Just an idea:

Since you have a laptop, it should be pretty easy for you to try it out before moving the furniture around.

My friend's PC is hooked up to his 40" 720p TV, and text is easy to read. I don't have experience with HDTVs smaller than that though.

My PC is currently hooked up to my 22" monitor, a 21" CRT, and a 24" 480p CRT TV. Text is not easy to read on it, but you can zoom the text in if you want...you can make it work. If this will be the PC's primary output, you could set all the text in Windows or on your Mac to be larger, and that would solve the problem I think.

I don't use the TV for web browsing though...just for videos and TV through my TV card.

There are just a lot of obstacles to overcome, and many of them are simply mental. Most people are predisposed to sitting right up against their computer in a chair to do typing, reading, work, etc. You may find yourself gravitating closer towards the screen as you do common computer activities outside of gaming, and that's going to strain your eyes with a 27-32 inch set. If you can break that habit, it'll be really good for you. I personally couldn't do it so I switched back.

Secondly, you're going to need a wireless mouse and keyboard, and a decent setup like a desk or something, because if you do your VGChartzing or your erotic e-novel reading on the bed, you're going to be uncomfortable.

Your best bet is to do both. Hook you comp up to a monitor and TV. Use the TV strictly for gaming and movie watching. Go back to a desk setup with monitor for your other activities. Best of both worlds. If that's not feasible then stick with the monitor.

I've already accounted for the necessary changes needed to adjust for the television size. I'm going to be 4-5 feet away from a 27" set if that's the size I find or 5-6 feet back from something larger.

I'll have to test this on the 46" Aquos I'm getting when I travel back to California in a few days. Then I'll be able to judge for myself whether this will work or not.

I don't have a laptop right now but I will be buying one when I start seeing Apple's new Macbooks start hitting their refurb site.