external Monitor (iMac + xbox)

[jciapara]

Hi All,

I am looking for advice, currently I have an early 2007 iMac (24"), an old TV and an XBOX 360. While this has worked Ok for now, I am trying to get an extra monitor for my iMac, and decided that since I will be buying a new Monitor, might as well buy one that I am able to use with my xbox and as a TV if required, and get rid of the old one which occupies a lot of space on my small room.

I really don't watch a lot of TV, I only watch it when there is a Tennis match or a movie I want to watch (TV in Germany sucks, personal opinion). I also don't play a lot Xbox, but I do play more than I watch TV. Basically I don't know what the best setup would be, I can either buy a Monitor which has hdmi, vga?, and regular TV input or I could buy a Monitor that only has HDMI and VGA? and buy a USB TV tuner, but that of course will take Processing power from my iMac, which I would prefer not to, plus I think TV Tuners for Mac are expensive.

Which monitor would you recommend for my needs?, am I correct thinking that I need a monitor with VGA input to connect to my iMac? or what kind of monitor do I need? Thanks for any help you can provide.

p.s. The monitor has to be 22"-24"

 

[jciapara]

Actually, scratch off the TV part, I think is not worth the extra price for just a few games, which I could also watch on the internet. So suggestions for the iMac + XBOX are welcome, I just read that the iMac can connect through DVI to an external monitor so, what is better (DVI or VGA), I think DVI will help future-proofing my monitor in case I decide to change from my current iMac later on. What do you think? also which cable do I need to buy for the iMac? Mini-DVI to DVI?

Edit: my budget is ~200 Euro, no more than that.

On media Markt, right now they have deals on this monitor: http://www.consumer.philips.com/c/pc-monitor/24-inch-w-e-line-1920x1080-full-hd-244e1sb_69/prd/sg/ for 179 Euros, is this a good deal or not?

 

[Hellhammer]

Looks good one. I have BenQ E2400HD which I use with my iMac and PS3 and it works perfectly as well. It was more expensive than that Philips, around 220€ but it was 8 months ago.

 

[jciapara]

Not sure if you understood

I am trying to extend my iMac's monitor by buying an external one (that is the main reason, not to play xbox), but since I can buy one with HDMI input, then might as well use for my xbox and get rid of my old tv, so when I want to play Xbox I can just switch the external monitor's input to HDMI instead of the DVI port, and play games on it, when I am done, switch back to the DVI port and continue working with the 2 monitors.

@Hellhammer: Yeah looks like a good deal to me too, I've searched on the internet and I could only find it for ~190 plus shipping and here I can just go to mediamarkt and get it, does anyone has one of these philips monitors that can tell me if they're any good?