Finally picked up a touchscreen - Time to start the jukebox!

[hattrick10]

I just picked up a rear mount 19" elo lcd off ebay for $250 (great deal in my opinion).  Now its time to get going with my idea I've developed from months of trolling this board 

My plan is to build a sorta portable juke that will work well with outdoor parties.  More specifically, an annual Halloween party with the juke being located under a party tent.  Last year a buddy of mine built a touchscreen alcoholic drink dispenser (very slick) and Im looking to top him this year.  My cabinet will be rectangular in shape with the ability to mount (temporarily) to the tent frame.  My ideal plan is to use the 19" ELO in conjunction with (2) 17" lcd's that will be used to display yet to be determined material (winamp dsp plugins, artist info. etc).  Of course it will be dressed up with some cold cathode lights and maybe even some custom aluminum backlit plaques (cnc machined at work).  As of right now I'm torn between album player and ejukebox for my frontend.  They seem to be the most pleasing to my eyes and I know album player supports winamp dsp plugins.

Any ideas or suggestion would be greatly appreciated as I am a little overwhelmed with the thought of this project right now.  And Im a little limited on time if I want to make the halloween party 

One question I do have, all of you guys using rear mount ELo lcd's. what are you using for cover trim  (or casing) to give the monitor a good finished look?

[padstack]

not to hijack, but is your buddy willing to share the dispenser plans?

BTW, def. a good deal on the monitor! 

[hattrick10]

The friend is a computer science major from Michigan State and as far as I know, never had any real plans - just winged it as he went.  It ended up pretty slick though.  Wrote his own front end running in linux and utilizes a 5" touchscreen.  The damn thing even played sound clips that pertained to what drink you ordered.  As well as telling you have many beer's worth of alcohol you were drinking in each mixed drink.  The guy was walking around the party with his PDA and was updating the drink ratios depending on ppl's feedback.  He also was able to track how much alcohol was poured throughout the night.  Even if he did have the plans for it, Im pretty sure he is mulling over trying to make it commercial so I doubt he's be real open with his plans 

I do know one thing, it cost him an arm and a leg to stock that thing for that party!  It's amazing how much alcohol one will drink when they get to play around with a touchscreen in order to get it - especially the women 

[padstack]

True!

I found barmonkey.com that can help me muddle through one if I really try.  Not sure how hard I want to try that though!  LOL!  I don't drink much, but that would be killer at a party!  Considering that I'm married though, notsure how much use I'd get out of it...