Alternative Head Unit Locations

I was thinking about putting in a good quality touch screen dvd that has audio and video inputs in the head unit then hook up my mini laptop

Sony VAIO VGN-UX380N 4.5" Laptop (Intel Core Solo Processor U1500, 1 GB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, Vista Business)

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-VGN-UX380N-Laptop-Processor-Business/dp/B000MJ01LW

to one of the audio/video inputs.. It has gps already so no need for a head unit with navigationit can hold a majority of my music library as well.also has bluetooth mouse and keyboard so u can use it like a regular pc ..

If not I could settle for a head unit with a usb connector that reads music from a thumb drive/external hd which is probably better if you dont want to wait for you pc to boot

 

I found this today. It looks like a really nice setup for not much cash. The PC is on the slow side, but if all your doing is playing music and video files and maybe running a GPS program, you don't need much processing power. Looks like it could be a great deal, all this for $650.

Navisurfer:

 

Hit the link. It's USD. This particular company provides in car PC's to police and taxi companies. I don't think they are to cheap part wise. The screen looks like it could be a little questionalble but, at those prices, I think it might be worth it. As long as you don't use the top of the line, newest, latest, PC parts you can get a good computer for very little money. Here is a link on building a $200 pc that you could use in car if you had the right parts.(though parts needed for in car installs would bump the price closer to $350)

DIY $200 PC

 

You know, I really don't think that a DVD drive is really needed. It's just my opinion, but, with BluRay on the horizon and the ease of turning a DVD into a small enough file via Divx. Why even get a DVD player that will be out dated in 1-2 years? Just buy a 4gig memory stick and Dvix pro.