[Lightstar]

Hi, I need some advice if you guys don't mind. First let me tell you my story...

My TV has been going gout on me, only 1 speaker works and the picture is off center... So I decided after Christmas and my Birthday, I would by an LCD TV, I was planning for a 26inch for my room.

About a week before my birthday (which is today ), my iBook's hard drive starts to fail. I've been backing it up and am pretty much just waiting for it to go out. I could just get a new hard drive in my iBook, but after the money spent on that and new RAM, I really may as well just get a new computer (since my iBook is 2 and a half years old anyways).

But here's the problem... I really don't have enough to go buy a TV and a new computer.

I know there are different options for hooking your mac up to your cable and watching TV on it instead. So I'm not thinking about doing that. Does anybody have any experience doing that? How's the picture quality?

And here's the big question - should I get the 20 inch iMac or the 24 inch iMac? 24 inch would be better if also used as a TV, but is it really worth the extra $500?

I did consider getting a new TV and a Mac Mini, but I decided that an iMac would be a better fit for me.

Any advice or suggestions would be great! Even if you are going to suggest something I didn't say here, I'm open to the idea. I want to see what all is out there.

I probably won't be able to buy my computer until the end of the month, so I have a couple weeks to figure this out.

Thanks.

[Buckshot]

I'd go for the 24" iMac if it were up 2 me, the sheer size of the thing is immense.

As for hooking up cable Eye TV is popular:

Elgato Systems

Just input what country you are in and what type of cable you have (analog or digital) and it will display the appropriate products. I think the Apple store sells them.

Hope this helps.
Daniel

[centerchannel68]

Originally Posted by Lightstar 

But here's the problem... I really don't have enough to go buy a TV and a new computer.

I know there are different options for hooking your mac up to your cable and watching TV on it instead. So I'm not thinking about doing that. Does anybody have any experience doing that? How's the picture quality?

And here's the big question - should I get the 20 inch iMac or the 24 inch iMac? 24 inch would be better if also used as a TV, but is it really worth the extra $500?

Thanks.

I hook up my powerbook to my regular TV all the time via S-video cable. The quality is fine, but it is a TV screen, so text is fuzzy. That said, any downloaded movies that look like crap on the powerbook screen look pretty good on the TV screen, so that's a plus.

If I were you, I'd get a 24" iMac. The screen is HUGE. It's about as big as watching a widescreen DVD on a 27-29" CRT television. Also, the 24" iMac will have a lot better resale value than the 20". I plan to get a pretty maxxed out 24" iMac, then upgrade in a few years to something else and sell that one.

[- - e r i k - -]

I use my iMac 24" as a TV/media system. For my apartment it's more than enough. Much much better value than any LCD TV. It's HDTV-compatible with the ElGato tuners too, and it's just amazing!

[Eriamjh]

24". You'll never look at a 20" the same again.

[iMacYouMac]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

24". You'll never look at a 20" the same again.

We're talking about computers, right? You're making my 17" feel unsatisfying.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

24". You'll never look at a 20" the same again.

Agreed. I have my 20" iMac next to my 24" right now, and it just looks like there's something wrong with it. It's small and dim - like the brightness has been turned down to low.