Dear AT Home Tech,
I can't really afford a flat panel tv, but I can afford a computer monitor and this "tv box." They seem to run under $100, and I think I can plug it into my cable box. Is there any reason not to buy one of these and an extra computer monitor instead of an extraordinarily expensive flat screen??
Thanks!
Jenny
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Jenny,
We've done some thinking about this, and can certainly understand the temptation to want to buy one of these boxes and a nice display. We ourselves have purchased a Miglia TVMax, and turned our MacMini into part computer/part television. So, we're not totally against it, but wonder how much money it is really saving you if you're going to use the monitor solely as a television. For example, if you wanted to do a 20" setup, a monitor would run you between $300-$600, depending on the manufacturer. Add that into the cost of this tuner, and you're looking at almost the same price as this Sharp Aquos for $650. Plus there are speakers to consider. And finally, we had a really difficult time finding one of these TV boxes without major complaints about picture quality. If you're looking for a crystal clear display, it's not clear to us that one of these boxes is going to deliver it.
Can anyone else give Jenny some advice? We're on the fence about this one...
I am willing to bet that the image processing in the $100 TV Box is pretty crappy. So yes, for the cost of a monitor and that box you will have a speaker-less TV. And everything you show on that TV will look really crappy.
I would say this is not the way to go.
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first of all, an LCD television will almost always be cheaper than a similar sized LCD monitor. that said, you don't even need a processor if you already require a cable box. DVI and HDMI are the exact same video signal, HDMI simply provides a channel for audio. so, with an HD cable box and an HDMI->DVI cable (cheap from monoprice.com), you've already got everything you need to watch television on a computer monitor. if you also want the computer to have access to that monitor as well, use an HDMI switch. these too can be purchased relatively inexpensively. this way you're getting the full quality of the television signal, and not bogging down your PC with processor intensive video processing.
if you still want to build a media center out of your PC, in my opinion you're better off with internal, PCI tuner cards. Hauppauge is always a good choice and their PVR-150 card can be found for less than $80 at newegg.com.
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