Turn Your Car into a Multi-Media Machine

Without doubt, your newest vehicle has airbags and perhaps even climate control and a satellite-capable radio like Sirius. But does your car, truck, SUV or family mini-van come equipped with the finest in home theater-quality multimedia hardware? Perhaps you are missing something. If you have no digital video record (DVR), satellite TV hookup, global positioning system (GPS), or Internet access in your car, you may think you're missing a lot. But are you?

Go to any big regional auto show - and even your own local car dealer showroom - today, and you can come away with the sense that you can forget those huge monthly house mortgage payments because automobiles are getting comfortable enough to live in. But it's not the ergonomically designed seating or the expanded foot room. Instead, it's all the bells and whistles auto manufacturers now add as fancy options that bring the home theater experience to your weekend drive to grandma's house or the long road trip to Disney World.

I just took an online tour for a new U.S. manufacturer's model due out next fall that boasts audio-video and communications equipment I don't even have in my home! This spiffy SUV features both front and backseat screens to view either satellite TV - and the reception disk is built into the hood - or DVDs you can play on a DVD unit built into the back of the front seat. This is in addition to a dashboard stereo system that claims to be the best audio experience on four wheels and includes satellite radio and an optional multi-CD changer.

A flip-out tray in the second seat allows a passenger to set up and hook up a laptop to either satellite or wireless Internet access. There was even an optional universal serial bus (USB) hub to allow people to quickly connect a Webcam or other external hardware to use along the trip. Another option is supposed to let you turn your laptop display into what you see on either the front or rear video screens on the car itself. Think of it: your entire carpool can see your latest PowerPoint presentation!