Best External Monitor / TV?

First off I don't know if this is the right section for this thread so if it isn't, please point me in the right direction.

I am wanting to buy a TV / monitor to serve those two things basically. An external monitor for my Mac Book as well as it being a TV for my bed room. How would I go about doing this and what should I look for?

I was thinking a 22" or 26" LCD or LED TV would do the trick and if so, which ones have yall had good luck using them as a monitor. I assume 1080p would provide a better resolution but should I worry about the refresh rate of it? Also would an HDMI hook up or a PC hook up from the laptop work best?

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Would a Dell or HP or a computer manufacture's monitor be able to hook up to cable and would that be a better way?

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PS: I have hooked my Mac Book up to my 32" LCD Samsung before using HDMI. It is an 720p with 60GHz refresh. The set up worked, the quality was just not great, good but not great. So I am wanting to get this pairing right.

 

A monitor generally cannot accept TV signals, as it has no tuner, but a TV can easily accept computer signals as they all have HDMI (and most have VGA) inputs these days.

HDMI will provide a better picture than VGA, though both are generally fine.

 

You're looking for a monitor or TV with two HDMI inputs, or an HDMI input and a DVI input.

Basically any TV these days will have multiple HDMI inputs. Some monitors will have multiple inputs but they are more rare to come across.

If your laptop has HDMI output, then it would be best to go that route, since it sends sound information as well. If your laptop has DVI output then you will have to hook up speakers too.

Refresh rate doesn't matter as all monitors will be 60hz unless you're looking into expensive 3D TVs or monitors. Resolution is the most important thing for using it as a monitor, you won't want any less than 1080p when it's over 22".

TVs will always have much worse color reproduction than monitors, this can be really annoying.



TL;DR, a monitor like the Samsung BX2431 is 24" (optimal size for 1080p monitors) and has two HDMI inputs with a "source" button on the front to switch.

 

honestly, the most important thing i'd be concern about is the response time. if u are going to be watching any sports, fast paced movies, or gaming then u will want to find something with the lowest amount of response time.

looking at refresh rates and resolutions doesn't tell u anything about the TV/monitor, and will probably just confuse u more.