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Can I just use a Monitor??
AnotherBob
16-11-2007
I was thinking of getting a bigger TV. Mine is a 17" JVC widescreen LCD and as my eyesight is getting worse, I think a 20" might be better. I started looking and found plenty of choice with either analogue or Freeview tuners. Then it occurred to me that I don't need either. I use a Digihome PVR, a Toshiba RD-XS30 and an old Hitachi VCR so another tuner isn't necessary. All I need is a screen with speakers, or maybe just a screen and some external speakers. Is this a possibility, it must surely be cheaper?
Nigel Goodwin
16-11-2007
Originally Posted by AnotherBob:
“I was thinking of getting a bigger TV. Mine is a 17" JVC widescreen LCD and as my eyesight is getting worse, I think a 20" might be better. I started looking and found plenty of choice with either analogue or Freeview tuners. Then it occurred to me that I don't need either. I use a Digihome PVR, a Toshiba RD-XS30 and an old Hitachi VCR so another tuner isn't necessary. All I need is a screen with speakers, or maybe just a screen and some external speakers. Is this a possibility, it must surely be cheaper?”

It's 'possible', but it isn't likely to be be cheaper, quite the opposite - and all such attempts in the past have failed miserably.
chrisjr
16-11-2007
Most "monitors" are likely to be aimed at the computer market and as such have connectors for hooking up to a PC.

While you can convert HDMI to DVI fairly simply (just a convertor plug) it is not so simple to convert a SCART output to a VGA input.

And then there is the question of audio. If a monitor does have built in speakers they will likely have/need a mini jack lead so you will need a means of connecting that into whatever source device you are using.

And if the source device you are using does not have a variable level audio output you may struggle to adjust the speaker volume.

A Tuner costs very little in the grand scheme of things. So if you want to watch telly it's probably easier all round to buy a device that is designed from the ground up to view telly programmes rather than bodge a solution that may not be as good, nor as convenient or cheaper.
AnotherBob
16-11-2007
Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin:
“It's 'possible', but it isn't likely to be be cheaper, quite the opposite - and all such attempts in the past have failed miserably.”

Point taken, I won't waste my time.
That being the case, can someone recommend a TV? My priority is sound quality since I have a hearing impairment (I'm going deaf!) I'm not bothered about HD since I don't use any subscription service and most of my viewing comprises old feature films recorded on the Toshiba. I would prefer widescreen.
joevallely
16-11-2007
Quote:
“It's 'possible', but it isn't likely to be be cheaper, quite the opposite - and all such attempts in the past have failed miserably.”

The setup being described here is exactly what I use - It saved me lots of money and definitely did not 'fail miserably'. What I have is an Xbox 360 with the VGA output cable and a freeview PVR box using a standard scart output.

The only thing I needed to buy to make this work was a VGA converter box, which I got for £24.99 on ebay including postage and packing Here is the link for what I brought.

I have the PVR scart output plugged into this and the VGA output from my xbox, and then a single VGA cable going from the converter box to my 27" monitor and an 3.5 audio cable going from the converter box to a set of speakers (you could use the speakers built into the monitor, but the sound is pretty tinny. This setup gives me high quality video from the PVR (make sure to get a converter box like mine that supports a widescreen resolution if you plan to get a widescreen monitor or the picture will look stretched) and an equally high quality picture from my xbox.
Praxidike
16-11-2007
I would recommend a TV with either a low PC resolution (1024x768 or so), or one that doesn't even accept PC input.

Just because if it accepts a PC input, the resolution is so high that the TV quality generally suffers because it has to upscale to much higher resolutions than is given, and it makes things a little messy.

But then if you plan on using it as a PC monitor as well, then it's obviously not what you want to be doing.
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