LCD monitor or 1080p TV for PC?

[TheDrake]

I am really debating on whether to get a really nice 24" or higher monitor for my PC or just getting a 1080p TV for a little bit more. Seems like the really nice 24" monitors run $600+ and then for around $800 now you can get a 42" 1080p LCD TV. Or another option is to say screw those ideas and just use my 47" Westy 1080p from the home theater as the monitor and stick it in my room, then upgrade my Home Theater TV to a nicer plasma/LCD 50" or higher. Obviously the latter would be the most expensive but I have been wanting to upgrade my HT TV for a little while now so I am willing to spend more on it.

Basically I will be using the monitor for the occasional gaming, watching tv through the PC, movies, music, browsing the net, checking email, etc...

Any ideas or suggestions on a nice 24" monitor or what you would do in this situation. Keep in mind my budget for a 24" monitor will be roughly $600+/-, or a 42" monitor for around $800+/- , and for a upgraded HT TV would be about $1700.

 

[BoboKatt]

Well I had the same idea when I was building my latest rig. I had recently purchased a 42" LCD Aquos 1080p TV. My computer had a nice new video card with DVI and I went and purchased a DVI to HDMI cable. All worked fine, but honestly after months of doing it... I simply could not get used to doing anything at that resolution on the TV.

Surfing at 1080P (1920x12xx or whatever) is simply impossible. Playing games was ok but I just cannot get used to sitting 10 feet away on my couch with a wireless mouse and keyboard that are not as responsive as the wired ones I was using before. Also that resolution really strains your video card so you need an insanely beefy card to play games at that.

At the end of the day, what the setup excelled at was simply watching movies... period.
Email and surfing I would need to constantly change resolution to 720p. This resolution actually worked wonders and if it weren?t for the crappy wireless mouse and keyboard, then I would be still using the system.

These are dinky things, but I eventually left that computer as my HD/BR DVD watching system using PowerDVD Ultra etc.. at 720p... and just got my other comp with an basic 22" Acer LCD monitor. I wish I could recommend a nice 24" but I know nothing of those. All i know is that between family and friends, we have at least 6 Acer monitors (19 and 22" in size) and all have been great. They are certainly not the BEST out there... but for $350 (Canadian) heck you can go wrong.

The 42" Aquos was around $1500.

 

[TheDrake]

Well I have actually been using the 47" at 1920x1080 and works great, I dont use wireless, just a USB extension and in my HT I only sit about 5 feet away if that, easy to read text, surf, email, games, etc... I am just transferring my computer to my room now since I sold my laptop so will need a display up there now. And well my video card is a Geforce 8800GTS so it will keep up without much trouble.

 

[Nebor]

I have a Westy 47" 1080p in my living room, powered solely by a computer (E6600, 2gb ram, 8800gts, RAID 5, w/ HDTV cable tuner and Blu-ray Player.) I play call of duty on it and it's fantastic (w/ surround sound.) But for Vanguard, and for Universe at War, I find myself using my similarly specced computer in my office on a 17" 1280x1024 monitor. The main problem is that it's really hard to read text from 8 feet away on the couch. I use logitech MX5000 sets for both PCs, by the way.

 

[MyLeftNut]

A 32" or 37" LCD TV would do nice as a monitor for PC use. 37" is as far as I would go unless you want to sit away from your table. Personally, I got a 46" that I connect to my PC but I wouldn't use it as a main monitor for the same reasons as all the other previous posts. I've seen a 32" used as a monitor in person and it was a nice size.

 

[TheDrake]

Yeah, its just the current prices on the 32-37" 1080p are actually Higher than a 42" 1080p so, at least with current pricing, its really too expensive to look into the 27-40" range. Maybe after the superbowl the prices will drop down to more reasonable, but we will see.

 

[MyLeftNut]

I think the Sharp 32" is about $700. Although, comparing it to the price of a 42" westinghouse, the westinghouse is much better for the price which shouldn't be much more than the 32". However, the sharp's picture and black levels are much better than the westinghouse.