[graystrickland]

I have a strange idea. I want an LCD VGA screen capable of at least 640 x 480 resolution which will retract into a 5.25" computer drive bay much like some of the car stereos with retractable video screens have. Not only have I not found a retractable VGA LCD screen, the smallest non-retractable I've found is 6.4" diagonal (viewable), 8" wide (total, including nonviewable portion) and 5.2" tall (total, inlcuding non-viewable). Unless there's something a lot, lot smaller than what I found, there's no way that I'm going to find a retractable which will work -- at least not one which is capable of VGA resoltion. There are some smaller screens which display NTSC/PAL tv signals, but that's not what I'm after.


As an alternative to a retractible, it seems at least conceivable that I could find a sufficiently tall desktop (horiztol orientation) where I could cut out a window in the front face and permanently place the 6.4" screen in it.


Why on Earth would I want to do this? I want to build a media pc to play my substantial music collection through my home stereo system that won't require me to use my tv for video output just to administrate it. Yes, I could use a:

-- Linksys Wireless Media Adapter

-- [email protected]

-- PrismIQ MediaPlayer,

-- SounBlaster Wireless Music Squeeze Box or

-- Turtle Beach AudioTron


But I want want to be able to use this device/pc to play my Rhapsody Subscription Music Account . Only the PrismIQ has even announced this capability and so far it's only vaporware.

Can anyone think of a way to have a small retractible VGA screen?


How about a better way to have a small VGA screen besides building it into the case front?

 

[ghjaxman]

Why don't you just get a RCA Lyra wireless unit from your computer to home stereo and display the albums on your computer. That's what I do for my music collection. The RCA unit only cost $100.00 here is the link.

http://www.rca.com/content/viewdetai...700380,00.html

 

[graystrickland]

I followed your link, but didn't find the device that you were referring to. I guess that the Lyra you mentioned is like the PrismIQ, [email protected], etc., mentioned in my post. The first answer, is that none of them -- yet anyway -- will play Rhapsody. They'll play my collection of MP3s, but not Rhapsody. The second answer is that my tv is in my living room and my home computer is in a different room. I don't want to go to my (existing) pc to play music in my living room. I'll tolerate a media pc in my living room *if* it looks like a piece of stereo equipment. It must blend in.

 

[Superman07]

 http://www.xenarc.com/product/500y.html


Is this what you're kinda looking for?


I believe this fits your physical dimensions. However, it does not appear to meet your resolution requirements.


Perhaps it's a starting point.


HTH,


David

 

[graystrickland]

Superman7, thanks for the post. The 500y only does NTSC/PAL tv signals. The 700y will do VGA computer signals. Both are external. I was thinking of building the display into the pc case somehow, preferably in a way that the screen retracted (not found so far) or that the screen was hidden behind a drop down door, such as on the Silverstone SST-LCO3 case . It would be a stretch... er... a shrink.... to hide a display behind the panel which normally hides two 5.25" drive bays. It would still take a smaller screen than I have found. But if I could pull it off, when not displaying anything, the whole thing would look like a piece of aluminum (or black) stereo equipment to the naked eye.


Thanks again for the ideas. Keep 'em coming!

 

[teamills]

I, too, am completely hooked on Rhapsody. I'll just give you another one that can support Rhapsody as well as mp3. Take a look at the DMS1 from Rockford Fosgate. It supports Rhapsody now (I do not have one --I have the car unit -- so I can not tell you how well it works).

www.omnifimedia.com

 

[gpvillamil]

Is this what you're after?

http://www.logitec.co.jp/products/monitor/lcmt042a.html


It's a VGA resolution screen that retracts into a 5.25 drive bay.


Only in Japanese, sorry.

 

[tbacos]

That's pretty impressive, gpvillamil. It looks to me to be *exactly* what he's describing...


-tony

 

[Chris Loker]

How about something like a wireless Viewsonic Airpanel. You could then hide the box anywhere and have a small display sitting around, under the coffee table etc. Also the added advantage then would be you could use it for a casual web browser or anything.

http://www.viewsonic.com/products/ai...panelv110p.htm

 

[mizu]

the modding SFF community may hav some mods of interest to you. http://gallery.sfftech.com/index.cfm...E66D43B573BAC2

 

[metroid]

I was just about to mention something about an SFF PC. Great little rigs, if you need small and cheap just get a comp with a built in video card and drop in a cheap CPU.

 

[alexnyc]

If you can wait the 3 months to get an Atech case made, you could have a really nice case with the Xenarc screen:

http://www.busch.nu/busch_svc-107td.htm


While this guy custom machined his case, I believe Atech will be offering their own solution soon. Of course, the biggest problem with Atech is the wait...

 

[graystrickland]

Quote:

Originally posted by gpvillamil Is this what you're after? http://www.logitec.co.jp/products/monitor/lcmt042a.html It's a VGA resolution screen that retracts into a 5.25 drive bay. Only in Japanese, sorry.

YES, YES, YES, oh baby YES. That's it. That's the ticket. I used AltaVista.Com's translator to read the page. The translator works well enough for me to know that this unit will work for me, but not well enough that I have a clue what one costs or where to buy it. It seems to be 49,000 yen on this site. GP, can you read this site and tell me (1) what the price is, (2) whether this vendor would ship to the US?