Hardware TV monitor combos. Are they great?

[SavageWaffle]

I was looking to buy a new TV Monitor+Computer Monitor. I learned that there was a TV with a Computer input thing. I heard they have bad ratios, so are they really bad? I wanted to "save some space". So are they really great or should i just buy a separate monitor and TV?

 

[Cletebob]

If the TV is a larger screen, and the VGA input is limited in the resolution, then yeah, your PC input may look...well...crappy. Especially games.

Check out the maximum resolution the TV supports in VGA mode, and that will tell you if it is worth it.

 

[SavageWaffle]

One question, will CS: Source look crappy? Even with the latest video card?

 

[FAST6191]

Most of the TV-LCD things are fairly bad quality LCD screens (dead pixels, lousy contrast, washed out colour at best, low resolution for PC side of things......) with a component in as you say until you pay good money (at which point you may as well get a normal screen and a TV tuner of some form). Take a walk around a costco/walmart or something and you will see (the small screens they advertise random "inventions" tend to represent the better ones which is saying something).

Ratios: some are bad but most of the time they are OK. PC screens tend not to be TV ratios (16:10 vs 16:9 kind of thing) but a PC should not have a problem.

My advice: buy a decent LCD (which will likely not be that much more if it is as all) and a firewire tuner (firewire as USB ports are more valuable I find) or better yet one of those little all in one player boxes I have been seeing around lately and a switch if needs be.

LCD tvs on the other hand occasionally have a PC in of some form (or if you have to DVI via a HDMI port or something) and those are quite good, they are not usually quite as high res as a dedicated monitor but they are good.