Sears Fall Sales going on, NOW. Toshiba 14" flat screen with S-Video and RCA inputs, $159.00, with additional 10% off if you use a Sears Card.
Sony 13" flat screen, $179 with additional 10% off for Sears Card. RCA (Composite) inputs, only.

Personally, yes, I was looking for everything you mentioned, focusing largely on size and price - the SVHS was not quite as important, but I was glad to find it in the "less than $200.00 range." So that's the one I settled on.
Plus, as I mentioned, another user here had already purchased the unit and recommended it, so that weighed in as well.
My ONLY complaint about this particular unit (and keep in mind that I haven't gone through BillyBoy's tute about setting up a TV) is that it seems to "bend" the picture in high-contrast areas.
I have one shot of a dark, round table (shooting down on it) with a guy's arm reaching into the middle of it. When his light flesh-tones cross the dark table, the edges of the pic warp a bit. I haven't had much of a chance to look into that yet. But I know our expensive Sony monitors at work do the same thing, so I'm thinking, Big Deal.
I like my new monitir. -mjr

"(Just wish I had better "real-time" playback over the external, but that will come.) -mjr "

You may already know this, but you can play with the Preview quality settings (Draft, Preview, Good, Best; full/auto resolution) to trade off between frame rate and resolution. For unaltered DV video on an external monitor, I use Preview / Full with good results.

If I have filters, etc. on the event, I bump it up to "Good", then back down to "Preview" once I have the filter/fx settings done.

Then there's always "Dynamic RAM preview, " and "Selectively Pre-Render" for those multiple layer deals.

Also for those of you who don't want to spend $200 for an external monitor there are a lot of cheap regular 13" tv's out there. I got a Apex one about 6 months ago for only $60 at circuit city, and it works great.

It's also nice to have a second TV in the house for when your g/f is watching Lifetime and the Packers game is on!!!!

mjroddy,

I've been searching the forum and reading many opinions and use of external monitors and I've found this good thread you started. Today at Best Buy I saw the 14 inch Toshiba that you are using. It looks like a good TV/monitor at a good price. Now that you've had it for a little while, how do you like it?

I'm one of those that are the fence about purchasing an external monitor. My main concern is just the desk space consumed for another monitor. I don't do professional level work so I'm not sure if an external monitor is overkill for the hobbyist. I'm not sure I'll ever have the need to do color correction, which to my understanding, is the main reason to have a NTSC external monitor. Are there any other significant reasons? Thanks for all comments.

Do you absolutely have to have a external monitor? No. A better question perhaps would be how seriously do you take your hobby? You know the old saying... ignorance is bliss. Meaning only that if you don't know something is "off" then it isn't going to bother you.

Lets look at the issue from a slighly different angle: Color Space. Devices like cameras, printers, televisions and computer monitors all work within their own color space. That just means no single device regardless what it is or how much it costs can reproduce all colors within the spectrum of human vision. They are limted to the own unique gamut or color space.

A good example of how different this gamut can be is to consider RGB color used in television and computer monitors and CMYK color used in the printing industry. Anyone just starting in desktop publishing may be mortified to discover that pretty shade of purple that looks just right on their computer monitor could come back a ugly muddy color in the catalog or if they're lucky a shade of red. In fact 'out of gamut' is a common expression. The reaon is certain colors can be reproduced with inks that can't be seen on a computer monitor and the other way around as well. With computer monitors and televsions the differences are not as extreme but they are still there.

The reason to use an external monitor is IF your final project is going to be viewed off a TV either directly via a connected device or played on a TV via CD or DVD, then it makes sense to color correct while viewing on a similar device so you're working in the same color space. Otherwise you're just guessing. Some of course are better at guessing then others. So you don't absolutely have to have an external monitor. And it becomes less important if you're only going to view your projects on one or two TV's you control. So as long as you're aware of the differences in hue and levels you can adjust for it 'in your head' or even just ignore it.

Hope that explains better why its done.

Thanks BillyBoy. So my assumption was correct in that the main reason to have an external monitor is for color correction. My finished projects will be burned on DVDs and viewed almost 100% by my family on my home TVs (direct view and 60 inch rear projection).

To date I've only played finished projects directly from DV connected by S video to the TV. I haven't found a reason yet to color correct, not that they don't need it, but rather I'm not a professional that might see where very slight color correction would be nice. Maybe as time goes on and my experience with Vegas increases I'll easily see the need for color correction.

I was hoping that an external monitor would also improve the editijng experience overall by making easier, quicker, more accurate, etc. Is this also the case? Cost isn't the issue, rather it's the desktop real estate that I have to give up for the second monitor.

Thanks.

We're getting more into the subjective area. Space on your desk can become a issue. I have a 5 foot wide desk where I got my computer monitor, trackball, keyboard, phone. then next to it another "L" shaped desk bookshelf kind of thing that's about 40 inches on the short part of the "L" and another 50 inches on the long side. I have my external monitor on the short part of the "L" at a angle to where I sit making it about 40 inches away so I don't feel boxed in. All my other stuff, scanner, printers, etc. are on the smaller desk, so I got wiggle room.

Does it make the editing experience better, easier? Nah, I won't go that far, its just what works for me. Others like the dual monitor approach where they spread the desktop across two computer monitors, then add an external monitor on top of that.

I didn't like that arragement much.

You're in for some plesant surprises. As you gain experience with Vegas you'll appreciate how powerful it is. As I've said many times, Vegas, like Photoshop are rare applications in that they both function very well at the elementary level where you can install either and twenty minutes later you're doing some cool stuff without even touching help or looking at the manual. Invest a few hundred hours with either applicaion or thousands, and you appreciate them that much more. Probably explains why some of us are almost fanatical about both. They both really are that good.

I'm not sure I'll ever have the need to do color correction, which to my understanding, is the main reason to have a NTSC external monitor. Are there any other significant reasons? Thanks for all comments.

======================
In addition to what BillyBoy confirmed about the color issue I find that having the larger image to look at on the external monitor instead of a preview window is reason enough to use one. I often split feed (as I believe BillyBoy does sometimes) to two different TVs to do adjustments to color. I do a final test on 5 different brands to "ballpark" it. In the case of the split feed, one is a 13 inch Sony and the other a 32" Sanyo ($350 at Walmart). I feel that it is a must because people are buying larger and larger TVs these days and you can better see what your clients will be getting if you view on similar size TVs to what they own. Even a simple thing like trying to establish an "acceptable" level of video noise in dark footage is difficult with a really small image. What looks "acceptable" in a preview window or even on a 13"TV can look horrible on a 36" TV.

John