lcd tv/monitor. is this possible?

Whats_my_age_again

Hi,

Space is limited in bedroom and I am looking at some space saving potentially. What I want to know is it possible to connect my iBook to an LCD Monitor/TV and use it both as a TV and monitor. And is it at all possible to kind of also split the screen to watch TV and have computer display on the same screen, or even to have it easily transferable from one to the other?

The LCD I am looking at is the AOC N32W551T 32 inch HD Ready LCD TV with HDMI

Blacksheep1979

lcd tv's don't have the resolution that monitors do and so look rubbish when being used with a computer (text hard to read etc). But as to everything else, yes, if you have the money to spend on it look at the apple monitors.

Whats_my_age_again

The resolution of the LCD tv in question is 1366 x 768, how does this compare to monitors?

Will it basically make it ununusable as a monitor?

wolfman

Apple monitors are nice, but overpriced. Especially given (I'm not sure about the most recent models) they use the same panel as something like the Dell UltraSharps.

You can pick up a nice Dell UltraSharp 20" for £265, or a standard 22" Dell (E series) for £250.

Or the 24" BenQ FP241W for around £550 which is more future proof than the equivalent Dell 24".

With a standard pc monitor though, you'll need to have some sort of tv card on the iBook.

Whats_my_age_again

Yes, I suppose the TV element is the main issue for me. So really looking for TV mainly, and it would have been a bonus if I could have used it as a monitor too.

Apple monitors are too pricey for me. At present I am using a Dell 20 inch monitor (not sure of make) with the laptop.

alba37

We use a samsung flat screen LCD as a monitor and it looks great. It's so weird seeing the computer sceen that big and using the mouse on it!

I can't comment on the techical bits... it took a while footering with the settings (on laptop) to get it to work. They connect with a d sub cable. I know the TV has PIP but don't think it would work with TV & monitor.

Whats_my_age_again

What is PIP?

superscaper

I'm guessing picture in picture (ie watch two things at once).

Whats_my_age_again

if that is the case, then could I have my main tv on the large screen with a little box in the corner showing my pc desktop?

superscaper

Couttsy wrote:

if that is the case, then could I have my main tv on the large screen with a little box in the corner showing my pc desktop?

That's the theory with 2 tv channels (where you'd need two tuners), don't know if in practice it would work with a pc signal, I don't see why it shouldn't work. Would certainly be quite nifty.

ayeshasi

alba37 wrote:

We use a samsung flat screen LCD as a monitor and it looks great. It's so weird seeing the computer sceen that big and using the mouse on it!

I can't comment on the techical bits... it took a while footering with the settings (on laptop) to get it to work. They connect with a d sub cable. I know the TV has PIP but don't think it would work with TV & monitor.

Can u guide me how to connect laptop to samsung tv.....just purchased the tv and was wanting to use it