Carputer or High End HU

[COUGAR]

I am in the middle of the upgrade project for Yossarian, my MPFI gypsy and touring companion for the past 2 years when my tours take me to jungles where my Bullet wont be allowed in! The Soft Top is making way for a Hard Top and whoel host of other stuff.

I am exploring ICE options for Yossi. Current setup:XPlod HU (mounted securely in the lockable GloveBox for safety), with 2 XPlod 3way speakers at the rear and 2 JBL speakers at the front (dont know the term, but these are designed to be front mounted?). I dont have a separate amplifier and the setup has worked fine so far.

The CarPuter idea came up because that would allow me to integrate a number of features into a unit that would be easily updatable as compared to a regular HU. The features i am looking for: GPS, Music: CD's and FM, video, Photo Storage (dump from my CF cards).

Setup planned:
1. CarPuter: Something like the one from iride with Centrafuse: approx 36k with 160DB HDD
2. 1x7" Touchscreen LCD dash mounted, and 1x10" roof mounted LCD on the rear.
3. GPS: my existing Garmin 76CSx unit with nRoute nav software loaded on the PC
4. 4ch Amp: With my old HU i didnt fit an amp, but now i think i am goin to need a 4-ch amp. Saw the Xplod XM-ZR6042 today: 5500 INR.
4. USB based AM/FM REceiver - $58
5. Tail mounted IR camera - $35 to $55
6. Speakers (Existing set)
Total cost: <50K.

On the suggestion of a friend, i checked out some of the higher end HU's today: the double DIN type which have a startling array of features that make them very competitive against a Carputer setup. I specifically saw the AVX 800 series ( i think it was the 814 not sure), which has most of the stuff except GPS and the multi-monitor option. it comes in under 23k!

Now COUGAR confused! Given all the jugaad involved in the carputer setup, would it make better sense to just go in for a high-end Double-DIN type HU with LCD's?

[ibm_jennifer]

The features i am looking for: GPS, Music: CD's and FM, video, Photo Storage (dump from my CF cards).

Then I recommend you the AVX unit and a dedicated GPS unit for 23k+ than a 50k- carputer.