7" USB Touch Screen Monitor

[yohavos]

I just thought I'd share my latest hardware change, in hopes that it might help someone in a situation similar to mine out. This was my solution, not the only solution.

I have an older laptop that I run my navigation software on, but don't like how big a full sized laptop seems up front with me. I drive a RHD Troopie, and there's not too much room up front. The boss lady doesn't want a ram mount all around her legs, and in the end I don't want to pay for a ram mount. I'm a pretty cheap dude.

I started looking at tablets, but didn't want to spend anymore money on another computer. I got my trusty toughbook for next to nothing a few years ago (broken touchscreen) and it's been through hell and back with me.

I decided to pick up a 7" USB Touch Screen Monitor. I figured I would rather spend $90 to see if I could improve my current set up rather than fork out a minimum of $200 for a tablet I felt might meet my needs (but still be an older tablet of questionable quality).

I'm pretty darn happy with what I got.

More in depth write up is available here: Navigation

Basically, this combines the computing power of your full size laptop with the convenience of a little touch screen tablet. This set up certainly won't appeal to everyone, but if you've got an old laptop and want to use it for navigation but don't have the proper mount or don't like how gigantic it is, this might just be your ticket.


Some pics:

Side view of the mounted screen. More info on this mount is available in the above mentioned link:



What it looks like from the drivers seat of "Sydney" with the screen mounted. There are numerous places you can mount the screen, I just stuck it there for now:



-Mike

 

[Smksignals]

Hmmm, that would be pretty nice in-dash mounted.

 

[yohavos]

Hmmm, that would be pretty nice in-dash mounted.

Possible, though I'm not sure how the power button would affect the install. It's located on the back along with the manual brightness controls.

It might automatically power on when it gets a signal once you turn it on, but I'm not sure.

 

[Enigma]

Neat idea. But now your dash carpet has me singing Furry Walls.

 

[yohavos]

Neat idea. But now your dash carpet has me singing Furry Walls.

I love my dash carpet! I can velcro anything I want to it. :sombrero:

 

[tdesanto]

How legible is the screen in bright sunlight?

How long is the USB cable?

 

[yohavos]

How legible is the screen in bright sunlight?

How long is the USB cable?

The screen is an LCD that provides a pretty sharp picture with plenty of brightness. I'm in the Rainy State, and the Troopie has pretty dark tint, so it's pretty hard for me to give an assessment with bright sunlight. The true test will be this summer east of the cascades. Based off of my limited meanderings with it on so far, I don't have any concerns. It's a sharper/brighter image than my toughbook, IMO.

The cable it came with is 5' but I will be using a longer one for my final install. It's a standard USB port, so any cable or extension can be easily sourced.

I was having some fun with it installed on my home laptop, mounted on the desk stand it comes with. It's a neat little gadget.



I've found that this screen is extremely accurate with a stylus. My fingers work on icons and very well in overland navigator, but for little buttons (like on my mac, the minimize/maximize bubbles) the stylus can't be beat.

As you can see, it can be set up to run as a secondary display. I should add that this would make a great addition to a current set up as a second monitor for running DVD's, or cloning your navigation display to another passenger/the driver.