External Monitor Questions....or a TV?

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>So, my grandparents are giving me $200 dollars for graduating, and unlike every other dollar I've ever had in my possession in my life, I want to splurge it. I'm planning on buying a 20-22 inch external monitor so I can play xbox 360, use as a monitor for my laptop, and watch tv on it in my dorm room. Is this all possible within my budget, and can external monitors do all these tasks?</p>

<p>And if someone can point me in the right direction on where to start looking, that would be great. And I realize I need a VGA cable for the xbox 360 connection to the monitor, but how about the tv?</p>

<p>or should I just go with a same size tv? I don't know the pros of cons of each, though a tv seems like the better choice, but I'm not sure if my budget could afford one. they seem more expensive than their monitor counterparts or I'm just looking in the wrong places...</p>

2

<p>Get a monitor, you’ll most likely be too busy doing other stuff on campus to watch TV.</p>

3

<p>I you buy a monitor you’ll need a TV Tuner to watch TV. If you buy a TV it will be more expensive and likely have a lower resolution picture.</p>

4

<p>I don’t know about hooking up an xbox to a monitor but FWIW i brought a small external flat screen monitor only and mixed with the extremely fast dorm internet i never even needed a TV. I would just download a show and watch it there or stream sporting events.</p>

5

<p>Unfortunately it can often be hard to find sports online.</p>

6

<p>Save your money, for 300$ you can buy a 32" tv that can double as a computer monitor .
Other wise your going to spend an epic amount of cash trying to get the xbox to connect your monitor correctly( plus you need to buy speakers ) and getting a tv tunner .</p>

7

<p>Using a 32" tv as a computer monitor doesn’t sound like a good idea, 1080p is not nearly enough when you’re that close to a 32" screen.</p>

8

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<p>Or you could just buy [url=<a href=“http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10830&cs_id=1083005&p_id=4010&seq=1&format=2]this[/url”>http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10830&cs_id=1083005&p_id=4010&seq=1&format=2]this[/url</a>] for $7.</p>

<p>Also, keep an eye out in your weekly circulars for monitors going on sale. [url=<a href=“http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/2f49dc96-b1f0-4530-8c1e-b8ccef3194cb/samsung-2333t-high-gloss-23-lcd-monitor#15]Here’s[/url"&gt;http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/2f49dc96-b1f0-4530-8c1e-b8ccef3194cb/samsung-2333t-high-gloss-23-lcd-monitor#15]Here’s[/url&lt;/a&gt;] a pretty good one for the price. (Well, it was a much better deal earlier this week when it was still $50 off.) Keep an eye on Newegg’s daily mailers and I’m sure you’ll see another 23” LCD monitor on sale for $180 or less.</p>

9

<p>You can try this:
[SAMSUNG</a> Samsung Series 4 22-inch LN22D450G1FXZA 1080p LCD HDTV : TVs - Flat Screen HDTVs & Accessories | Dell](<a href=“Electronics & Accessories | Dell USA”>Electronics & Accessories | Dell USA)</p>

<p>But you can probably find one cheaper, and even moreso if you buy a non TV monitor (which is what I recommend because there are so many sources for TV online).</p>

10

<p>If you’re getting a monitor, you won’t have built in speakers TVs have. You’ll need to expend extra money to get decent speakers or headphones, or watch TV with pathetic bookshelf speakers.</p>

11

<p>Here’s another pretty reasonable deal for 23" monitor with built in speakers (probably around the same quality speakers you’d see in a similar sized TV).</p>

<p>[ASUS</a> VH236H 23" 2ms Full HD Widescreen LCD Monitor for $139.99 + free shipping - computer, monitor, lcd - Deals.Woot](<a href=“http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/1ea10dc3-e2e0-4264-9f53-55330b52dc6a/asus-vh236h-23-2ms-full-hd-widescreen-lcd-monitor#9]ASUS”>http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/1ea10dc3-e2e0-4264-9f53-55330b52dc6a/asus-vh236h-23-2ms-full-hd-widescreen-lcd-monitor#9)</p>

12

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<p>Hmm, the pathetic bookshelf speakers I used at school had better sound quality than the built in speakers on the TV my family has at home. Plus, I always used headphones when my roommate was around anyway.</p>

13

<p>Go with a TV. It will save space, you can connect your computer, and xbox (vga, component, or hdmi)</p>

<p>[RCA</a> 24" 1080p LED-LCD HDTV - Walmart.com](<a href=“http://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-LED24A45RQ/15907765?findingMethod=rr]RCA”>http://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-LED24A45RQ/15907765?findingMethod=rr)</p>

14

<p>How does a TV save space relative to a monitor?</p>

15

<p>^ It would save space by having built in speakers unlike most monitors. And since he wants to watch tv, he wont need to buy one later and have the monitor sitting around</p>

16

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<p>Neither should be taking up any space anyway as long as you mount it to the wall.</p>