@RatBastid - I'm just using another monitor that spans across both MFDs. There's a lexan sheet with a vinyl sticker 'faceplate' on it that has some cutouts (kinda hard to see in the photo) designed to frame the ADI, VSI, etc. I'm not really happy with the sticker face, and will probably end up pulling it off and either re-designing the layout, or making a cardstock cover. Having something there that's actually opaque makes it 'seem' less like just another monitor. I'm very happy with the solution, even though there's definitely a performance hit on my aging maching (Core2Duo 3GHz/2GB RAM/Radeon 4850+TH2Go) running 4 monitors.
@AndyB - I think I've looked at that site, but I can't be sure - I'll definitely keep you in mind as a resource. I've kinda jumped in with both feet, with a MasterCard, USB Expansion (of course), 2 display cards, and a USBlcd card. I've been able to make an lcd say "hello world", but that's about it. I definitely have plans to make the side panels functional, but still in the planning phase. I did a quick tally of the controls that are printed on the panel faces, and stopped counting at 100 inputs - so I either need to budget for another MasterCard or two, or figure out where I'm going to short-cut on controls (like using a selector switch for radio tuners, instead of modeling each radio). I really can't even say I've *started* working on that, but I literally picked up a 5V power supply for the MasterCard TODAY.
@Bafman - As I understand it, they can be used with any application, to some degree. The limiting factor is the ability to get information to and from the OpenCockpits software and application. The OpenCockpits software is already set up to interact directly with FSUIPC, which interacts directly with MSFS - so that's a significant bonus. For other apps, you may be limited to simply sending keystrokes to control another sim. I've seen tidbits around about people using them in conjunction with the DCS series, or using lua scripting, but I don't know the specifics. I'll be looking for that info, too. I am certainly not your best source of information on that one - maybe AndyB will chime in on that one.
Incidentally, I also got one of Hagstrom's KE-USB108 boards - and while I originally thought that would be my primary interface (since it allows emulation of mouse clicks and joystick buttons), as I learn more, I think the OpenCockpits stuff is far more powerful. I wish I'd simply gone 100% OpenCockpits to begin with.
