<p>My husband and I am trying to determine what size, style, etc. TV to purchase for our daughter's dorm room next year. We'd like for her to be able to use it throughout college (whether she elects to remain on campus or chooses to go off campus her second year); consequently, we're wanting the largest one that will fit without taking up the Considerable space. I'm kind of leaning toward a flat screen/plasma with a built-in DVD. Can you mount/hang t.v.s on the wall? What size do you suggest? Other thoughts?</p>
<p>One thing to consider is whether she will be in a suite and thus the TV might be in the common area, as opposed to her specific room. In the common area, almost anything goes. </p>
<p>Cinder block walls aren’t made for hanging things.</p>
<p>Thanks, Fifty. I thought about the suite situation as well. The downside to putting it in the common room is that it would have to be shared by all 10 girls; hence, they might not always agree on what to watch, and she might not be able to actually use it much. (I realize she’s not going to have a whole lot of time to watch tv; however, if I’m going to pay for it, I’d like for her to be able to use it when she wants, right?) Also, isn’t the cable access in the rooms themselves or is it in the common room? Are all of the dorm room walls cinderblock? I know the one we saw on McCormick was but are all of them?</p>
<p>My daughter’s suite last year was cinderblock. They ran a cable splitter from one of the rooms to have a television in the common room but I think several of the girls also had televisions in their room. A fair amount of students also “watch” television on their computers, I think. </p>
<p>Might I suggest holding off until your daughter is assigned a roommate? Perhaps they can discuss their preferences, what they’re bringing, that type of thing. Just a thought.</p>
<p>i bought a ginormous non-flat-screen TV my junior year of high school and brought it with me to college. it is slightly over 2 feet across the diagonal and fit perfectly on the bedside table we get in brown college. but is a pain to move. so definitely get a flat screen.
no matter where you end up, you can put the TV on the top of the desk hutch if it is a flat screen. if you are in mccormack, check out the pictures on virginia.edu/housing and you will see a nice set up the 2 boys have with a narrow TV stand. even in alderman, there is a tv stand in a few pictures (and just on top of the hutch in others).
fyi the brown college pictures on virginia.edu/housing aren’t the best, if you want pics of my various room arrangements over the year just pm me and i will send you the facebook link</p>
<p>I don’t really like to distinguish sons from daughters, but for the guys, apparently the TV is often primarily for game playing, and thus the common room would be far more important and essential for sharing, especially if they have multiple console types among the collection. It can also be a good way to get a roommate who wants to watch TV or play games out of the room :). Anyway, I mention that just in case your D plays video games. </p>
<p>We bought a simple stand for a modest sized TV in the actual bedroom (we did not provide the common TV). The TV was rather old and thus a bit intrusive in its depth. Modern flat screens work much better at saving space. Also, don’t forget the ability to do stuff on the PC. My son watched some DVDs and maybe some online streaming right there on his computer, which has a pretty good monitor and reasonable speakers, even as a laptop.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice everyone! She has had her roommate for a while now, and I believe they’ve agreed that my daughter will provide the t.v. Housing assignments should be available the first of the month. I’m thinking when we travel for orientation in mid-July, we’ll be able to actually see the set-up of her room so that we can have a better idea of what will work best. (Or at least that’s my hope:) )</p>
<p>For my S, I bought him a 22" LCD monitor with TV tuner that can be used for his laptop and watching TV/DVD. A monitor with a TV tuner cost maybe $50 more. We bought a Samsung for $180 on sale at Buy.com last month, included shipping.</p>
<p>There is always the No TV route. My son and his roommates at Duke never had a TV…nor does my son at Vandy…and were relieved when their roommates didn’t want them. Perhaps this is a different issue with boys (ie boys often dread a roommate who puts up a TV if they want to avoid videogamers). They did watch communal TVs for sports often with friends in living areas but my observation is that with the extra two hours a day devoted to FACEBOOK, texting and catching up with all the people you knew in high school in this digital age…my son was never “unplugged” and most of his friends has serious sleep deprivation issues because of the pressures of studying and 24 hour a day digital socializing instead of sleeping. My son’s friends were also skyping at wee hours of the night. Seriously…I watch TV but it is just not the same value for escape and relaxation for students as it was in our era. You don’t leave your hometown sweetheart behind…you just skype nightly.<br>
these kids who work like dogs in high school from 6am till midnight since they were 12 years old…have such a hard time saying “no” and turning out the light and sleeping…definitely that is my biggest advice to new college parents is to talk to them about sleeping on a cycle that gives them some brain power. First son who never wavered in high school…had to drop a class and start over due to no sleep, constant happy socializing and then staying up all hours to get his work done, mono and then rushing frats. Second year…he learned to get up every day and eat an early breakfast and treat school like a job. He was that over busy even with zero TV.</p>
<p>I think davh01 has the right idea. We got our son a 20" (or so) flat screen which he uses as both a TV and computer monitor.</p>
<p>Don’t get a TV! With facebook, texting and email already as huge distractions, why would you want to further remove your kid from the college experience and spend more time in a dorm room by herself being a passive participant by having a TV in the room? Faline2 is exactly right. If there’s really something cool to watch, there are TV’s around. First year in the dorms are for meeting people, doing active things, exploring, growing - TV will help with almost none of those except maybe meeting other people who want to sit and watch TV. Sorry to be so vehement about this, but why in the world would she need a TV when there’s so much else to do that TV will only take time away from?</p>
<p>Disagree, I used to have Project Runway parties in my room bc of my TV and it was amazing – I also use TV to help me relax and have something on in the background while I do my hw. You have to consider your child’s habits, if they are a big TV watcher it is one less thing to be homesick about. It’s not forcing you to watch TV by having it there (ie it’s not forcing you to be inactive, or not explore, or not socialize), but it gives you the option when Glee/whatever else is popular is on and you can have a nice little get together in your room and be social that way with it.</p>
<p>For those who think TV will distract thier kids from other things, think again. If they really want to watch they can pretty much watch anything they want on the internet. Will you be keeping thier computer home? You need to trust you kids on their priorities.</p>
<p>please don’t let your daughter turn into one of those *******s who makes everyone else in the hall listen to their tv show. She can use a computer and headphones just like everyone else. There really is no room or need for TV. Buy her a subscription to netflicks instead.</p>
<p>I don’t know who was in your hall but if you listen to your TV at a reasonable volume then no one else will hear it, you can also get headphones if you’re concerned about that. I could never hear anyone else’s TV, despite the other “activties” I could hear people doing, so I don’t know how much of a problem it could really be unless you have it cranked up to full volume…</p>
<p>It’s more of a problem with girls who decide to watch late night TV with their door open and refuse to close it. Trust me when I say it was a major problem on my hall.</p>
<p>get a slingbox</p>