That's an HD TV right? And with a quick google it says it has:
Samsung LA26R71WDX WHITE LCD TV with Built-In HDTV
Tuner - High Definition resolution (1366 x 768), 1 x HDMI
Input, 2 x Component In, 1 x S-Video in, 1 x A/V (RCA) In, 1 x
15-pin D-sub PC In, 1 x Antenna In, 1 x Headphone Out, 1 x
HD15 / PC Audio Input, 8ms response time, 3000:1 contrast,
178 degree viewing angle, On / Sleep Timer.Dimensions:
770x640x190Weight: 14Kg
So in other words and based solely on this information, yes. But through a DVI-VGA adapter and the results of doing that could look anything from awful to acceptable.
Ok, so the dvi to vga adapter comes with the MBP... right?, but in buying this as a monitor i risk that the picture might be a bit dodgy? (how dodgy are we talking)
There are two separate issues...
1) The TV may refuse to provide native resolution. TVs are very non-standard in the way they communicate with computers, and what resolutions your Mac thinks the TV ought to have are wildly unpredictable.
This is rarer on VGA, but it does happen. In this case, the biggest problems are that you lose real estate and you get a distorted picture (e.g. 1024x768 instead of 1366x768... this can actually be useful, on the other hand, when you want to play 4:3 movies stretched).
There are programs like SwitchResX (works for me, but others have had difficulty) that are sometimes successful at addressing this when you don't get the native resolution out of the box (I didn't, but after using SwitchResX, I now have 1366x768 and I can also use 1024x768 for watching 4:3's).
2) That VGA is an analog signal. This is actually a very, very, very minor issue. VGA signals look just fine in this resolution.
Does this TV have a HDMI input, if so why not use a DVI-HDMI cable like this http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/88440 ?
Does this TV have a HDMI input, if so why not use a DVI-HDMI cable like this http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/88440 ?
google said:Samsung LA26R71WDX 26 WHITE LCD TV with Built-In HDTV Tuner- HD Resolution (1366 x 768), 1x HDMI Input, 8ms Response, 3000:1 Contrast
Read this article its about using a MacBook Pro with a HDTV http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/03/03/new-macs-connecting-to-hdtvs-they-just-work/