I Used My Mini-LED TV as a Monitor for a Week—and It’s Awesome

I have pretty much every type of display device in my home except a projector (yet!), but I've rarely used any of my TVs as a computer monitor.

That's not what modern 4K TV cannot work as a monitorit's just not always convenient, but one day I did This is convenient, it turns out to be a great idea. At least for my needs.

My crazy work rigs are all over the house.

I rent a two-story house somewhere between the mountains and the sea, and the entire top floor is dedicated to my work. I have a dedicated office, as well as dedicated areas for testing VR software, retro computing and gaming hardware, video content creation equipment, and a small 3D printing workshop with two printers.

You'd think that would be enough, but workaholic that I am, I also have a small desk in the downstairs living room so I can hang out with my wife while I write. To this end, I typically use my MacBook Pro M4 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro M2 as a dual-monitor workstation.

Ignore the CRT monitor– it's just for fun.

It's a little cramped in terms of screen real estate compared to using my 34″ ultrawide monitor with a MacBook in the office, but it's quick and easy to set up and is better than working on just one cramped 14″ monitor.

I built a mobile AV cart

By the way, (initially) my wife wanted a TV in our bedroom. The problem is that there is nowhere to put it. My best idea at first was to buy a small 32-inch TV and then put it on one of the retractable brackets attached to the wall. Like in a hotel.

However, then it occurred to me that I barely use the TV upstairs in my office. The idea was that I would have my own PlayStation 5, Blu-Ray player and TV there. In practice, when I wasn't working, I didn't want to be in the office. So instead of buying an extra TV, I spend about $50. on a mobile AV cart.

Photo: Sydney Lowe Butler/How-To Geek

Then I installed my Samsung QLED on it and rolled it into the bedroom.

Photo: Sydney Lowe Butler/How-To Geek

This solved a lot of problems. If we wanted to watch TV in bed on the weekend, I just had to roll the stand into our bedroom. If I want to play video games in the living room, I can just roll it anywhere I want. Honestly, this is one of the best moves I've ever made, and I really think that the next time I have to hang a TV on the wall, I'd rather buy another one of these instead.

My new mini LED TV amazed me

Now I used my Samsung QLED all the time, which made me realize that this 2021 TV really sucks compared to our basic LG CS OLED. This was especially true when watching TV in our bedroom in the dark, when the poor backlight simply couldn't provide an acceptable picture.

I certainly didn't have another $1,500 to buy a second OLED, but my prayers were answered in the form of the TCL C6K, which is virtually identical to the QM6K.

7/10

Brand

TKL

Display size

85 inches

Dimensions

74 x 42 x 2.3 (without stand)

operating system

Google TV

I have been absolutely impressed with this TV since I got it and it was everything I wanted in a TV even though it cost me less than $500. Especially considering what I got for my Samsung.

Photo: Sydney Lowe Butler/How-To Geek

When I'm not using it in the bedroom (like during the day), I have the stand next to my small desk downstairs. This made me realize that I could plug my Mac into this huge screen and see how well it would work because, well, Job.

Photo: Sydney Lowe Butler/How-To Geek

It helps that this new TV has four HDMI ports instead of three, meaning I can dedicate one port for computer use. So I plugged it in, took the Apple keyboard and Logitech MX Ergo S trackballand began this grand experiment.

8/10

Weight

259 g

Sensor

Logitech Advanced Optical Tracking

Wireless?

Yes

Brand

Logitech

I decided to spend a full week downstairs to see if this big display was usable, and the short answer is yes, but there's more to come.

I never saw the point in a 27″ or even a 32″ 4K desktop monitor. For 4K video editing it's possible, but in video games or even normal desktop use I just I don't see any benefit at normal viewing distance. Sure, it's clearer, but honestly, so what?

Photo: Sydney Lowe Butler/How-To Geek

4K on a 55-inch display? Now we're talking. Suddenly I had enough space and could use the entire display area without the DPI scaling needed on a 4K monitor. It's essentially the equivalent of four 1080p monitors in a 2×2 arrangement. By splitting it down the middle, I was suddenly able to browse websites and word processor without scrolling. Entire articles fit on the screen, and every toolbar has room to breathe.

I can honestly say that this is the least cramped and most comfortable work experience for my particular type of work. Sitting relatively close to the screen isn't a problem either, because I don't have to see the entire screen at once like I would if I were watching a TV show or playing a video game. Treating this as a single multi-monitor setup makes sense.

I could replace my monitor with a mini LED TV

In my office, I currently use a 34-inch ultrawide monitor. Not because of its gaming utility (though I don't hate it!), but because it's a better alternative to two screens.

Photo: Sydney Lowe Butler/How-To Geek

It occurred to me that a mini LED TV would essentially be like two ultrawide TVs stacked on top of each other, so I'm thinking about replacing the monitor with one. However, 55 inches is too much, and in the case of my C6K, the smallest model is 50 inches, which is still a little big. A 48-inch or something like that using mini-LED technology at that price would be killer.

Unfortunately, small TVs are pretty rare, so maybe I'll just get another stand, put it behind the table, and sit a little further away. After all, why not?