[iomatic]

I would love, love a 23" Cinema in the study instead of the old 19"-Trinitron-with-rabbit-ears sitting in our study built-in. The larger monitor would be perfect, and mounted on a cool-looking VESA arm (where are they?)

From about six-eight feet away, is that enough viewing area-- the proportions are different, and hopefully sharper than the old tube? Will I then have to get a Mac mini (and then find somewhere to hide it) and a TV tuner just to watch some TV? Honestly, pretty much all we watch is "Lost" (sorely disappointed lately, but that's another story) or downloads from iTunes (but we have to run downstairs to the 27" Toshiba in the cold basement because the video input doesn't work on the junker). Why an ACD you ask? I have a PowerBook (and hopefully a MBP later) now on the desk, and it would be great to use it as an external. Oh, yes, we'd drag the XBox 360 up too (luckily the kids don't use it much--yay!)

Are there other options you'd look at? We are not big on cable, we just want the occasional TV; it would be nice to hookup an iTV and the like, but you know. Whatever.

Thoughts? Very much appreciate it, thanks. OH yeah, an audio amp. Sigh.

[iREZ]

if you got a dell monitor, you'd be able to hook the monitor itself up directly to you tv line without any computer hooked up to it, not to mention have the xbox connected directly to it a the same time. cinemas are really great looking, but lack in features when compared to the dells imho.

and the new dells look pretty sharp and look well with alu pb's and mbp's.

[iomatic]

hmm. would i have to get a tuner; also does the dell have built-in speaks (for now, i swear; i don't feel like moving the amp and six speakers up from downstairs.)... or??? i'm a total hdtv newb (but not a total newb).

thanks.

[badsey]

you can buy an LCD TV and use it as a computer display also. LCD TVs tend to be brighter and they need to be brighter when watching TV from farther away.

Remember you want high resolution:

The Mac 20" LCD or iMac is 1680x1050 this is the minimum resolution density you want for a computer LCD.

Apple - Cinema Displays - Technical Specifications

The Apple 30" is 2560x1600 and that's about as good as it gets for resolution at any size.

You want an LCD TV that is close to these resolutions at there sizes. If you have a 40" LCD TV that only has a resolution of 1680x1050 (most are surprisingly less) = It will work poorly as a computer display. A bigger LCD/plasma is not always better. A 24" LCD TV that displays 1680x1050 would probably be ok for a computer display. 1080P is 1920x1080 =something like that would be fine for a LCD TV/Monitor at 23-24"

1080p - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[iomatic]

I'm _really_ leaning toward that 26" Dell TV with DVI input. The only thing is I'd probably want that built-in tuner and auto-black-level (very sunny contrasty study) from the Sony versions. I dunno, not every pixel has to be sharp if I'm 6-10ft. away with a wireless keyboard/mouse?

[badsey]

I would be patient on this. Expect some very good deals on LCD TVs this christmas. At the very minimum you want 1680x1050 for a 26" LCD TV ~ 1080p. It's only been 5 month since the LCDs have gotten excellent. You can easily tell the difference between the older LCDs/plasmas and the new LCDs that are much brighter. No matter what do not buy the plasma = crappy resolution. Make sure it's a 16x9 profile LCD also.

For a 26" computer monitor you will need more resolution than a 26" LCD TV.

Techbargains.com shows very good dell deals from time to time.

The LCD tv comes with a tuner and speakers = more usuable that just a LCD monitor.

[druber]

Computer-wise, what do you want to use this for? Web surfing, iTunes playback, across-the-room sort of stuff? Or is this a serious second monitor? I have a 26" LCD TV (made by HP) that's the full-time monitor for a G4 Mac Mini. From six feet away (which is pretty darn close), it's a little difficult to read on-screen text at 1280x768 (as close to native as I can get). For viewing from this distance, I'd choose 32" if I could do it again, but 26" is a nice size for our viewing habits, and OTA HD looks awesomely good.

I agree that, if you're using this at a desk and occasionally from the couch, you want as much resolution as you can get. If TV/movie watching is your main goal, I don't think it's as critical. FWIW, I don't know of any 26" LCD TVs that display 1680x1050.

[iomatic]

Yup, more TV than monitor -- far away (on couch) monitor would be a bonus, but unnecessary.

Thanks for the replies. I've heard from more than one person now to wait.
Will do, as TV is not a priority in this household.

[kikkoman]

Westinghouse: 1080p Monitors