Hello everyone, I'm Joe, have just joined your forums.
I'm a computer technician for the federal government, previously have worked for Service Canada and now for Revenue Canada. So I've got a good bit of expertese under my belt, just not in This field!
I'm looking into purchasing a big screen TV as primary computer monitor. I've got an ATI Saphire X1950PRO with 512mb that is currently driving 2x 19" wide Acer LCD's.
I want a big screen between 37 and 40-42 inches (as I cant go bigger because of space limitations, I've got an L shaped desk). I need your recommendations.
I've read all the articles I could sink my teeth into, but I still can't make my decision. I dont game too much, once in a while, butI do alot of surfing, MSN, and most importantly I watch TV shows, DVD's, etc. I dont even use our real tv anymore
So, looking into my options, I've decided that LCD would be better for me because of several factors:
- an LCD is ample responsive for video watching, and they are acceptable for gaming (for the amount I do, its not worth the plasma)
- I have a large window facing south-west right beside my computer screens (and where the TV will be), so I can't control the lighting much. again, LCD would be better.
- energy consumption. it's expensive bills nowadays, and LCD's take less juice
- my system is on a UPS, and scince LCD's take less juice, it wont tax my UPS as much when we have blackouts.
I've also decided that I'll be hooking my computer to the TV with an DVI->HDMI cable. There is a very nice and long one for a good price up on NCIX that someone linked in another article about tv's on this forum:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=20754&vpn=HDMI-DVI%2FD-25-M%2FM&manufacture=Others
(although if someone thinks a shorter and better quality cable should be preffered, please speak up. I favour length only because my setup is particular and I need long cables to get everything where it needs to be!)
I can't decide on which brand to go with. I've seen alot of chatter about how the Sharp is the best LCD available, yet others say the Sharp's have issues.
I lean toward panasonic as well, scince my personal experience with their electronics has been widely positive, but most people here seem to ignore panny's.
I've also been told that I should go for Sony Bravia, but they're overpriced.
oh, I forgot to mention that I'm going 1080p, this is not negociable...
seeing how I will be using this TV ONLY on the PC, I want something with good resolution: this means using 1080p.
Thanks for your input, Joe.