<p>The OP didn’t ask for parenting advise on whether they should get a TV. My son’s is about a 27 inch - works out great.</p>
<p>Mine watched TV on their laptops. But I would say no bigger than 27 inches for a typical dorm room.</p>
<p>Agreed, the OP didn’t ask IF they should buy a TV, however the points being made are valid as the OPs student isn’t in college yet. At the very least I would offer a caveat not to buy much of anything, least of all expensive electronics, until you know the exact dorm your student will be in. Even once they committ to a university there may be a difference of hall style vs suite style. If a suite mate is bringing a 50" TV for the common room you may change your mind about spending money on a 19" TV for the cramped shared dorm 10ft away. </p>
<p>FWIW, I felt bad sending my son off without a TV this year. He hasn’t missed it and enjoys the social aspect of watching a few things with friends on large screens around campus. Each student is different and sometimes it’s better to wait to see what they really miss.</p>
<p>No TV. Younger son watches TV on the computer. Older son didn’t watch anything as far as I know. (He rarely is willing to watch anything with us at home.) Both schools had dorm TVs for group watching.</p>
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<p>I’ve seen both happen on my LAC campus as well as on several dozen other campuses. Thankfully, I’ve never had roomies who turned our room into “TV Central” as that would certainly be a nightmare as someone who had early morning classes and desires to sleep enough to make those classes, work part-time, and participate in more socially engaging campus ECs. </p>
<p>My younger friend’s room ended up being TV central and it was not only a factor in his mediocre GPA at graduation, but also becoming a key reason for conflicts between him and his roommates…including that one fight I ended up having to break up/mediate. It also didn’t help him in the social-skills department which caused him many preventable issues in his first few jobs. </p>
<p>Students also need to check to see what the prevailing campus student perceptions are of having TVs/using them. On most mainstream campuses…it’s a non-issue. </p>
<p>On a few campuses like my LAC in the mid-late '90s, having a TV in one’s room was considered “uncool” and a sign one is either anti-social and/or some sort of an academic slacker.</p>
<p>Whatever you get, make sure it comes with earphones so her roommate doesn’t have to share the experience.</p>
<p>During the summer before first year, S arranged with his roommate that RM would bring a TV and S would bring the wii. I turned out they never used either one and the wii returned home at spring break. The video game playing and TV watching that happened were done either in the lounge or on a computer.</p>
<p>I would also advise against a TV for the many good reasons listed above. Then if needed shop at Black Friday next year.</p>
<p>I would wait until you get to the college and see what size the room is and whether both roommates want a TV. </p>
<p>They might want one if one of them is bringing a video game system such as a Nintendo Wii. And as long as nobody has problems with overuse of a game system, having one can be nice. It attracts friends. My son met lots of people in his freshman dorm through their shared interest in sports-oriented video games. There were a lot of informal gatherings in the rooms of students who owned these games and the systems to play them on.</p>
<p>The idea of a TV being enough of a novelty item to be seriously distracting to anybody sounds completely absurd to me, as does the suggestion that someone who WOULDN’T OTHERWISE isolate themselves would do so because they would rather be watching tv. Maybe if we’re talking a kid that grew up with every moment of their TV time sanctioned by mom and dad, but in this generation that is usually not the case. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen but I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that all your kids are going to be that way, because that’s REALLY strange. Like, REALLY REALLY out of this world weird.</p>
<p>I had a 32in in my room. There weren’t any common televisions in my dorm, and there were probably 200 students to 1 or 2 lounges anyway. It did not cause fights or make my dorm “tv central,” and it was nice to have people over for movie nights and things when it was agreeable to roommate. Roommate and I bonded over tv shows in common. If I’d only had my laptop to watch tv shows, the social element would be completely dead and I don’t think that’s desirable, a tv is a nice thing to have for that reason and most normal people do not go hog wild about it. I didn’t have a lot of spending money in college and couldn’t afford to be going out to eat or to the movie theater all the time, the option to offer up a movie or football game at my place was a GODSEND.</p>
<p>I would not have gone bigger than 32, but mine wasn’t a flat screen. Smaller probably would have still been fine, I only had a 32 because we had a spare tv in the house and that’s how big it happened to be. I think the size depends on the preference and budget of the student in question. I just bought a new tv for myself and it seemed like there was a lot of information out there about size in terms of viewing distance, that’s something to think about. If your dorm is only ten feet wide it stands to reason you’re only going to be sitting a couple feet away. 19-20ish should be fine.</p>
