HDTV LCD TV's with PC Compatibility

[badboyeee]

Does anyone own one of these things? I was looking around Good Guys and saw one of these, I think it was a Samsung 20" for $899 retail?. Now I'm thinking of getting one for myself (my personal xmas present ). However they don't seem too popular. Are they not recommended or overpriced or ??

My (now tiny) 15" computer screen is starting to lose quality and I have a hand me down 20" regular TV back from the late 80's. I'm not sure if our house is equipped with HDTV, but the downstairs living room has a box that transmits satellite TV that has hundreds of channels. My uncle (who I live with) says he's not sure if its HDTV.

Im wanting to get a Flat LCD HDTV widescreen thats about 20" and has PC compatibility. It's going to be for my room and I'll probably use it with my PC 75% the time, and then watch TV/DVD movies 25% of the time.

Any recommendations of what I should get? What specs should I pay attention to? How about those cheap brands, or should I stay away from those and stick to well known ones...

 

[Apex]

Pay attention to the resolution, as often it's below normal computer ones (with relation to the size of the screen).

For that price though, you may as well get a Dell 2005FPW.

 

[jammur21]

Get the Dell 2005 or the Olevia 30, check the Hot Deals forum for deals on both.

 

[badboyeee]

Is that Dell a TV/PC Monitor? or just a PC monitor?

That Olevia is a 30" TV with PC Compatibility? 30" is too big tho, 19"-21" would be ideal.

 

[Apex]

The Dell is only a PC monitor. However, it has DVI, VGA, S-Video, and Composite inputs, so you can simply hook up your VCR to use it as a TV.

 

[badboyeee]

Originally posted by: Apex
The Dell is only a PC monitor. However, it has DVI, VGA, S-Video, and Composite inputs, so you can simply hook up your VCR to use it as a TV.

i want high quality HDTV tho, can i still get that with that monitor? and i dont wanna have to turn on the computer to watch tv...

 

[imported_Mike]

You can get HDTV with any pc monitor with ATI's HDTV tuner. I would get that and the new dell 20" widescreen....you'd have $200 left over for dvds. The problem with LCD TV's is that they are really good for Movies/TV/Etc but pretty much blow ass for anything PC related on the desktop.

 

[badboyeee]

Originally posted by: CheapArse
You can get HDTV with any pc monitor with ATI's HDTV tuner. I would get that and the new dell 20" widescreen....you'd have $200 left over for dvds. The problem with LCD TV's is that they are really good for Movies/TV/Etc but pretty much blow ass for anything PC related on the desktop.

why would it blow ass? resolution too low?

 

[SportSC4]

the olevia 30" is very nice (especially since it's going to drop to 780 for microcenters black friday, it played doom3 very nice at the store). but it's big for a desktop but perfect for a tv. On the other hand, a 20" LCD TV is too small for a TV but a good size for a monitor IMO. I looked at the Olevia 30" but it was too small to use in my living room (waiting for 40"+ lcds) and would have taken up a lot of desk width if I used it as only a computer monitor. I ended up ordering a 2005FPW.

most lcd tv display a resolution of 1280x768 (or is it 720?). The upper end HDTV is 1920x1080 and those sets are still very expensive and rare.

 

[jammur21]

27" LCD = 1280x720
30" LCD = 1280x768

 

[Pliablemoose]

Wait 3 months, the prices are supposed to plummet...

I want a 30" really bad, but am going to wait.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
Wait 3 months, the prices are supposed to plummet...

I want a 30" really bad, but am going to wait.

Ok it's almost been 3 months... I can't wait anymore ! I have a 26" Dell LCD TV in my cart with stacked coupons for $1217 shipped... I mean, there's $600 worth of discounts in there as it is...

Any particular reason why these LCD TVs will drop in price even more in the coming months ? I don't know if they'll offer these coupons again soon...

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
Wait 3 months, the prices are supposed to plummet...

I want a 30" really bad, but am going to wait.

Ok it's almost been 3 months... I can't wait anymore ! I have a 26" Dell LCD TV in my cart with stacked coupons for $1217 shipped... I mean, there's $600 worth of discounts in there as it is...

