Nvidia's System Utility packs useful information into a dashboad for your PC

Thermaltake says the A2413's screen has a brightness level of 280cd/m² and a 300:1 contrast ratio. Although the screen is certainly bright enough, its actual contrast ratio seems to be lacking—greys are quite washed out, and tweaking settings via the on-screen display doesn't seem to do much. This isn't a huge problem for basic applications, but it is noticeable.

Fortunately, the display has solid vertical and horizontal viewing angles. This is an important consideration for both automotive and PC applications, since in both cases, you're unlikely to be viewing the screen dead-on. Thermaltake also provides a measure of motorized tilt adjustment for the screen, controlled via bezel buttons or the included remote.

While I'd peg the A2413's overall display quality as lower than of the Eee PC 700 series, the Thermaltake screen does support touch-based input. A stylus is included for tasks that demand precision, and my fat fingers needed it with most standard desktop apps. However, when running a media-center-style interface, one finger should be all you need.

Around the back, the A2413 features a standard VGA input and a USB port necessary for touch-screen input. A pair of composite video inputs is also included, alongside some completely useless RCA audio inputs. The unit doesn't have a TV antenna input, either, although a variation on the design no doubt did at one point.

To the left of the antenna cut-out, we find a power plug. The six-pin plug looks not unlike a PCIe power conector, and it draws 12V power exclusively, which is perfect for automotive applications. If you want to run the display off a standard PC power supply, a four-pin Molex adapter is included in the box.

In addition to the power adapter and stylus, the A2413's box also houses USB and VGA cables, a front bezel border, and a couple of metal tools designed to free the unit from a 7" drive bay. An IR remote is included, as well, although its practical functionality is quite limited. The remote seems to have been designed for versions of the screen that include a TV tuner, and most of the buttons are intended for that purpose. However, you can use the remote to adjust the screen's setting through the OSD, control its tilt angle, and deploy it from the unit.

Conclusions
With a street price of around $340, the A2413 certainly isn't cheap. But then neither are other standalone 7" touch-screen displays. The A2413's retractable screen is unique, too, and it allows the device to fit in a standard 7" form factor that's much easier to integrate into an automotive instrument panel than a standalone screen. Were I putting together a car PC, I'd sling one of these into the instrument panel, toss an Atom-based Mini-ITX system into the glove box or under a seat, and call it a day.

For PC applications, the A2413's utility is a little more muddled. I like the idea of small secondary displays, either to provide a virtual dashboard for real-time hardware monitoring (particularly when playing games that monopolize a primary display) or control over a home theater PC, but the device's 7" form factor is only compatible with a handful of Thermaltake enclosures. That's a significant limitation, and one that makes me wish Thermaltake had a version of this product that slid into a standard 5.25" drive bay. That doesn't appear to be in the cards, though. Thermaltake has no plans for a 5.25" version of this product.

In the end, then, Thermaltake's retractable LCD touch-screen seems more appropriate for automotive applications than home PCs. The screen's picture quality isn't exceptional, but it's good enough for a basic car PC interface, where support for touch-based input should be particularly handy.