Connecting Laptop to TV

S

sivman17

New Member
I have an older laptop and an older TV. My laptop only has the 15 pin VGA outlet and my TV only has the Red, White, Yellow AV inputs. How can I connect my laptop to my TV so I can watch movies and such on my TV?

I have searched around and seen VGA converters, but they all have S Video outputs, and since there is no S Video on my TV I didn't know if this meant I had to use S Video? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
Are you sure your laptop doesn't have s-video out? A good number of laptops did have that and it's an easy conversion from s-video to RCA (red/white/yellow). Otherwise, you're pretty much out of luck. There is no direct conversion from VGA to RCA (unless you have the correct card which is highly unlikely) Here's something that would work, but don't expect much in terms of quality. TV-Out is very low quality, and these converters drop it even more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815276010
 
This can be done, but your picture isn't going to be all that great - it ought to be good enough for movies and games, though.

You'll need one of these:


(5 in Video cable 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) - male - 4 pin mini-DIN - female 1 x RCA - female - PC - $3.00)


One of these:


(6 ft Video cable RCA - male - PC - $4.00)


And one of these, if you want audio on your TV as well:


(Audio cable - Male Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm to M RCA - $2.00)


Now, be forewarned: though all of those cables might be less than $10 altogether, they will rape you on the shipping if you order online - so if you're going to go this route, you might try going to your local computer shop, Best Buy or even Walmart (for the audio and video cable anyway - I doubt they'll have the VGA to RCA).

If you decide to go this route, post back and let us know how it works out. I watch movies from my (old) lappy on my (old) tv all the time, and they look good to me. My lappy has an RCA video out on the back (uncommon, I know - google Compaq Evo N400c to see for yourself!) and I listen to the headphones coming off of the computer, so I didn't have to get anything but the RCA video cable.

Hope that helps you out!

[edit]
You will need to check that your video card has the TV-Out ability - please post your laptop make/model so we can check before you buy anything!!![
(thanks The_Other_One)
[/edit]
 
Last edited:
Thanks!

I have a Gateway 6010GZ. I know that my laptop has TV-Out capabilities because I have hooked it up to a newer TV through a VGA cable and it works fine.

Dean, I will try your technique and buy those cables. I plan on using it for movies and also MLB.TV to watch MLB games. I will let you know how it works out.
 
Connecting a laptop to a TV by VGA doesn't mean it has TV-Out capabilities. TV Out is a loose term used to describe laptops with RCA or S-Video outputs. As far as I can tell, that one does not. That won't support the VGA to RCA cable either. You're going to be limited to either the converter as I mentioned or a TV/LCD with VGA on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top