Any particular reason why these LCD TVs will drop in price even more in the coming months ? I don't know if they'll offer these coupons again soon...

Yes, it's not going to be anymore expensive in three months. They have been going down in price for years, why do you think the next 3 will be any different

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: CheapArse
You can get HDTV with any pc monitor with ATI's HDTV tuner.

Which one please ? I assume these tuners are add-on peripherals or PCI cards... not an actual video card for AGP, correct ?

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: CheapArse
You can get HDTV with any pc monitor with ATI's HDTV tuner.

Which one please ? I assume these tuners are add-on peripherals or PCI cards... not an actual video card for AGP, correct ?

HDTV Wonder, OTA HDTV only. Yes, it's a PCI card.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: CheapArse
You can get HDTV with any pc monitor with ATI's HDTV tuner.

Which one please ? I assume these tuners are add-on peripherals or PCI cards... not an actual video card for AGP, correct ?

HDTV Wonder, OTA HDTV only. Yes, it's a PCI card.

That kinda throws a wrench into that idea...

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: CheapArse
You can get HDTV with any pc monitor with ATI's HDTV tuner.

Which one please ? I assume these tuners are add-on peripherals or PCI cards... not an actual video card for AGP, correct ?

HDTV Wonder, OTA HDTV only. Yes, it's a PCI card.

That kinda throws a wrench into that idea...

You'll have to wait a while for tuner cards that accept CableCard before you see cable or satellite HDTV on your computer. MS is saying that the new version of MediaCenter will support these cards and it should come out Q4 2005, so hopefully we'll see the hardware around that time. I hope it's not much more expensive than current tuners.

 

[Qwest]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
Wait 3 months, the prices are supposed to plummet...

I want a 30" really bad, but am going to wait.

Ok it's almost been 3 months... I can't wait anymore ! I have a 26" Dell LCD TV in my cart with stacked coupons for $1217 shipped... I mean, there's $600 worth of discounts in there as it is...

Any particular reason why these LCD TVs will drop in price even more in the coming months ? I don't know if they'll offer these coupons again soon...

are you getting the w2600 by any chance? i saw the deal today on bensbargains.
i was looking at that tv as well but read about the 25ms and changed my mind.
25 ms for a tv by today's standards is WAY too high.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Qwest

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
Wait 3 months, the prices are supposed to plummet...

I want a 30" really bad, but am going to wait.

Ok it's almost been 3 months... I can't wait anymore ! I have a 26" Dell LCD TV in my cart with stacked coupons for $1217 shipped... I mean, there's $600 worth of discounts in there as it is...

Any particular reason why these LCD TVs will drop in price even more in the coming months ? I don't know if they'll offer these coupons again soon...

are you getting the w2600 by any chance? i saw the deal today on bensbargains.
i was looking at that tv as well but read about the 25ms and changed my mind.
25 ms for a tv by today's standards is WAY too high.

Damn, that does suck. Personally, I'm saving my pennies for one of these when they're available.

 

[rh71]

damn that's a hefty difference from the 12ms of the 2405fpw 24". I'm not willing to pay the same price for just an LCD though.

This ms response time would really only become a concern with high-motion gaming right ? Would that cause ghosting for regular tv (even high-action) ?

EDIT>> Reviews on the W2600 are really hammering on the PC-side experience because of that response time.

 

[Qwest]

yeah, the price is great, but i'm looking at the
Sharp Aquos LC26GA5U OR Sony KLV-26HG2
both are 26".

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Qwest
yeah, the price is great, but i'm looking at the
Sharp Aquos LC26GA5U OR Sony KLV-26HG2
both are 26".

Looking into the Sony... it does not offer PIP and I can't seem to find any word on how it performs as a PC monitor... only that it is 16ms. It does function as a monitor, no ?

 

[Qwest]

dont know about it functioning as a monitor, i JUST started shopping.
PIP is only going to happen if you don't use a cable box. for HD, i have to use a cable box, so PIP is useless to me.

 

[rh71]

good point about PIP.

Anyone know anything about the Viewsonic LCD TVs ? Again, no mention of it connecting to the PC as a monitor. Anyway, the 27" and 30" are both 16ms, and max res of 1280x720 as well. Seems pretty comparable in price...