Ryan, thanks adding your viewpoint, however, the price point of $500, is completely unrealistic. The case and software alone already surpasses the $500 price point. We do include common software packages that are available on the market for anyone to purchase independently and install on a laptop if they so chose. These are not groundbreaking innovations. What we have done is combine these fragmented applications and combine them into a slick, easy to install, easy to use, familiar operating system platform. You could absolutely visit mp3car and roll your own system for a slight discount, however we don't believe everyone has that set of skills. Our customers are buy it, install it truck owners, not the DIY crowd.
Our system is completely ruggedized and built for the high vibration environment. You failed to mention the LCD stand. The stands we include with our systems are built like truck frames. The case alone has vibration insulation and a high quality formed aluminum case. Trust me, this thing does take a beating, my business partner is a full time auto repossessor and his machine is in a 18 hour a day tow truck. That is about as tough as you can get.
The Opus power supplies are the best on the market, I have done my research and have personally owned an Opus for 3+ years now. Actually, I was on the waiting list for one the first batches that came from overseas. In my professional opinion as a 23+ year career as a technical advisor, these components are the absolute best. We could bring the total cost of the system down by using lower cost components and reusing outdated hardware to build our systems. With that philosophy behind the business, we would not be a successful OEM mobile computer manufacturer.
As a DIY, roll-your-own, type of person, I can certainly understand why you would not see the value of our complete turn-key system. I personally cannot understand why a truck owner would pay someone to change their own oil, however the are a vast majority of people in this world who do exactly that. They may not have the skills, time, experience, or facilities to accomplish a task that we as TDR members take for granted.
As a fellow geek, I can appreciate the tenacity of your innovation as described in this thread:
https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86431&page=1&pp=15
However anyone can go to,
www.atacom.com and build their own home PC, but the vast majority of people purchase pre-built systems from companies like Dell. Our goal is to become the Dell of the mobile computer market and we fully realize that DIYers will never purchase our product.
Wade Stine
www.StineEngineering.com
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
