I am new and am just now entering in the whole laptop world. I know, I am way behind.
So there is a lot that I do NOT know about all of this new technology. But I know FW folks are smarter than me so figured I would try here to get some advice.
I am looking at laptops and one of the sticking points for me buying one is the fact that my hdtv has every outlet EXCEPT VGA. And since I am on a budget, most of the computers I seem to be looking at in the lower price range are VGA. So I wasn't going to buy one of those. But then I got to thinking that maybe there is a way to convert.
So....if you have a VGA port on your laptop, can you buy an adapter or a converted plug of some kind that would make the VGA either HDMI or DVI?
And if I go that route, in order to use just one plug for both audio and video in one cord, which method do I need to choose?
My tv has both HDMI and DVI sockets.
Thanks for any help you can offer. Sorry to sound like a boob but I just have never had a laptop so I don't know much about this stuff yet.
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Most new laptops will also have a DVI output, even the cheaper models usually do now. DVI is the same exact signal output as HDMI, only without the sound. You can get a cheap adapterto do the conversion. You can go with the one Flatbob linked if you only have VGA, but the quality of the signal isn't going to be the same. If you plan on connecting to an HD display, it's worth the extra money to make sure the laptop has DVI out.
I got the 46" sharp LCD TV from WalMart last Saturday and tried to connect to my laptop (one Dell and one HP), but whatever line I use (VGA to Component or VGA to VGA), the TV never shows out anything. I have tried to clone the display to laptop and monitor or set different resolution, the TV is always dark. Anyone has good luck? please help me and thanks a lot.
Message edited by: alaazz on 2009-11-10 08:55:53 CST
alaazz said:I got the 46" sharp LCD TV from WalMart last Saturday and tried to connect to my laptop (one Dell and one HP), but whatever line I use (VGA to Component or VGA to VGA), the TV never shows out anything. I have tried to clone the display to laptop and monitor or set different resolution, the TV is always dark. Anyone has good luck? please help me and thanks a lot.
There normally is an Fn key combination on the laptop that toggles between the laptop display and external display. Check your laptop manual.
skibum43 said:alaazz said:I got the 46" sharp LCD TV from WalMart last Saturday and tried to connect to my laptop (one Dell and one HP), but whatever line I use (VGA to Component or VGA to VGA), the TV never shows out anything. I have tried to clone the display to laptop and monitor or set different resolution, the TV is always dark. Anyone has good luck? please help me and thanks a lot.
There normally is an Fn key combination on the laptop that toggles between the laptop display and external display. Check your laptop manual.
Yes, I tried that and the screen of my laptop and the TV are both dark, I pushed the F button again and my laptop screen shows out everything. It seems my laptop knows there is an extra monitor every time when I plugged in the VGA cord, just no "real" signal to the TV.
It can be a real PITA to get this working. Many times there is a seperate application from the video card manufacturer that is independant from the Windows settings. Look in the taskbar and see if there is an icon for a video application. Sometimes you have to use that to choose the output, especially if you have 2, like DVI and SVGA. Beyond that, it's usually either the Fn key and setting the right resolution. You might also try it with a computer monitor, if possible, to make sure the port is working.
Flatbob said:I think this will do what you want. I don't know whether the resulting output will be acceptable on an HDTV, however. Read the reviews before you buy.Sorry Flatbob, but that won't work.
DVI Is digital and Analog at the same time. Converting VGA to DVI means you are only passing the Analog signal, and since the TV doesn't have a VGA input, it doesn't accept Analog signals via the DVI.
I did read last night that since VGA is analog and HDMI is digital, you can't convert the two just through a cord because they are different formats. So you would have to spend a bunch of money to buy a converter box. Which would mean I would just better off spending a little more money on a better laptop.
I want to thank you folks for helping me with this. I had no idea there was so much to learn about laptops until I started looking in to buying one. I've most certainly gotten a good education this past week!!
To answer your question about audio: HDMI will have both audio and video, while DVI is video only. If you go with DVI, you can get a cable with a male mini plug to connect to the laptop's headphone jack, and RCA plugs on the other end to connect to the TV's audio inputs.
If you don't want to spend on dvi or hdmi outputs on the laptop, see if u can get one with a s-component output. I use that to connect to my tv and I have decent results. I am not a strickler for hd high quality only, so it works.
Same goes for spelling, you're not a strickler for that, either
bharatiya said:If you don't want to spend on dvi or hdmi outputs on the laptop, see if u can get one with a s-component output. I use that to connect to my tv and I have decent results. I am not a strickler for hd high quality only, so it works.
bharatiya said:Oops! My bad. Sometimes you just loose the word that you recall easily after 15 mins Haha. I hope AcidSpectrum doesn't notice this one too.
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