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Apologies if this is a basic question - to me it's like rocket science. I have a Dell laptop (Vostro 1700). I would love to be able to display what is on my laptop screen (CD forums, GMail, Excel Spreadsheets) onto my Samsung LCD monitor which is hung on the wall. I figured I could still use the laptop as my keyboard, but the display would be nice and big up on the TV.
In addition, I would love the ability to play movies that I have in my iTunes Library up onto my TV screen too.
I was told by a friend that I just needed an HDMI cable to accomplish this, but while searching the internet prior to purchasing the HDMI cable, it also mentions that a S-Video output wire would be required.
Can someone please tell me what wires I should be purchasing to make this work, or is this something that is not possible.
I do this now. I have a cheap laptop with an S-Video output which I cable to the s-video input of a TV. I have cable with a mini connector on one end and RCA R and L on the other. The mini plugs into the laptop headphone jack and the RCAs plug into the audio in on the TV. The laptop is wireless connected to my network and it pulls video files from one of my server drives. Works great.
It's so nice to just click on a video file to play it. No more DVDs or SVCDs. I just have AVI versions of everything (mostly kids stuff for my kids).
You might have to direct your laptop to either the screen or the TV Out. Right click on the desktop to see if this menu appears. There also might be a function key to toggle video out.
An HDMI cable would cover both audio and video through your system. An S-Video cable would handle video only and to get audio you would need another cable. HDMI would probably give you better results than S-Video but either would work as long as you have the connection on your laptop.
There are many ways to hook up video to a tv: vga, s-video, hdmi, dvi, usb, wirelessly (with a Wireless Display adapter). You most likely have multiple options available on your laptop but you only need to chose one. The only thing to consider would be audio, if you want it, chose an option like HDMI that takes care of them both through 1 cable and you'll normally get better results.
Some newer laptops have an HDMI out, if the one you have does not then you'll need a VGA cable that converts to a format that the monitor on the wall accepts. VGA out will be the port on the side of your laptop, should be colored blue.
Once you figure out what format you can plug into your monitor (DVI, whatever) look for an approprate cable or converter with VGA on other end. If laptop has S-video out then look for that.
Thanks folks, so it's just an HDMI cable I need? I'm like you Charles - the laptop is wireless internet. I saw an 9 foot HDMI cable on Amazon for a good price which will cover the distance (farther than the standard 6 foot distance). Unfortunately, I will have to unplug frequently since this will be running across the center of my living room.
I don't see a My Desk Top option when I look under the Start tab. Is it Control Panel?
Some newer laptops have an HDMI out, if the one you have does not then you'll need a VGA cable that converts to a format that the monitor on the wall accepts. VGA out will be the port on the side of your laptop, should be colored blue.
Once you figure out what format you can plug into your monitor (DVI, whatever) look for an approprate cable or converter with VGA on other end. If laptop has S-video out then look for that.
Slackjaw - thanks - there is the blue colored port on the side of my laptop. And there is a similiar one behind the TV marked TV In.
Forget about S-video, you're way too limited on resolution with that connection. You have a VGA output (analog video) on the side of your laptop (I looked up the specs of the Vostro 1700 and saw a picture of the ports on the side). And your TV has a VGA input. All you need is a standard VGA monitor cable. The connectors are sometimes called HD-15, or D-sub 15. But it's just a standard analog computer monitor cable.
Forget about S-video, you're way too limited on resolution with that connection. You have a VGA output (analog video) on the side of your laptop (I looked up the specs of the Vostro 1700 and saw a picture of the ports on the side). And your TV has a VGA input. All you need is a standard VGA monitor cable. The connectors are sometimes called HD-15, or D-sub 15. But it's just a standard analog computer monitor cable.
Thank you SO much for taking the time to look up my laptop. That was VERY kind of you. OK, now I know what I am getting. Thanks again!
You would need the HDMI which runs audio and video, but you're going to run into the problem after you plug it in to the tv, where you're not getting sound.
You're going to have to configure your sound (probably Realtek) to come out of the digital hdmi as opposed to the normal speakers.
You would need the HDMI which runs audio and video, but you're going to run into the problem after you plug it in to the tv, where you're not getting sound.
You're going to have to configure your sound (probably Realtek) to come out of the digital hdmi as opposed to the normal speakers.
Her laptop doesn't have HDMI or any form of digital video out. It has analog video out on a VGA port. Your post is not helpful.
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