[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] samsonite801:
Opinions, anyone?

Hello all. I just wanted to get some opinion on a mod I've been considering to do to my ZT-180, but I just wanted to get some opinions to help me decide if it would even be viable/ practical/ doable.

I am pretty handy when it comes to modding hardware and stuff like that, but I'm not so fluent with Android and making drivers work and stuff, so I don't even know if this is possible at this point, but here it goes, let me explain my idea...

Click here: http://cgi.ebay.com/10-1-Capacitive...351?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f028bca37

...This is a capacitive touch screen kit in the 10.1" size which would possibly fit into the ZT-180 tablet. I've done this similar mod to several Lilliput 7" Monitors which I've installed into cars for onboard PC / car-tainment / GPS homebrew systems I've built. The procedure is to disassemble a stock Lilliput 7" LCD display, and remove the resistive touch panel from it, and install a 3M capacitive touch panel kit, and then I would put just the guts of that entire unit into a special double-din mount bracket so that it could fit into a double-din car mount for the specific vehicle you wish to install it into. Well here I found these capacitive panels in the 10.1" size so of course I suddenly got this revelation that it could be possible to retrofit one into the ZT-180 tablet.

The 2 things that concern me most are, first: the capacitive panels are slightly thicker than the resistive ones, since the capacitive panels are real glass and they are around 1/16" thick, so there might be some clearance issue, because the original resistive-type touch panels are not that thick.

The second issue is: driver support. I am not sure if the driver they release for this new panel is only offered for Windows, or if they also make a Linux one too. I do know that sometimes you can still use a Windows driver in Linux and use a 'wrapper' program to translate it. I had a work laptop once that ran Linux and my co-worker couldn't find a Linux driver for the Broadcom wireless adapter way back then, so he used a 'wrapper' to 'wrap around' the Windows driver to translate (probably works similar to how WINE works), and lo-and-behold, he got it to work, but I'm not fluent enough in Linux or Android to pull this off, I don't think.

Any thoughts on this? I think there is a good chance it might fit though. I could buy the panel, and if it doesn't fit, then I could just resell it on eBay, or install it into my 10.1" Asus Eee netbook perhaps, so it wouldn't be wasted. But if it DID fit, and if I could get the driver up and working, this could be a major breakthrough in my opinion, because this ZT-180's achilles heel is the resistive touch screen because I get really sick of having to double-tap, and triple tap stuff, and the keyboard is all over the place, you can hardly ever get the right key, especially if it is near the edge of the panel. Then it is most likely that you'll hit any of 4 possible keys instead of the character you want.

Is there anybody here who thinks they might know about how to make a driver work, and also, is there anybody here who's disassembled their ZT-180 and can explain to me if it looks like there might be some clearance for a slightly thicker panel?

Even if I could just answer these 2 questions, then this will help me to decide if I should waste my time with this, or just pinch out the flame right now before it gets big.

THANKS

EDIT: I thought I should also add in that this Capacitive Touch Panel Kit connects to the system via simple 4-wire USB (VCC, D-, D+, GND), so hookup should be a cinch and could likely hook right up to where the existing resistive panel's USB interface is connected to the USB chipset controller, but at worst case if needed, you could tap in a compact USB hub in-line between the USB chipset controller, and the external USB plug on the device. This would be the easy part. The hard part still, is will it all fit? I've seen the pics from the ZT-180 'Improve Your WLAN' thread: (http://www.slatedroid.com/zt-180/4310-how-improve-your-wlan.html) and it looks like there is a nice cavity to put things like the USB interface, and a compact USB hub board (if needed).

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