I had a small apartment so my desk/office area was a corner of the living room and I could run an HDMI cable over to use it as a secondary monitor for watching stuff on the computer. Even the fact that it would display 1080i was a huge jump from my previous bargain bin TV.
It was the days of Windows Media Center and it was before cable companies got rid of Clear QAM channels so I found that I could just take the shared cable in my 3-apartment house and hook up to a cheap Hauppauge card for tuner, guide, and DVR. Add a cheap USB IR receiver/remote and it was like having the "good" cable with the bells and whistles (but with a better interface and for free).
Eventually got an HDTV when prices came down and income went up, but a few years ago when a girl I knew was looking for a CRT to set up a retro gaming station for her young daughter, I donated all 111 lbs. of it gladly. That thing is probably still going.