Buttonmashing friend Bobster asked me for advice on getting a small HDTV that he can use as a dedicated Xbox 360 display. He wanted to keep it under $400 and wanted at least above average image quality. He asked me if I had any suggestions.
I’ve been researching HDTVs for a while now, but I’ve been looking at larger TVs, out of the range Bobster is looking at. Right off the bat I would recommend a Samsung LCD. I think a 23″ Samsung LCD (like this one) would fit the bill perfectly, but the cheapest I found was $569 at Amazon.com. I found this 23″ LCD TV by Olevia on sale locally at HHGregg for $399. I’ve heard good things about Olevia TVs and feel confident that it would be a solid 360 display.
But before I give Bobster my final recommendations, I wanted to ask my fellow Buttonmashers if they have any recommendations or experiences with HDTVs that fall in this price range (or experience with Oleviea TVs).
Any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated.
Why not look at getting a TFT monitor?
As long as you get a widescreen one you are fine, I picked up a Samsung 940BW, it’s a 19″ widescreen with a native res of 1440×900, I use the VGA cable with it and all is well, pretty cheap too.
All you need to do is piece together you own sound system, you can simply run the RCA jacks to a normal stereo with AUX IN but personally I am setting up a 5.1 system at the moment with a dedicated AMP etc.
All things considered that will be a cheap way to get a dedicated 360 setup, it’s just not a great size for sitting more than 3 or 4 ft from the screen.
Yeah, get a monitor and run a VGA cable. Super sharp. I’ve used a 17 and 19 inch with great results.
Not a bad idea. I may try the monitor thing. Thanks.
Bob
Thanks for the help so far. Using a monitor with the 360 isn’t a bad idea. The only problems I have with using a monitor is the lack of speakers and having to buy a the VGA cable. I know some monitors have speakers built-in, but then you’ve got to get an adapter to fit the RCA audio cables into a headphone jack. Not a huge problem, I guess.
I just don’t like the idea of buying new cables. But saving some cash on the monitor would lessen the financial blow of buying cables.
It should be noted that the 360 VGA adapter actually comes with an RCA audio to headphone adapter, so you can plug the red and white audio cables into a standard audio input jack (like the line-in on your soundcard).
I recently picked up a VGA adapter and hooked up my 360 to my 20″ LCD flat panel monitor. Very nice setup.
George – thanks for clearing that up. Good to know it comes with an adapter. I think we may be getting a 22″ Samsung monitor for the Bobster. If he lets me, details will follow.
Stew- What does your samsung monitor look like with 360?
Good image?
A very good image, got a few posted up on my flickr site from when I got it:
http://flickr.com/photos/stew/sets/72157594251265123/
Stew – thanks for the link to your setup. I love seeing people’s kit.