<p>ETA: Another thing to consider is where the tv is going to sit. I had a little rolling cabinet for mine, and room in my dorm room for the cabinet. If it’d had to sit on my desk or dresser, I would have needed a MUCH smaller tv. That may be your deciding factor.</p>
<p>Wow! I’m honestly so surprised by how many people on here have been saying no TV - I think while living on campus I’ve only walked into a few rooms ever without one, everyone I knew had one. I thought it was a great social piece for movie nights and such, and to me I loved having a TV in my room because on lazy weekend days I would do homework with it on in… I usually need background noise for homework and sports games and such are perfect.</p>
<p>Personally, I have a 22 inch sony and it’s been great. The colors are vibrant, never had an issue, transported it multiple times, and not too small - but not too big. I would say never go over a 32 inch for a dorm room, I’ve seen bigger then that and it honestly looks a bit ridiculous. I like the size of mine now because I’m living off campus in a house and it’s small enough to look good in my own bedroom but big enough for a good picture.</p>
<p>Jr and roommate both have them and both are about 20". Earphones are a must if they want to watch at the same time. I can understand the isolation part. I thought it might help if/when boredom set in so he could watch “his” shows, but it has become quite the opposite in his case as their’s is a popular room for football and video games. In reality it doesn’t give him the opportunity to watch everything he wants because it’s become more of a community t.v. As we Skype with him kids are often in the room or popping in to use it.</p>
<p>There will be no lack of TV availability. In fact, the family of the TBD roommate at TBD college may be shopping for one now. And often there are dorm lounges with TV.</p>
<p>For those students that opt to bring a TV, please use it respectfully (with earphones if possible). My D had a roommate that went to sleep with TV on, sometimes with the remote in her hand. Yes, D should have complained because it interfered with her sleep… but she didn’t since the roommate was kind and tolerant of her messiness. I’ve wondered why kids in college even need a TV (there’s hardly enough time in the day for schoolwork and fun and sleep)… but this girl seemed unable to study or sleep without it.</p>
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<p>I’d doubt we’d get along as roommates. I cannot sleep with background noise and/or bright lights from a TV going off in the same room while I’m sleeping. </p>
<p>Closest problem I had to that was a roommate in the beginning of my junior year who got so heavily addicted to computer games that I ended up having to firmly ask him to play them elsewhere after 1 am so I could get enough sleep for my early morning classes, part-time work, and ECs. </p>
<p>It also didn’t help he skipped so many sessions of a class we happened to have together that the Prof asked me to tell him to explain his multiple consecutive absences. Thankfully, he was moved out of our room after a semester and I ended up lucking out by not having another roommate for the rest of my college years. </p>
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<p>Was fortunate to never be put into that situation for three reasons:</p>
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<li><p>LAC campus culture during the time I attended(mid-late '90s) was such that having a TV in one’s room was “uncool”. In my entire time there, I think I’ve only met a handful of classmates who had TVs in their room. A contrast to other campuses where most dorm rooms had at least one TV. </p></li>
<li><p>My sleeping/study needs were such that the few who was inclined to bring a TV tended to be screened out by my LACs residential life or those students themselves knew to steer clear of students like me who need a dark quiet room to sleep. </p></li>
<li><p>Noise and other QOL violations after hours were frowned upon by most students and RAs tend to be proactive and strict with violators to discourage repeat violations.</p></li>
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<p>DS had no TV as undergrad. No TV as grad. No TV in his shared housing consisting of 5 grad students and working adults. [he did receive a Kindle Fire last week from his employers, but I don’t think a 7" screen counts]</p>
<p>Another no TV family here. DS has neither the time nor the inclination for watching TV as he is too busy being glued to his computer.</p>
<p>Emaheevul, with all due respect, aren’t you on the spectrum? And a 32 inch TV?? Good grief, I don’t have a 32 inch TV in either my family room or master bedroom.</p>
<p>No TV’s here. You can get enough TV on your laptop, and I’d rather my kids socialize in common rooms with TVs. The Internet has enough isolating tendencies – no need to add another isolating element to the mix.</p>
<p>No TV; she watched stuff on her laptop or on the TV in the floor lounge when she had time.</p>
<p>I would go with the new 80" LCD which would also allow connection to a laptop as an external monitor.</p>
<p>^^ Awesome.</p>