LCD TV vs. Monitor

[Apok]

Hey,

 

So I came home after a week vacation and went to turn on my JVC CRT and nothing. It's really strange because there was absolutely no sign it was going bad. Anyway, its time to upgrade to a new flat screen I think and I've been out looking at a couple. I don't need, nor do I have the room or funds for a large TV so I'm looking for something between 22 and 32 inches. However, the question is now as to whether I get a TV or an LCD computer monitor.

 

I'm leaning more to a TV since I'll need a co-axel input to hook up my 2600/Genesis etc and an HDMI for my Xbox 360. I'd also like to hook up my Macbook to whatever I buy. Cable is the least of my concerns, I do have a digital cable box but it is not used all that much. I have a 19 inch CRT in my bedroom which could be used primarily for retro-gaming as well.

 

What are you guys using?

[brojamfootball]

Hey,

 

So I came home after a week vacation and went to turn on my JVC CRT and nothing. It's really strange because there was absolutely no sign it was going bad. Anyway, its time to upgrade to a new flat screen I think and I've been out looking at a couple. I don't need, nor do I have the room or funds for a large TV so I'm looking for something between 22 and 32 inches. However, the question is now as to whether I get a TV or an LCD computer monitor.

 

I'm leaning more to a TV since I'll need a co-axel input to hook up my 2600/Genesis etc and an HDMI for my Xbox 360. I'd also like to hook up my Macbook to whatever I buy. Cable is the least of my concerns, I do have a digital cable box but it is not used all that much. I have a 19 inch CRT in my bedroom which could be used primarily for retro-gaming as well.

 

What are you guys using?

Seems that the LCD screens/plasma TVs etc have a pretty short life span from what I see in various places around the net. I'm sticking with good old CRT monitors and TV sets for now as they last forever, especially since these days you can get used ones for a song/free. Maybe in a few years they'll figure out how to make a seven hundred dollar flatscreen that lasts more than two or three years.

[CGQuarterly]

Just buy an LCD TV that has a VGA input, and then you get both.

 

Chris

[Video]

I've seen plenty of TV's with VGA ports and/or HDMI ports. That's the best way to go IMO. I'm surprised at the number of monitors that are still being released with only VGA on them though.

[JamesD]

Hey,

 

So I came home after a week vacation and went to turn on my JVC CRT and nothing. It's really strange because there was absolutely no sign it was going bad. Anyway, its time to upgrade to a new flat screen I think and I've been out looking at a couple. I don't need, nor do I have the room or funds for a large TV so I'm looking for something between 22 and 32 inches. However, the question is now as to whether I get a TV or an LCD computer monitor.

 

I'm leaning more to a TV since I'll need a co-axel input to hook up my 2600/Genesis etc and an HDMI for my Xbox 360. I'd also like to hook up my Macbook to whatever I buy. Cable is the least of my concerns, I do have a digital cable box but it is not used all that much. I have a 19 inch CRT in my bedroom which could be used primarily for retro-gaming as well.

 

What are you guys using?

Seems that the LCD screens/plasma TVs etc have a pretty short life span from what I see in various places around the net. I'm sticking with good old CRT monitors and TV sets for now as they last forever, especially since these days you can get used ones for a song/free. Maybe in a few years they'll figure out how to make a seven hundred dollar flatscreen that lasts more than two or three years.

Old CRTs turn green and mess up the colors as they get old and high power circuits to drive them die.

I had a Scott 27 inch for 10 years and the picture was still good but the power section died.

I gave my parents a 25" RCA and it died in under 2 years.

 

The cheap LCD's have a short lifespan..

Better ones are supposed to outlast CRT TVs. At some point you would need a bulb or two replaced for the backlight.

Plasma... short lifespan.

 

The new OLED TVs should outlast all the others.

[Video]

Actually, I hear OLED's (or more spacifically, the red ones) have very short life spans compared to others. No personal experiance myself.

 

The above poster is right though, but it's not just LCD's, all monitors/TV's die relatively quickly if they are cheap. I 've gone through lots of modern monitors and TV's as they were just cheap and tuners or controllers would burn out in just a year or two.

 

Buying expensive won't necessairly help, especially in electronics, as they may be useing the same parts either way.

[brojamfootball]

Hey,

 

So I came home after a week vacation and went to turn on my JVC CRT and nothing. It's really strange because there was absolutely no sign it was going bad. Anyway, its time to upgrade to a new flat screen I think and I've been out looking at a couple. I don't need, nor do I have the room or funds for a large TV so I'm looking for something between 22 and 32 inches. However, the question is now as to whether I get a TV or an LCD computer monitor.

