hi everyone.
i'm thinking of installing an indash monitor and i've seen some offered on ebay and in classifieds. there r sooooo many of them out there, by brands i've never heard of, that i wanted to get some reviews or maybe a link to review sites. i couldn't find anything on the subject that gave me a GOOD idea about different brands.

i want the following features:

1) 7" motorized LCD with adjustable viewing angle by remote
2) comes with TV tuner
3) preferably higher res (1440x234 at least)
4) preferably with mirror image capability because i can't tell **** when i back up in this car and i want a rearview cam

i don't want:
1) DVD/mp3 player as i already have nice pioneer mp3 player. i'm planning on using ps2 to play dvds/games (no, not while driving).
2) gps since i have a removable gps (i prefer removable since i can bring it anywhere)

i'm looking to spend $180 (before shipping) or less because i see them realllyyy cheap on ebay.
yes, it's bling. no, i don't care, the weight is not gonna make my car slower and i just need it for times when i go on long trips and have friends with me (they can't stand listening to my death metal ) or just stuck somewhere. so please no bashing. thanks!

edit: maybe mods can sticky this as a general LCD reviews thread?

 

morning bump

 

why not replace all the gadgets you have with one all in one unit?

 

well, i don't wanna buy everything twice. my gps was like $400 and the reviews it got were great, even compared to built in systems, plus i can take it anywhere (walking, friend's/parent's cars). my mp3 player is pretty decent with nice tuning features and i doubt any of the lcd/dvd/mp3 combos made by no name brand will top it's quality, so i don't wanna swap it out. especially since i'll be bringing ps2 with me for dvd's anyway. the only system i would get if i wanted to go all out is the pioneer one for like $1200 that has everything, but i'm not about to spend that much on non-power items, and i'd still have to carry in ps2 for games.

 

i have seen the BLAUPUNKT in one guys car down in Florida, pretty hot, and I hve seen the JVC with the mini screen up here in NJ, but I think the all-in-one is the best bet, some sites have it for like $1200-$1400 PIONEER AVIC-N2

 

for $180, you are going to get something cheap (in quality and price)...i have bought one of the cheap ones off ebay for one of my old cars, and trust me...they are not worth it

do yourself a favor and save up for a nice one ($600+)...even the crappy brands on ebay (like Pyle - and a Pyle is literally what it is) are more than $180

its your time and your money...but IMO you will regret getting the cheap one

 

You will get a much better response on MP3Car.com

Pimp forum for any car multimedia.

 

thanks for the feedback, all.

i kinda figured that u get what u pay for, but i just can't justify spending more than $300 on bling. i just need something very basic and from the screenshots (not the ones in advertisements, but of actual DVD being played) it doesn't look too bad for my purposes. this won't be a show car anyway, so if it's so-so in screen quality and pimp value, oh well. i'll check out ur suggestions. if anyone else has one installed and can provide a pic of it in action, i would appreciate it
examples of units i'm referring to on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/D-1011-NEW-7-MOT...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HY-71...00408789QQrdZ1

http://cgi.ebay.com/IN704L-7-In-Dash...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/IN707L-7-In-Dash...QQcmdZViewItem

i think resolution has a lot to do with how crisp it looks, these have res of 1440x234 or better

 

Only problem with the AVIC-N2 is there is no way around by-passing the parking brake to view video . I'd say that's the only drawback to that unit!

 

i have the pioneer N-1 and i love it. navigation is awesome and i rigged it so i can watch movie's while i drive.

 

rite, the non-gps units don't have that problem since u can just disconnect the wire to the ebrake circuit. but with gps, it always knows if ur moving and my main idea here is to keep whiney passengers busy while driving lol. maybe N2 can be bypassed too?
so my question is, how would u guys rate screen quality compared to cheap units? is it glarey, blurry, etc for the latter? what resolution r the pioneer units that u have and if the res is the same as cheap ones (1440x234), what else affects the picture quality?