<p>Looking for the best television for my freshman’s dorm room-- Park double, at Wash U. Can’t hang the television on the wall (no screws or nails allowed)-- so what is the best size and where do most kids put their TV?</p>
<p>froshdad1-Welcome and why don’t you post this on the Wash U. board where people are more likely to be familiar with the dorms there? [Washington</a> University - St. Louis - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/]Washington”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/)</p>
<p>Most kids watch TV on their laptop now. It allows them to watch it when they have time and it’s free.</p>
<p>or if desktop can buy a monitor/tv</p>
<p>Having a TV can be a social thing, though, for people to gather and watch together, unlike the laptop experience.</p>
<p>In some dorms, social TV-watching takes place in the lounges. In others, it doesn’t. </p>
<p>Having a TV might not be necessary, and might clutter up the room, if everyone else uses the lounges for that purpose. Also, it’s important to recognize that a roommate may want to be able to study quietly in the room (or just not be bothered by the sound of a TV show that is of no interest to him or her). Thus, a TV could be more of a liability than an asset in a dorm room. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if your student moves off campus at some point, he or she will almost certainly want a TV. There will be no dorm lounge TV available, and if apartment mates are not interested in a show, they can go do other things in their bedrooms while those who are interested watch TV in the living room.</p>
<p>Buy a monitor with a TV tuner so that it has duel purposes. I got my daughter a 27" Samsung monitor with a TV tuner. She can plug her laptop in it and her TV cable. I got her boyfriend the 25" model for graduation and it works great with a great picture.</p>
<p>I suggest you skip the TV. The students should have enough to do to keep occupied without it. I’d forego the laptop tuner as well. If the kid wants to watch an occasional show he/she can watch a streamed show on the laptop. </p>
<p>Give the idea of no TV a try for at least the first semester or so and then it can always be reconsidered. The, if the kid really wants a TV, let the kid figure out which one to get and buy and pay for it on their own since it’s not a school essential.</p>
<p>I agree, the best TV is no TV.</p>
<p>It was never a question for us. Our boys were going to have a TV. It was a must have for watching weekend sports if nothing else…college/pro football and college basketball.</p>
<p>In both cases, our kids’ roommates brought the TV’s.<br>
S1 and his roommate lofted the beds and put the TV on a stand under one loft and a futon under the other. They also had a couple of folding camp chairs they could pull out if more guys came to watch the game. I think their tv was a 19’</p>
<p>S2 and roomie bunked their beds, put a futon along one wall facing their desks and put the TV on top of the bookshelf attached to S2’s desk.
Their tv was a 32" flat screen, the roommate’s h.s. grad. gift fro his parents.</p>
<p>My son had no TV. If he wants one, he can buy it.</p>
<p>Our kids never had televisions in their bedrooms, so no one ever considered the idea of getting a tv for a dorm room. I certainly wouldn’t make the purchase without consulting the roomate.</p>
<p>At my daughter’s university, watching tv is a social event in the lounge, not something one does in one’s room. As far as I know, this is also the case where my son is going this fall. At least, I hope so.</p>
<p>My roommate and I both wanted a TV. It’s gonna be a small TV we’re going place on top of one of our dressers (probably) where we can both see it. From pictures I’ve seen of dorms, dorm furniture is usually where the TV goes.</p>
<p>I don’t recommend anything too big. One of the smallest TVs (and typically, cheapest) should do you just fine. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy.</p>
<p>^yep, my guys would have taken the 13" models they bought in h.s. if their roommates had not provided the bigger ones. </p>
<p>There was no social lounge in my S’s dorm. He lived in a suite style dorm at a big state u. Each suite opened to an outdoor walkway(like old hotels), four floors of suites, hundreds of guys. All the socializing went on in the suites…video games, movies, sports,whatever.<br>
Also S’s roommate was a friend fr. h.s. so they were in total agreement about the dorm room stuff. I can see where it could be a prob. if the roommate is not a TV person.</p>
<p>My daughter has her preferences in TV down time - much of it not available through hulu. She is taking a TV given by aunt and uncle (in agreement with roommate) and planning to tape shows for viewing at convenient times (just like home). </p>
<p>My initial thought was no TV - but realizing that she and friends/dorm mates might have viewing preferences in common this could be another social outlet, probably better than attending the frat kegger down the street.</p>
<p>Make the decision with your student and his or her habits in mind. Through cooperative purchasing (ie, you get fridge, I’ll get microwave, you bring x-box, etc.), S and roomie managed to trick out their room as quite a pleasure pit. It became THE party room in the dorm. Unfortunately, S follows the crowd. His lack of sleep and studying showed in his grades and in his unhappiness in his own performance at the end of the year.</p>
<p>mines a 13 inch old style tube that i’ve had for 12 years and it works just fine for me.</p>
<p>sewnsew’s story (post 316) is why I would second ucla_dad’s advice of “try no tv for at least a semester.”</p>
<p>While some have commented on their kids being in suite-style dorms with no social/tv lounges, I still think that at most U’s, the standard freshman dorm contains social lounges with tv’s.</p>
<p>For those who decide that they (or their kid) have to have a tv in the dorm, you should check out the college’s residence hall web pages for information about whether the college provides any kind of cable/satellite service to the individual dorm rooms. I know that at St. Olaf (where my S will be going in the fall), the web pages point out that while the tv’s in the lounges are on cable, there is no cable or satellite access for tv’s brought into individual rooms. Those tv’s can pick up Twin Cities stations off the air with appropriate rabbit ears (and converter boxes) if the students insist on bring a tv.</p>
<p>If your son or daughter insists on bringing a TV…</p>
<p>In my son’s freshman dorm, the standard location for the TV was on top of the rental refrigerator (which implied a very small TV). But in my daughter’s dorm at a different college, this would not have worked. There, the refrigerators had some sort of vents on the top, and you couldn’t place anything on top of them.</p>
<p>So your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>In my son’s experience, TVs were indeed a social outlet for those students who had game systems hooked up to them and played sports-type video games with friends. But this is a sort of specialized interest that not everyone shares, and playing video games in one’s dorm room can be isolating for some other people.</p>
<p>Whatever on the no TV. DD took a 26" flat screen with built in DVD . Put it on top of the dresser. Definitely a very social thing. She often has friends in to watch movies and weekend sports.<br>
DS had a 42" in a suite style apartment. The guys used it more for sports and gaming. Again…pretty social. Not isolating at all for both, in fact just the opposite.</p>