address book or hard drive though. Still worth a look.

The first two on the top row are the ones I'm talking about.

Alpine touch screens

[shifuimam]

What about starting with a netbook and hackintoshing it? If you're wanting something that runs OS X, that is.

Otherwise, you could probably come up with a solution for Linux or Windows.

Regardless of what you end up doing, going that route could ultimately be cheaper (and more functional in the long run) - I just picked up a digitizer for my 7" eeePC 701 from DealExtreme for $40. It's got an entirely solderless design, so installation took all of thirty seconds. It also came with drivers for Windows, several distributions of Linux, and OS X (I can't confirm if those work - I couldn't get OS X to boot on my 701).

If you don't need one of the newer netbooks, the eeePC 900 shows up on Woot once in awhile (including today, although it's already sold out) for $150. You'll probably have a little better luck with an Atom-based one, though - the processor architecture is better than the 701/900 (which have a 900MHz Celeron), so OS X would probably run noticeably better.

Just a thought.

[starman]

I thought of that. Someone did a badass installation with a Mac Mini which I liked, and I thought a hackintosh would still sport an external screen.

It's not a bad idea, but I'm really just caught up on the screen installation more than anything.

I also found this:

Xenarc Technologies - 700TSV - 7" Touchscreen TFT LCD Monitor with VGA and AV inputs