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LCD TV for use as a Monitor

S

Saluki Alex

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 26, 2006
283
0
Illinois
Next year, I'm going to be living in an apartment with several of my fraternity brothers and have been planning on buying a new TV because my massive 27 in CRT TV. would take up far too much room in my bedroom.

The one I've been looking at is a 26 in. LCD. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4529481

In an effort to save some space, I had planned on using the TV as an external monitor for my MacBook Pro that way I could put the TV on my desk. I know that I'm going to have to by an DVI to HDMI cable to get this up and running, but my question is, how good will the picture quality be when I use this as a monitor?

Thanks
 
Well, I'm sure the image quality would be fine, but that panel is very low resolution—only 1366 x 768. That's smaller than the resolution of your MacBook Pro's built-in display. Probably best to keep your monitor and TV needs separate.
 
check the dell lcds. They are recommended everywhere in the web.
Specifically check the UltraSharp 2407WFP. It's smaller than the one you linked by 2" but it has all the connections you might want (except hdmi :( ) but it does have svideo, component, dvi, vga. it even has a media reader and some usb ports.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-4335

the only thing missing is a tv tunner but if you have a cable box then there's no problem about it. oh, it's also missing a hdvi..
 
Mr.Texor said:
the only thing missing is a tv tunner but if you have a cable box then there's no problem about it. oh, it's also missing a hdvi..
Click to expand...

If you do that, make sure that it meets whatever needs your cable box has in terms of input -- that you can either pipe component video into it or that it will get along with your cable box's expectation for HDCP. EDIT: Also make sure you take into account some solution for sound, since it doesn't have speakers by default.
 
Basically, what will the display be used for most?

If it's primarily a monitor, get a Dell 24", if it's as a TV, consider the 26" you are looking at.

This is the hard decision area since both TVs and monitors are available. When you get to > 40" and high res monitors become horribly expensive TVs as monitors make sense again (IMHO).

B
 
Maybe a better question would be, are there monitors out there that have great resolution and a TV tuner? The apartments that I'm going to be living in our University apartments and just like the dorms, you just hook up to a coaxial connection, so there isn't a cable box.
 
Saluki Alex said:
Maybe a better question would be, are there monitors out there that have great resolution and a TV tuner? The apartments that I'm going to be living in our University apartments and just like the dorms, you just hook up to a coaxial connection, so there isn't a cable box.
Click to expand...

Usually the only TVs that have acceptable resolutions are also very large. Think about it—computer monitors are designed to be viewed from a couple feet away and display lots of info, so they're often much higher resolutions. A television is designed to be viewed from 8 feet away, or more, so a high resolution doesn't make much sense until the panel is relatively large. Which is to say—a 1080p panel (1920 x 1080) usually starts at around the 37" to 42" mark, and goes up from there (not to mention the price). While that's great for a TV you're gonna be looking at across the room, I'm not sure I'd want a 42" LCD panel sitting on my desk for web browsing. :eek:
 
Saluki Alex said:
Maybe a better question would be, are there monitors out there that have great resolution and a TV tuner? The apartments that I'm going to be living in our University apartments and just like the dorms, you just hook up to a coaxial connection, so there isn't a cable box.
Click to expand...

FWIW If you're just looking at SDTV any old cable-ready VCR will work as a tuner.

B
 
Saluki Alex said:
South
Click to expand...

Then probably no, sorry. You'll either get a monitor that won't be great as a television or a television that won't be great as a monitor.

In addition to balamw's suggestion, one more option might be to get a DVR in addition to a less expensive LCD monitor that can handle something like S-Video or component input. The DVR will not only be a tuner but a big improvement over normal cable-watching.
 
Saluki Alex said:
Ok, would it be possible to get a TV tuner for my MBP and just get a 22 or 23 inch monitor? That might solve my problem, and probably save me some money if I look into the Dell monitors.

Using something like this http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=DC083195&nplm=TK661LL/A
Click to expand...

better yet.. tell us how you are going to watch TV with it?
xbox or any other video console? it has component
dvd? component cable or dvi
cable thru a cable box (and maybe even directv).. component or dvi

the only problem is over the air tv or cable without the cable box, then you'll need a tunner.
 
mkrishnan said:
If you do that, make sure that it meets whatever needs your cable box has in terms of input -- that you can either pipe component video into it or that it will get along with your cable box's expectation for HDCP. EDIT: Also make sure you take into account some solution for sound, since it doesn't have speakers by default.
Click to expand...

According to the cnet review HDCP is enabled on that monitor
 
Mr.Texor said:
better yet.. tell us how you are going to watch TV with it?
xbox or any other video console? it has component
dvd? component cable or dvi
cable thru a cable box (and maybe even directv).. component or dvi

the only problem is over the air tv or cable without the cable box, then you'll need a tunner.
Click to expand...

As I stated earlier, we'll be using cable w/out a cable box. I might bring my PS2 though.
 
Saluki Alex said:
As I stated earlier, we'll be using cable w/out a cable box. I might bring my PS2 though.
Click to expand...

oh, I see.. I didnt see that.. you can easy solve the problem with a: vcr like this:
http://www.samsung.com/Products/DVDPlayer/Combo/DVD_V6700XAA.asp?page=Specifications
it has a dvd and vhs.. and of course, the tunner.. you connect your antenna or cable to it, then connect the vcr to the the monitor thru the composite video.. tadaaaaaa

there's also this monitor, according to the specifications, it has a tv tunner.. but it's around $1000
 
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