Here's the deal:

I've got a Panasonic Toughbook (CF-74) that I use for ON, my OBD2 scantool, and reading my FSM.  It works great for these things, and these are the only things I will ever do with it.

It's a standard sized laptop, and I'm not too keen on running it in a mount.  It's too big, and it's hard enough to get the boss lady to ride in the truck as it is... having an obnoxious laptop mounted over/around her isn't going to help.  It seem to me that regardless of how nice a mount is, there really is only so much room in the truck up front.

I'm looking at this guy right here: www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp

My thought process is I can run my toughbook under a seat, closed with this beauty mounted somewhere on the dash.  I've got the dimensions of this screen and am going to mess around with different mounting solutions, but I'm leaning towards a windshield mount. 

I tested my current windshield mount (universal rig, very strong) with a friends 7" android tablet a while back and was very happy with it. 

My other options were purchasing a small tablet, but I really like my toughbook, and I don't like the idea of spending the $$ on another computer.  Also, if mounted under the seat my toughbook will be about as secure/safe as possible from bumps.  If my mounting solution did give out, I would be out a touch screen... not a laptop or tablet.

I have zero experience with carputers, but I know guys run touchscreens with those.  I'm looking for the cheapest way into a touchscreen that's less than 8" wide.

Are there any reasons this shouldn't/won't work the way I'm imagining it?

All advice/input is appreciated.  First hand experience a plus!

Youtube video of it:

Aside from some potential glare issues, it's looking pretty good.

Hmmm... great website, exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for.  Based on my reading, one issue I might have (which I was aware of but didn't consider an issue) is that the laptop will have to be powered on and OS booted in order for the monitor to function properly.  Makes since, being USB. 

Not a big deal, but this will mean taking it out from under the seat and powering it up if it gets turned off/dies for whatever reason.  I'll have to keep that in mind when figuring out how I want to stow the toughbook.

The downside of that website is I'm now looking at the double din screens... I could take out my radio and integrate the screen... hmmm... hybrid laptop/carputer.

This is getting dangerous.

Yeah, I'm seeing that this Proximus is basically the same Chinese thing that's being sold for $150 with a different logo on it.  My CF-74 was cheap, and at the end of the day I'm looking for economy here.  I've looked at netbooks, but hate the little keyboards and don't want to pay a ton extra for a touchscreen.  If I was to buy another machine, I would pick up an Itronix 325 from ebay for about $200 and pack a rollable keyboard.  In the end, it's all about the mounting.

I think I'm going to order one and see how it works.  Realistically, it's less than a good laptop mount, and looks like it will fulfill my needs well.  I'll probably paint the glossy exterior with something flat... I had a netbook back in the day that I spray painted flat tan when I was deployed, then stenciled my name on it.  It was pretty sweet looking.

Another plus will be that I can transfer this between the wagon and the troopie fairly easily.

Ordered from Tiger Direct and got me some free shipping.

After a recent rash of mail theft here in T-Town, I'm thankful that they were able to add signature confirmation to the shipping and still keep it free.

Looking forward to the install.

I've had this setup in Nevada Trophy last year. Worked very well for me. It's a bit old police car retired MobilVue monitor. Transflective 12" touch screen with 1600 Nits (new). Totally daylight readable. Got it on ebay for about $100. It needed some work.  Built like a tank. Weights like a tank too so requires sturdy mount.

For reference, I've been using an Arkon 7" Tablet mount for my phone, my eTrex GPS, and my junky old 7" Android Tablet.  I've had it for a little over a year, and plan on ordering a few more for various duties in the Troopie.  They have different clips that make this a pretty versatile mounting solution for gear.  I'll probably run a Yaesu handheld in one of these bad mama-jama's.

I plan on using it to hold the Proximus once it gets here.

It's the best bang for your buck suction mount that I've got any experience with.  I would love a Ram mount, but for $11 I'm blown away by how versatile this thing has been.

astore.amazon.com/wagwes-20/detail/B004M8ST36

-Mike

I see what you're saying about using your toughbook under the seat, somehow you would need to get it to power on and off with the vehicle, and function with the screen folded down. What is your plan?

There are vehicle mounted computers, this G-Wagon has one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQfFO51TJh4&feature=player_embedded

Current plan will be to power the toughbook up, then slide it under the seat/into it's home once the OS has loaded and I've got an operational touch screen. I need this set up to be transferable between the wagon and the troopie with as little impact as possible.

With regards to the screen operating while folded down, that's a fairly simple setting in windows under the power options. I'll have a custom power scheme that doesn't make the toughbook sleep or hibernate while getting power with the lid closed, and keeps the USB ports active. People use laptops in this manner on desks, so that's the easy part.

I'm getting pretty excited about this thing. Even with the free economy shipping I got from Tigerdirect, it's showing my screen scheduled to be here on Saturday!

EDIT: Just watched that video, looks like a carputer!  A member on here has (or had) a very cool carputer set up that I remember reading about on his website.  I think his name was Jack Shepherd... his was one of my favorite 80 series to read about when he put it together.

I was contemplating a trackball or small touchpad mouse, velcroed somewhere easy for me to manipulate.  Without a right click button, I would be floundering in windows, I think.

Once I'm in ON, I'll be good to go.

I used a laptop hard drive on an anti-vibration mount for 3 years w/ good luck (lots and lots of trail and washboard time).  These days the SSDs are so cheap there's no reason to not use one though.  The other benefit of an SSD, especially with an older laptop is that it will give you a HUGE performance gain in reading files.  Since that's pretty much what Overland Navigator does, I'd anticipate a massive performance gain by switching to SSD.  I'm planning to swap the 1.5" HDD in my Semi-ruggedized EO TufTab to an SSD form factor for that reason alone.

Craig

Alright everyone, my Proximus just arrived in the mail.  It was packed and shipped very well, though I am a bit perturbed that I called and specifically asked for signature required delivery and it showed up on my front porch while I was at the grocery store.  Oh well, it's here now.  For reference, I ordered from Tiger Direct and got the free shipping deal.

My initial impression when holding the box was that this thing is heavy... but it turns out the mount itself is heavy.  The screen itself is perfect, in my opinion... exactly what I was looking for with regards to size and clarity.  I can see glare being a potential issue, but that will remain to be seen.

It was a straight forward install with the drivers CD.  I set up the windows settings for display and what not, and set the Proximus as my main moniter.

Here are some pics:

The screen looks much larger in the photos than it is... probably the perspective.  A few things to note:

- It comes with a stylus built in to the back of it.  This was a pleasant surprise, for sure.

- It comes with a flat black plastic cover for the screen.  This was an even more pleasant surprise.

- There is a touch screen keyboard utility that comes with the drivers.  It's a little tab on the left of the screen on the desktop... pretty sharp, and makes this much more usable than I originally anticipated.

- Single tap is a click, double tap is a double click, and holding your stylus/finger down is a right click.  Between this and the keyboard, I have full control over windows.  Very nice!

- It has a threaded nutsert on the back of it for mounting to the stand it came with.  This would be extremely easy to fab a bracket for, it's completely flat on the back.

A few more pics of the accessories, the toughbook it will be running with, and what ON looks like running in a window.  I'm going to stick with that so I can minimize it and get back to windows without pulling the toughbook out from under a seat..