With some work I could get the exact same functionality without using the Empeg


Perhaps with a lot of work... but probably not even then. It is my understanding that there is more than 10 man-years of development time in the empeg's software. That's what makes the empeg the extraordinary device that it is.

Sony or Panasonic or <your-favorite-manufacturer-here> could whip out hardware to equal or surpass the empeg in very little time (compared to the year+ it took the empeg to go from concept to market) but without the software to run it, it would be of little utility.

When Sonic Blue bought empeg, they weren't interested in the car player; they paid several million dollars (just guessing here, no real inside knowledge) for the programming team that developed the empeg software.

How were you planning on controlling your in-car PC? A mouse and keyboard is not really practical in a moving car. Perhaps a touch screen, but that requires you to take your eyes off the road to operate it. Maybe could get voice recognition to work, but the guys @ empeg were never able to do it, and they do have some small amount of competence.

Take a long, hard look at what functionality you are trying to attain, and then figure out how you are going to do it before you start ordering parts.

tanstaafl.