What are some good external monitors I can use with my laptop and for TV?

Question

I'd like to get a flat-panel lcd monitor to use with my laptop and for watching tv/movies.

What monitor would you recommend? I'm looking for something that's around the 20" range.

And how DO I watch TV on it? I looked around and read that I'd need a TV Tuner or Slingbox? No idea what those are =P...sorry not a techie person. (Can't I just connect the cable line to the monitor?)

Answer 1

It depends on where you get your TV signal from.


If you have a co-ax cable then you need a tuner (cable box / VCR / DVR etc.) to select and decode what TV channel you want to watch You can get TV tuner cards for desktops, I am not sure what is available for a laptop.

If you have a cable box / VCR / DVR etc. and have S-Video, composite video or component video outputs, then you can get monitors that have multiple inputs, including all of the above. They do cost more. The other option is to get a unit that takes one of the above inputs and connects to your laptop. That plus a VGA only monitor may cost more than a multi input monitor, but you can probably use your laptop as a DVR if you want to (and have the hard drive space.)

Answer 2

You need a TV Tuner card to watch tv on PC

For a laptop this MAY (Not sure) need to be USB

For a PC though you can get a PCI capture card

Any monitor will work (For TV/Movies i suggest something Big)

Answer 3

Maybe you can try this: http://satellite-television-for-pc.info
You Can Get over 3000 STATIONS on your PC. You don’t need a satellite dish, receiver, or any cable or satellite service! All you need is an internet connection and a computer. Watch all these channels anywhere in the world. More than 1 million users are already enjoying the incredible variety.

Answer 4

Go Plazma.