Help choosing the best TV solution for my MAME Machine please...

[mhayslip]

Hi.  Forgive me if this is covered territory.  I see alot of information, but most assumes owning certain items already.  For me that is only a new NVidia card.  (don't recall the model as it's at home, but it has a DVI and svideo out)

I want to use a 27 in TV so that I can use it as an entertainment center if possible as well.  Want to use MAME and hopefully PC games as well.  Budget is 400-600 on the TV and whatever else it takes.
Would like the best overall quality for all of the above and would also be willing to buy a new video card if recommended.  (brand new gaming pc from Fry's)

So a blank slate, except maybe the Nvidia card.  

What would you do?  

Thanks

[BarontheFirst]

As far as your video card! Most people go with an ATI card. The s-video is better when up against Nvidia. Now I don't know wich Nvidia card you have so I cant say for 100% sure if you should go out and buy the ATI. Now I am going to be placing a 27" into my cabinet and haven't decided on a tv yet. However, Best Buy does have two I am looking into. Both with s-video and no side mounted speakers. You aren't putting this into a cab so the speakers for you can be anywere. Anyway they have a nice Sharp and a decent Sansui both for under $200. Haven't made my mind up on the Sansui since I know little about that company. So it looks like a Sharp may be the way to go depending on your money situation.

[TalkingOctopus]

If your budget is between 400-600 for just the TV, I think you should seriously consider an arcade monitor.  It would work for MAME and PC games w/o a prob.  You could use the PC to play DVDs and use a TV tuner card for TV.  
 
I spent ~$200 on my 27" Sharp TV (model: 27U-S600) and I am very happy with it.  It has 1 component, 1 S-video and a few composite inputs on the back.  I think most games look fairly good after adjusting the picture settings on both the computer and TV.  I use a ATI Radeon 7500 videocard.  I think ATI has better Svideo out quality than my other videocards - older nvidia cards (gf1 and gf3).  

[shadowdrak]

I believe the 27" Betson Imperial monitor that was just reviewed on retroblast is within your price range.  I am pretty certain it can be connected directly to your video card just like a monitor.  And it supports from ultra low res to 800x600 resolutions.  It will give you better quality for your PC games than a TV would.  Tvs can only output at 480i which on a computer means everything over about 320x240 is interlaced and interpolated(i.e. blurry).  That said, I have a TV out hookup on one of my computers and it looks pretty nice for playing emulators.  If PC games are a priority though, I would say that you might not be satisfied with the picture on a TV.  I suggest before you buy anything else, you try it out on a TV you already have and see if you like it.  A lot of people like it just fine.

[mhayslip]

Guys, thanks for the feedback.  
Just to clarify some:  I am using a cabinet, the Ultimate Arcade with about 27.5 inches wide of room.  
My dream is a monitor that does it all.  I'd like to run emulators, pc games, and plug in TV and DVD as an entertainment center as well.  I'm leaning towards a samsung TV that is 27" with HD and a DVI port.  Will that be leaps and bounds ahead of a regular cheaper 27 inch TV that has component input?

[shadowdrak]

It might be... I am not sure.  If it can display HD resolutions throught the DVI port, I would say yes.  Some HDs do upscan conversion to their native resolution, so TV size resolutions would be pixel doubled or something similar.  I think they use the word "native" next to the res to signify this.  That probably wouldn't look bad though.  If you didn't know, the 768p is higher res than the 1000i(1024?).  If it works properly throught he DVI, It should look great for pc games.