Compare touchscreens

Hi Fizz, I have an 8" TFT touchscreen, hooked upt o my laptop in conjunction with garmin GPS running oziexplore. Have had it for about 8 months now hasn't missed a beat. Mine is set up in GU patrol, laptop sits under seat astride a fan unit I got from Dick Smith to keep the laptop cool the fan has a usb cable that attaches to the laptop and draws the power from laptop to run the fan. The laptop has a 19 volt adaptor which is wired into 12 volt system via second battery. Have to turn on the laptop but once it is on all operations are done via the touch screen
The only downside to the touch screen is the bracket isn't stable enough. I went to Strathfield where they made an indash bracket especially for the screen.
Bitdistribution were very prompt with delivery and all communications.
I hope this helps.
Nugget

Hi Fizz,

I spent considerable time and effort doing what you are now attempting, I did eventually buy an 8'' VGA screen from BitsDistribution and while I have had to solve annoying problems without help from the supplier because they won`t acknowledge emails it does the job driven from a laptop. My original research showed that Xenarc are the RollsRoyce of "in vehicle" monitors but are double the price of similar screens. there are many issues to consider eg value/cost, mounting, RFI etc.

If you want some specific comments then contact me direct,

sunelec@netcon.net.au

Leigh

Hi Fizz,

We've been running an 8" touch screen bought from Hong Kong through ebay for the past year. Bit of a risk buying overseas through ebay, but it's worked out all right. Having tried to use a mouse in a moving vehicle, we definitely wanted a touch screen. Not only is it easier (slightly less impossible!) to operate, it eliminates another small item which has to be found a place for. If you do follow the mouse route, a wireless one would be the way to go.

To make good use of OziExplorer you really need 1024x768 resolution; the best we could find (and I think it's still the case now) was 800x600, with the capability to handle 1024x768. Mounting proved an issue - stickon velcro worked well initially, but the glue gave out when hot and that trip we finished up with a few metres of 2" sticky tape forming a sling. That's now been replaced by a permanent sling hanging from the dash board - provides a good shock mounting and we've have had no further trouble.

Can't vouch for the monitors you've refered to, or for a cheap one ($119) at the following site:
www.oatleyelectronics.com/weekly.html

The one we bought is still selling on ebay - do a search for "car pc monitor" .

HTH

John

I currently run a laptop from an inverter and have an 8 inch screen in the dash. It is mounted on a lump of wood which was tailored to fit the empty Din space and then have velcro on the back to hold the screen in place. This has worked for many a k.

I initially had a lilliput screen but ended up with a 8 inch from bitdistribution which I felt had better resolution for my eyes.

Am very happy with the setup. Laptop sits on back floor in wooden cradle to ensure ventilation and to protect it from other items which may fall onto it.