New $16 Raspberry Pi case offers built-in touchscreen for the tiny Linux computer

If you feel the need to house a Raspberry Pi in a case, there's now an option to put it in one topped by a 3.5-inch touchscreen display. 

The unnamed screen-case for the Raspberry Pi 2 and 3 is available on Banggood for $15.99, which includes the case, the touchscreen, and a stylus. The resistive 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen fits inside the top part of the case. 

The touchscreen is fairly basic with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels, and is suggested for use as an alternative to an attached monitor. The case also has two holes on the back so that it can be hung from a wall, as well as vents to support an attached cooling fan.      

But it's not possible to use the touchscreen and a cooling fan at the same time, so you'll need to choose one or the other. The case has openings for all the Raspberry Pi ports, including power, SD Card, ethernet, USB and so on.  

Reviews of the screen-case combination are positive given its relatively low cost. 

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As noted on the Scargill gadget blog, the combination is nifty as the case acts as the screen's bezel, which aren't always easy to find. Also, the screen is useful as a graphical interface but not so much as a command-line interface.   

One reviewer on Banggood notes that the screen is a bit heavy and slow to refresh, making it unsuitable for gaming or watching a video. 

CNX-Software notes that some screens are shipping with the touch control in the wrong orientation, however there is a fix available.

A range of touchscreens are available for the Pi, including the official Raspberry Pi touchscreen, which recently gained support in the mainline Linux kernel. 

While the touchscreen was released several years ago, support was previously provided either by customized kernels for the Pi's official Raspbian OS or by custom kernel patching. 

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