[LINK] Digital convergance

[Tom Worthington]

On 08/07/11 09:55, Jan Whitaker wrote:
> ... My TV went kaput ... replacements of the flat-screen variety ...

A computer LCD monitor works well as a small TV screen, when connected 
to a digital set top box. I have a DELL 24 inch LCD connected to a TiVo 
set top box and surround sound speakers: 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/2001/sa/lcdtv.shtml>.

The LCD sits on a small desk in the lounge-room/study. It is big enough 
to view as a TV when sitting on the other side of the room. But I can 
also pull a chair up to the desk and use this as the monitor for my 
computer.

Modern LCD TVs can be used as computer monitors. But most lack the easy 
swivel/tilt stand a computer monitor has. Also I would feel 
uncomfortable sitting up close to a very large screen, when used as a 
computer monitor.

> ...net-enabled one that looks pretty nice for not a whole lot more money ...

I was impressed with the Samsung TV, I connected to the Internet for 
someone: 
<http://blog.tomw.net.au/2011/04/connecting-tv-to-internet-part-4.html>.

I use my TiVo's smart recording of free to air content daily. Have not 
used the downloading of content from the Internet much, as I have a very 
limited Internet connection: <http://blog.tomw.net.au/search/label/TiVo>.

Would be worth looking at the Kogan Android Internet TV Portal or LG 
Smart TV Upgrader Box (ST600). These provide the smart TV functions in a 
separate box (but you will need a separate digital free-to-air 
receiver): 
<http://blog.tomw.net.au/2011/04/kogan-android-internet-tv-portal.html>.

You can get the same smart TV functions with software in a computer. But 
you need a very quiet computer which will blend into the room decor. I 
tried this with a cheap desktop PC, but the noise from the fan was too loud.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science, The
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/
Visiting Scientist, CSIRO ICT Centre: http://bit.ly/csiro_ict_canberra