 

I'm leaning more to a TV since I'll need a co-axel input to hook up my 2600/Genesis etc and an HDMI for my Xbox 360. I'd also like to hook up my Macbook to whatever I buy. Cable is the least of my concerns, I do have a digital cable box but it is not used all that much. I have a 19 inch CRT in my bedroom which could be used primarily for retro-gaming as well.

 

What are you guys using?

Seems that the LCD screens/plasma TVs etc have a pretty short life span from what I see in various places around the net. I'm sticking with good old CRT monitors and TV sets for now as they last forever, especially since these days you can get used ones for a song/free. Maybe in a few years they'll figure out how to make a seven hundred dollar flatscreen that lasts more than two or three years.

Old CRTs turn green and mess up the colors as they get old and high power circuits to drive them die.

I had a Scott 27 inch for 10 years and the picture was still good but the power section died.

I gave my parents a 25" RCA and it died in under 2 years.

 

The cheap LCD's have a short lifespan..

Better ones are supposed to outlast CRT TVs. At some point you would need a bulb or two replaced for the backlight.

Plasma... short lifespan.

 

The new OLED TVs should outlast all the others.

I've never had a CRT TV last less than a decade. Your ten year old Scott sounds like it did pretty well. I think there's hardly an electronics product made today that would last that long, especially fancy flat screen monitors/TVs. Tell me I'm wrong in 10 years.

[JamesD]

I don't think all brands die quickly, just the cheaper ones.

I found out the newer RCAs were bad about dieing after buying that one.

When I looked for an LCD TV a friend that worked for BestBuy told me to stay away from Westinghouse or buy the extended warranty. The ones that don't die right away last just long enough to outlive the warranty. At least that's what he claimed.

I think if you stick with major manufacturers (and I don't mean older brand names that have been sold to the Chinese) you should have a reliable set.

[AtticGamer]

LED based TVs. Seriously, they're amazing. Contrast and speed are brilliant, plus they're thin.

[Keatah]

Actual LED's for the pixels or just an LCD with LED's as backlight..?

[Video]

I think they mean LED TV's, but honestly, LCD with LED backlights are amazing, they allow LCD to do those dark darks with super bright lights they had been haveing problems with.....but I don't know, sounds like more stuff to burn out to me :\

 

LED TV's are right up there with Plasma, black black (as it produces no light) and uber bright whites, and I think the first 240hz TV was an LED

[rockman_x_2002]

I have a Sylvania 6626LCT 26" HDTV (720p) that I got a couple of years ago when the prices started to come down on them some, plus I got it on sale. So far it's given me great service and works fine with all my stuff. No VGA port, but it has everything else (2x composite w/ s-video option, 2x composite, 1x HDMI, 1x Coax, 1x digital audio in, 1x stereo output).

 

As a general rule of thumb, almost any HDTV you buy these days will have HDMI ports on it, and likely will display 1080p. If your laptop also has an HDMI port on it (which if it's made within the last couple of years or so there's a good chance it does), then that's all you should need.

[Hackmann]

If your laptop also has an HDMI port on it (which if it's made within the last couple of years or so there's a good chance it does), then that's all you should need.

MacBooks don't have HDMI ports. But they all have mini-DVI, DVI, or Mini DisplayPort ports, depending on the model and when it was manufactured, and you can get physical HDMI adapters for all three from Monoprice.com pretty cheaply.

Edited May 19, 2009 by Hackmann

[Tom-Lynx]

If you don't need to move the system around, I'd stick with a CRT TV. I have many LCD's because I pack up my crap for conventions and move it around, but I've had many problems with LCD's. As a matter of fact, I will never buy another Westinghouse LCD product of any type again....out of 4, 3 failed in less than 3 years, and that is even with sitting in storage most of the time and little use.

[keilbaca]

I'd go with a LCD TV with a VGA input. That's what I am running now, a 15" on my computer desk and its perfect from playing Counter-Strike Source to playing Megaman 2 on the NES.

 

I'm surprised it took them this long to add LED's to TV's and such. I'm *really* surprised that they're not adding LED's to laptop monitors yet. You know how much battery life would be saved by using LED's instead?

 

Ben Heckendorn does mods to his PSX LCD screens that he uses for his Atari 2600 mods, and the rating the screen takes in amps literally drop by over half by replacing the cathode tubes with LED's.

 

If I ever get a monitor with a dead set of cold cathodes, I'm going to try that, line the outside of the screen where the cold cathodes would go with LED's.

Edited May 21, 2009 by keilbaca