PC monitor or TV?

[Ummon]

I like my good old CRT PC monitor....but I'm thinking of upgrading, so am wondering what might be best, PC LCD monitor, LCD TV, or Plasma TV?  (I have a budget that some of the plasmas fit in.) Mostly this'll be used as a monitor for internet and Windows stuff, and will be on a good part of the day, but there will be the occasional movie (maybe more after this). Advice?

As well, some examples I'm looking at are below:

LG 26" LCD PC monitor

Toshiba 26" LCD TV

Samsung 42" plasma TV

[EndTwist]

Unless you're planning on connecting your XBox, etc to your monitor as well, I would personally stick with the PC LCD. At this point, resolutions, quality, et al are virtually the same in all of them so it is really a matter of extra features.

As well, I wouldn't recommend anything larger than 30" for a PC monitor, since you're not sitting more than a couple of feet away from the screen generally, and it'll get tedious to be constantly looking from end to end on a 42" screen (I'm also not sure how great a plasma would be as a general-use monitor).

Looking at the specs of the 26" monitor and TV. You might want to note that the LCD TV doesn't have DVI inputs, and at that size, you want to be connected via DVI, not VGA, for quality's sake. Not sure if it matters, but the LCD TV is also about 4 lbs heavier with the stand, and 9 lbs heavier without.

If you were planning on using this both as your television and PC monitor, I'd say go for the TV (though you can just as easily use your PC with a TV tuner card and then have recording capabilities as well...). Since you said it's mostly for general use, with periodic movies, you'd be more than fine with the PC LCD. Quality for movies is almost exactly the same (if not exactly the same) and for general browsing, it'll be a better experience. This, of course, is on top of the deal-breaking lack of DVI input on the TV.

[Samstag]

If you're going to use this on a PC you definitely want the monitor.  1920x1200 will look worlds better than a 720p TV, expecially when viewing web content or documents at close viewing distances.  I have a 24" LCD monitor at the same resolution and love it.  Mine also has component, composite, and s-video inputs so at various times I've had a PS2, Dreamcast, 360, and Wii hooked up to it.

You might want to note that the LCD TV doesn't have DVI inputs, and at that size, you want to be connected via DVI, not VGA, for quality's sake.

This, of course, is on top of the deal-breaking lack of DVI input on the TV.

Neither of these are issues.  For a couple of bucks you can get an HDMI to DVI cable from monoprice that will fix both of those problems.  In my setup I have my PC output switched from DVI to HDMI into an HDMI switcher, then out of that it's HDMI to DVI into my monitor.

[Ummon]

I haven't used anything larger than 21" CRT/19"LCD for computer stuff, and more than 1280x1024 makes things too small, but perhaps at 26 inches 1920x1200 will be useful, even necessary. DVI I'm not worried about. I just wondered, especially as I don't ever change resolutions on my main computer, if the LCD TV might provide better viewing (angles, contrast, etc) than the monitor.