First things first, this isn’t an ‘ooh, look at me, no TV’ post. I watch just as much crap as anyone but I do it on my laptop.

What I (and mostly Mrs S) are keen to avoid is having a passive viewing box that has channels on it as we’d just end up sitting and drooling at it. But I’m getting a bit sick of watching stuff just on my laptop -particularly movies & bike races.

Am thinking something like a PC monitor hooked up to an apple TV (we have macs and iphones) but am wondering if chromecast or something would be just as good or better?

My next thought is how good are the wee projectors you can buy, meaning we don’t have to have a TV-like thing in the corner of the room when not in use.

Main use is Eurosport player, iPlayer, itv4, channel 4 and netflix.

Any ideas?

Have you considered a small television without connecting an aerial? That’s almost certainly going to be less cockaboutery than a monitor. Or are you on about reusing something you already have?

I have considered that but for no obvious rational reason Mrs S is dead against.

Minix

We used a projector for years with a 100″ screen (just a cheap roll-up but it was great, conveniently out of the way when not in use). Great in some ways but haven’t replaced it, partly due to house design. Now use an apple cinema display when we want something bigger than the laptop/ipad.

Philips Screeneo is worth a look. Ultra short throw projector that sits by the wall under where you want the image.

Has speakers, etc built in. Think it can throw about 45″ right by the wall up to 80+ if you bring it out a bit.

I have a tiny projector i mean tiny.

it runs on batteries and has various input options and internal memory.

picture isn’t great but its great for starting a film in the living room then just picking the whole thing up and moving it to the bedroom.

its great

Seems like the main objection is having a TV on display?

So would a possible option be a TV that hides away?

It could maybe rise up from a cabinet or be hidden behind discrete doors the swivel out to watch it?

its great for starting a film in the living room then just picking the whole thing up and moving it to the bedroom.

You dirty cat.

I have considered that but for no obvious rational reason Mrs S is dead against.

Buy a TV tell her it’s a computer monitor.

Went down the projector route, it’s great but don’t forget to factor in the cost of replacement bulbs…

We did as Cougar suggested, has worked out fine albeit its a 36″ TV.