Laptop & Monitor; suggestions advice & tips on buying.

[LomSak27]

 

The realization I am not going to be traveling for another year, has sunk in. As such I want  better media gear. I want to run a large monitor from a laptop.
First, I have an old tank of a ThinkPad, but want to upgrade, if only for a HDMI port. If I am buying, then, a 14 inch, light weight, as it will be my travel laptop, in better days (sigh). Had problems with Lazada years back, looking to buy via brick and mortar stores, in CM. I should state, I am NOT looking for gaming oriented equipment, I want it for movies, TV series, sports docs, but NOT Streaming over the internet. Playing from downloaded vid files. BTW Both laptops I mention come with windows 10 and MS Office. 

The hi and low. 
Acer Swift - ACER NOTEBOOK SWIFT SF314-59-50MT_           –  23,900
Asus Vivobook S413EA – EB159TS                                                  26,900
Cheap end but it’s my nature. The rap on the Swift is its monitor. This probably would be less an issue with me as I am looking to attach a bigger monitor.

Monitor – runs from the cheap
LG LG MONITOR 24MK600M                     - 3900
To
DELL MONITOR S2721QS (IPS 4K 60HZ) 11,900 
Looking for a monitor easily paired up with a laptop, anywhere from 24 to 31 or so size. 

I would love to hear people’s suggestion, pics and pans or additions to look at, especially about monitors. Willingly to drop more baht on this end as I will have months of hot/smoke season viewing and semi quarantine, waiting for vaccination, downtime.

Thanks
 

[Peter Denis]

For the purpose you intend to use it > want it for movies, TV series, sports docs, ...

an HDMI-cable to connect your laptop to your large-screen TV (if you have one) would for sure be the cheapest option and will allow you to watch both stored and streamed content on a large monitor (your TV screen).

[LomSak27]

Thanks

Not really an option. The TV came with the condo and it sucks, badly. Very dark screen, some channels not watchable. No adjusting has ever been able to change it. The G dislikes it so much she doesn't watch many thai lakhons on it. Ok so that's a plus, but.

[Surelynot]

I find the sound quality on these TV's and large monitors atrocious .......finally invested in a MacBook Air, not a great fan of Apple, but never looked back......it really is a great piece of kit.....and when you do travel again it is easy to haul about.

[CharlieH]

I would buy a 32 inch TV and use it as a monitor, best of both worlds, rather than buy just a monitor with a single use.(save alot in the process)

 

Just a suggestion.

[Peter Denis]

5 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

I find the sound quality on these TV's and large monitors atrocious .......finally invested in a MacBook Air, not a great fan of Apple, but never looked back......it really is a great piece of kit.....and when you do travel again it is easy to haul about.

You are correct.  The sound-quality on most TVs and large monitors is really bad.

A separate sound-bar is not expensive, but it will make an enormous difference and is really worth the investment.

 

[Peter Denis]

22 minutes ago, LomSak27 said:

Thanks

Not really an option. The TV came with the condo and it sucks, badly. Very dark screen, some channels not watchable. No adjusting has ever been able to change it. The G dislikes it so much she doesn't watch many thai lakhons on it. Ok so that's a plus, but.

Instead of going for a high-end monitor, you could consider buying a wide-screen TV.  It will be approx same price, and if you throw in a sound-bar, you will have a Home Cinema experience.

Only drawback in your case would be your Girlfriend wanting to use to that wide-screen TV to watch her thai lakhons... 

[Surelynot]

3 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Instead of going for a high-end monitor, you could consider buying a wide-screen TV.  It will be approx same price, and if you throw in a sound-bar, you will have a Home Cinema experience.

Only drawback in your case would be your Girlfriend wanting to use to that wide-screen TV to watch her thai lakhons... 

Bought the wife an iPad Pro to resolve that problem.......

[LomSak27]

Just now, CharlieH said:

I would buy a 32 inch TV and use it as a monitor, best of both worlds, rather than buy just a monitor with a single use.(save alot in the process)

 

Just now, Peter Denis said:

Instead of going for a high-end monitor, you could consider buying a wide-screen TV.  It will be approx same price, and if you throw in a sound-bar, you will have a Home Cinema experience.

Only drawback in your case would be your Girlfriend wanting to use to that wide-screen TV to watch her thai lakhons... 

 

I had not even thought about that. I can connect Laptop via HDMI cable to television and  ...  away we go. 

[Surelynot]

Just now, LomSak27 said:

 

 

I had not even thought about that. I can connect Laptop via HDMI cable to television and  ...  away we go. 

...or screencast

[LomSak27]

A C&P from Internet  - this model is on sale currently at a couple stores. 

 

SAMSUNG TV UHD LED (55", 4K, Smart) UA55TU8100KXXT

Key Features

Screen Technology: UHD / 4K

RESOLUTION (PIXELS): 3840 x 2160

FEATURES: Internet TV, Smart TV, Web Browser, Digital TV

HDR: YES

Port : (USB), USB 2, HDMI 3, COMPOSITE 1

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I have HDMI on Laptop, this is compatible with HDMI 3 ? or is that just it has 3 HDMI ports? But it will run on that one HDMI connection with my laptop? Not good with tech-specs, thanks.

[Eindhoven]

3 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

 

 

I had not even thought about that. I can connect Laptop via HDMI cable to television and  ...  away we go. 

 

 

Get a 4k TV then. 1080p on a large screen is somewhat last decade. Plus there are many ways to play material directly on the TV without the need to download every time. So run any TV ideas you have by us here, to check that it has all the functions that you might need going forward.

[Eindhoven]

2 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

A C&P from Internet  - this model is on sale currently at a couple stores. 

 

SAMSUNG TV UHD LED (55", 4K, Smart) UA55TU8100KXXT

Key Features

Screen Technology: UHD / 4K

RESOLUTION (PIXELS): 3840 x 2160

FEATURES: Internet TV, Smart TV, Web Browser, Digital TV

HDR: YES

Port : (USB), USB 2, HDMI 3, COMPOSITE 1

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I have HDMI on Laptop, this is compatible with HDMI 3 ? or is that just it has 3 HDMI ports? But it will run on that one HDMI connection with my laptop? Not good with tech-specs, thanks.

 

Yes and yes it does mean 3 HDMI ports.

You can probably get everything up and running with your current laptop.

So perhaps get the TV first and then we can run through all the ways you can view your material on it.

Connection via HDMI is a bit primitive and often unnecessary.

Edited February 5, 2021 by Eindhoven