The small b/w ones usually have no remote and really awful sound. Had two of them and had to convert some old computer speakers to understand what was going on. They have advantages too: relatively good reception in bad areas (= almost any decent anchorage) and not power hungry. Lately I bought an el cheapo 12' LCD with remote. Its a good choice since the size is good for comfortable viewing anywhere in a small to medium craft and when not in operation it takes very little space. It is not power hungry either but it is not as sensitive as the b/w's and when reception is not optimal it just rejects the channel instead of letting you view (even in low quality). Sometimes (for news and weather broadcast p.ex) reception quality isnt that important and in this case old b/w's are unbeatable.

Prices here (Athens, Greece) are around $130 for 7'b/w and $250 for 12' LCD. I think that b/w ones are gradually dissapearing from the market.

Concerning laptops etc your best choise is to have a small inverter on board (300W or so). They consume almost nothing when idle and have very good efficiency which mainly means you waste little power into heat. Then you use it for all sorts of things: Laptop, cellular, drills, you name it. My prefered use is to use it overnight to power a heated blanket (60W) which keeps the berth warm and (mainly) dry. I also have a 1500W inverter but this is a remnant from the days I had no generator. I almost use this no more since for such power it is better to use the gen set.

Hope this helps.

Christos.