Looking for a LCD TV as a monitor

I'm looking for an inexpensive LCD TV to use as a monitor in my dorm room as well as a screen to play movies on from my laptop. I don't mind buying an off-brand so long as the quality's good; in fact, the price difference means I will probably have to. Also, how would I connect my laptop and the television?

Price: Under $600; the least, the better
Size: 32"-25"
Response rate: 12ms or less
Resolution: 720p/1080i

I've been checking out multiple Olevia models.. has anyone had any experience with these?

Thanks,
Dan

 

Olevia make spectacular tv's! i bought one for a friend. 37 inch. paid 750 from newegg. hdmi, vga, dual componant inputs. upgradeable firmware.

Has spectacular image quality.

Native resolution is 1366X768.

If youre looking at Olevia's, i'll vouch for them!

 

Samsung makes some amazing screens. So does some of the more expensive Sony models.

 

Your top high end models are your Samsung, Sharp, and Sony. Sharp has the Aquos and Sony has the Bravia models. Unfortunately, it will be very hard (almost impossible) to find the 32" models at around $600. It usually starts around $900 on sale and goes up from there. A 27" or 32" (27" is probably more ideal for a dorm room because of size) are good sizes. A 37" might be a little too big because of viewing distances, unless your doom room or where you view the TV is at a good distance. I think the average is around 8-10+ ft away for a 37".

Olevia is a very good manufacturer of LCD TVs. They are probably the best bang for your buck TV. Olevias are very affordable, which makes it so popular among the general customers. Newegg has an extensive selection of Olevia LCDs, so take a long over there and at the reviews. The good thing about Olevia is they should offer a 1 year ON-SITE warranty with purchase, which is a very good warranty. Even some high end manufacturers don't offer that, unless it's Sharp since I know they do. You don't want to ship your TV out if it happens to mess up. Make sure you go to the stores around your area and take a look at the Olevia models to make sure you know what you are getting. HHGregg, Circuit City, Best Buy, CompUSA, etc should all carry it.

 

Thanks, I'll definately look for Olevia deals on Newegg and nearby..
I found a comparable Spectre ($600, 32") on newegg and it supposedly lacks a dvi input. Would that be important/necessary for connecting my hp laptop to the television?

 

it appears to have a VGA (D-sub) input on the TV, so assuming your laptop has the same, you could connect through that.

It has an HDMI input, so if your laptop does have a DVI output you could probably use a DVI to HDMI converter.

 

If you can stretch your budget a bit the Westinghouse 37in is really good. 1080P and works well as a monitor.

 

doesn't that TV run at least $1100 on really good sale? That's quite a stretch from $600.