Need a lead

[aa410c]

I want to be able to plug my laptop into my tv and watch films etc.The tv has all of the necessary sockets etc but i dont know which lead to buy.
A friend told me its a vga lead but there are different ones and i am getting confused. Anyone out there do this or know what i need to get hold of ?

[swiss]

I believe it's called an S-Video lead. We have one, got it from Tesco Home Plus for about six quid. Has a round connection for your lappy and a scart which goes in to your tellybox. Can take a photo if needs be. Your TV also needs to be compatible, we have to turn ours to AV2-S, as basic AV1 or 2 gives a grainy black and white picture. And of course your lappy video card must be able to support multiple monitors.

Course for best use you also need an external sound system, got a wee 2.1 which we plug in to the lappy's headphone outlet. Some of the best money we ever spent. Lemme know if you need more info.

[jasper5]

As swiss said, but if your laptop has HDMI and you have a HD ready tv, HDMI is by far the best connection for picture quality.

There is also DVI, if your laptop has DVI but not HDMI and your tv has HDMI, you can get a DVI to HDMI lead.

Of course, there is always VGA.

[aa410c]

PAIN PAIN PAIN> MY HEAD IS|ABOUT TO EXPLODE.
PLease accept that i am old. Thankyou very much for the replies but i am really confused.
I have a sony vaio laptop and a phillips all singing all dancing hdi etc etc etc tv.
As i understand it i need a lead with a printer type port at one end whach plugs into the laptop and a usb connection at the other which plugs into the tv. ???????

[jasper5]

Stick with what swiss said if you aren't sure what you are doing.

Have a look at this.....http://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/search/ The s-video cable is what you need, but have a look at the cables on there.

You could always look through http://www.avforums.com....look for a forum with your make of tv and see what those guys say about connecting your laptop, there is also a cables and interconnects forum to look at, there will also be a forum relating to your laptop.
I'm a member of avforums.com.

[steve_earwig]

I suppose it's a case of finding out what has what. Tell you what, post your laptop and tv model numbers and we'll be round with a crowbar... I mean, we should be able to tell you what you need

[swiss]

You could always just go down Maplin and ask the geeks there. Not the cheapest shop in the world, but if you need a gizmo they have it.

[aa410c]

Dude i have socks older than the staff in maplins. That was the first place i went and came away more confused than ever. Hence the post. A cry for help to the real world.I have asked my other half to sort it out. She is 10yrs younger and might stand a chance of getting something before the tv becomes obsolite

[HimBigChief]

Post some pics of the ports on the laptop and the ports on the tv and you've got more of a chance of being told the right thing. Problem is that there are several different connectors on both laptops and tvs so it could be difficult to get the correct one. From the sounds of it though, you could just use a standard VGA monitor cable (the one with the blue ends) at least that's what I can use on mine. I haven't tried it yet though...