Due to the geographics of the dorm room the best place for the lcd tv is on top of the microwave. Is this a bad thing for the TV? Is there a potential for permanent damage?
I don’t see any reason why a TV can’t sit on a microwave. Firstly, the microwaves don’t escape the microwave itself. If they did then you would be in trouble, not the TV. Secondly, the two use different frequencies of radiation that will not interact. So even if microwaves escaped they will not be picked up of
TV.
Microwaves expell a lot of water out the back as steam. It can corode or short the tv if that steam gets into the unit. It poses a serious tipping hazard, and falling tv’s kill people every year. Their may also be a electromagentic noise problem with microwave messing up the picture. The last one might occur or not.
My microwave is basically just a box made out of thin metal–I don’t trust it to hold anything heavier than a big stack of paper plates, let alone a TV set. Especially a not-cheap LCD TV.
Also, mine has a vent on the top of it, so that needs to be not covered up.
And, as previously mentioned, microwaves put out a lot of heat and steam. I can’t imagine that’s good for a TV set, to be on top of all that.
Unless, of course, your parents are paying for the TV, and you don’t care whether it falls off onto the floor, or has its innards corroded, in which case, go for it. 
However, if it’s coming out of your pocket, then hie thee to Wal-Mart and invest $25 in a Sauder Utility Cart. It’s one of those “some assembly required” things, but hey, a college student oughta be able to figure it out. Hint: a Phillips screwdriver is the one with the X on it.
That is for CRT TV’s this is a LCD TV, depending on the price of the TV dauerbach might feel like killing him(her)self if it were to fall, but I don’t think the TV itself will be the cause of death.
The stability of the microwave as a base is not in question, as it is a peculiar combination microfridge/microwave all built into one unit, with the microwave on top. I appreciate the information concerning the steam however.
Sure they do–just not very much. Leakage is unavoidable, particularly as the oven ages and door seal quality degrades. Plus, the door window mesh that lets you see into the oven blocks most of the microwave radiation from escaping, but not all. For a new oven, the leakage is limited to 5 mW per square centimeter at a distance of 5 cm from the oven’s outer surface. Most new ovens made today come in far below that level. But there’s still SOME leakage.
Unless you have a pacemaker the amount of escaped microwaves is harmless to your and your TV. The hightest frequency a TV uses is RF which is less than microwaves. Empirical evidence would be to tune into a UHF channel and turn the microwave on.
IMHO, the amount of steam coming out of the heating microwave would be less than that of any kitchen with stew on. Plenty of homes have TVs in the kitchen without incident.
As for the tipping problem, yes beware. If you were going to trade school I wouldn’t worry but you’re a college student.
I think the whole reason for putting the TV on the microfridge is that there isn’t much space to put it somewhere else. True, you could put a printer or something on the cart also, thus freeing up space somewhere else. But it seems likely that there wouldn’t be enough room to put a cart like that in the room.
When and if you decide to get a new TV, I recommend a TV tuner card for your computer. After all, your computer already has a screen, and likely a pretty high-resolution one at that, so why not just use it as your TV? I think this is the one I have: Hauppauge | Page Not Found
On second though…the microwaves might dry out the electrolytic capacitors which are usually the first thing to go in monitors. If you notice vertical fold over or vertical linearity problems (both at the top of the screen) within a few months then I would blame the microwave. Or not, most of my experience is with CRT type monitors.
I saw that it was. The point was they fall and if a toddler or drunk is on the floor they still can kill them. I would invest in a wall bracket, and mount it in my privite area instead of the kitchen.
I don’t know if it’s on the consumer market yet, but Whirlpool has a microwave, where the front hatch is a(n) LCD tv screen. Nifty and George Carlinesque, if you ask me.
I don’t know the exact cause, but when my officemate uses his microwave, I can see an annoying flicker on my CRT computer monitor. The two are about 1.5 meters apart. The noise might be carried through the air, or perhaps through the power cables, but there’s definitely some interference.
FWIW, when I was living out of a hotel room, I noticed that the reception on my XM radio would go out when I used the microwave.
You can get wall-mounts for CRT TVs, for lighter, smaller LCD TVs they should be even cheaper. One of them will give you a lot more possibilities as far as mounting the TV, and adjusting it in the room. Look into it.
Of course, some dorms may not allow you to mount anything onto the walls. Or they may require either that you repair the wall when you move out, or will charge you a damage fee.