colorisnteverything wrote:
The monitor is a good idea, but awkward for me, I would think. Like, you would be typing on your laptop and staring at another monitor.

I don't have TV either. I am studying in the UK right now and a TV license is required to own ANY TV. No joke. It's about $300.00 US right now. I just watch things on youtube or Iplayer, which is free and legal.
They have laptop docks that you can get! Like, you just dock the laptop to the monitor and keyboard, and it works like a tower. When you want to travel or take it somewhere, you unplug it and voila! Laptop again.

My UK friends say TV totally isn't worth it over there. Now that there's BitTorrent and all the streaming television sites, there's no reason to pay for cable...especially since I have to get 6 different ESPN channels and "Lifetime" if I want to have Discovery, Bravo, and Sci Fi. *grin*