PC to TV converter

[neudi]

I have a new laptop with a RGB Port(same thing as VGA I believe) and I was wanting to be able to hook it up to my tv to be able to watch movies and shows. If I do this will I have to buy the cables that connect to a converter and the cables that connect from the converter to the tv? I found a few converters that may work but was not sure. If you are educated in this sort of thing please explain how to do it and what to buy. This is an example of what I found:

one example of the coverter

[zeg]

I've never seen a VGA port called an RGB port. If it's a D-shaped connector with 15 pins, then it's probably VGA. In that case, that device ought to work, though I don't know anything about that particular model.

There's a decent chance that a new laptop has some sort of TV output capability of its own. What model do you have?

[neudi]

Its a 15 pin connection (3 rows of 5). The style is a Toshiba Satellite L305D-S5895

[NorCalGolfer]

does your laptop have an s-video out or hdmi out?

[zeg]

Ok, looks like it's a VGA output and no TV out. Next question: what sort of TV do you have?

edit: from Toshiba's web page, looks like it's VGA output only, no hdmi or svideo.

[Range King]

In general VGA/RGB is not compatible with standard TV input signals.
You really have to go for a converter.

whatever converter you find, don't expect too much in terms of video quality on your TV.

What TV do you have? What Inputs?

[M2R]

You could try going to EBAY and search for "VGA converter" and "VGA convertor". You should be able to find about anything you need. Most likely something like this for analog or this for digital.

[TN94z]

What kind of tv do you have? With my tv you can just hook a vga cable straight from the pv to the tv.

[neudi]

panasonic tube tv. It's and older version of tv.

[TN94z]

Gotcha...

[neudi]

So you think the converter will work that I posted in my first post or will I just need a straight cable with no converter.

[zeg]

A tube TV is unlikely to have a VGA input on it, so you'll need a converter. First you'll need to figure out what sort of inputs your TV has. The possibilities, assuming no VGA port, are RF, composite, S-Video, and component, in order of improving video quality. (this all assumes you're in the US, things will be different elsewhere)

RF: connector looks like the traditional cable TV or antenna socket, a threaded round connector with a small hole in the center.

Composite: single yellow RCA-style jack, possibly next to a red/white pair of RCA jacks for for audio

S-Video: round yellow multi-pin connector about the same size as an RCA jack but with much smaller pins and one large rectangular alignment tab

Component: Three RCA jacks for video plus two more for audio. The video jacks are (IIRC) colored red, green, and blue.

Figure out which of those you have and want to use and you'll need to be sure your connector provides it. The easiest to find will probably be S-Video or Composite. If you have to go to RF, I'm not sure you'll be happy with the video quality.

[sam004]

So you think the converter will work that I posted in my first post or will I just need a straight cable with no converter.

I bought one of these a while back. I don't recall the picture being that good.

I'll hook it up and try it again and leave another post. I want to do the same thing. One thing I did was pick up 19" Toshiba LCD TV with a PC input [std 15 pin monitor connection. I can watch regular and HD TV or use it a monitor for my PC. It' still only a 19", but it's OK for watching them at my desk.

[zeg]

In my experience, the quality is good enough for watching TV or movies, but it's not going to look like HD. It's definitely not good enough for doing work -- high resolution text looks awful on an interlaced TV display.

[sam004]

Just hooked up between TV and PC and watched a movie. It seemed good enough

Using an old product from this company.

http://www.aitech.com/products/products.htm

[uttexas]

check out slingbox.
http://www.slingmedia.com/

my brother in law has this and loves it

[neudi]

I went ahead and bought the grandtec converter that is in my first post along with a 3.5mm to dual rca cable for sound. Hopefully this is what I need. I'll post again for an update in case others were looking for a good product such as this.