Connecting laptop (T61) to LCD TV

[radhak]

I never realized all this while that my Laptop (Lenovo T61) does not have any video-out port other than the standard VGA 15-pin .

I somehow remember seeing an s-video port, but guess that must have been on one of the older laptops and this is an 'upgrade' !

So when I tried to connect to my HD LCD TV , I find that I cannot simply buy a cable and do so. Looks like I need a converter to convert the 15-pin's analog to a digital signal, or I need an s-video or DVI output.

Does anybody know of a PCMCI card with a DVI or S-video port? Google is not very helpful - the only option seems to cost $175 !

The best I could see is this usb-to-DVI converter for $75 (though dunno why they mention HDMI there). I can't see many pictures there, so I imagine the other side of the device must allow me to connect to my laptop with a USB cable?

Any other ideas?

[jziegler]

DVI is compatable with HDMI, you only need a cable to go from one to the other (like these: http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...02&cp_id=10231 ). The USB device would work with one of those cables. If your TV has a component input, in the past there were VGA to component adaptors available that would work with some graphics cards.

Is there a docking station available for the laptop? Sometimes they have different ports.

[jdon]

Are you certain that your TV doesn't have a VGA port?

[LCHIEN]

S-video won't cut it. not enough resolution for a computer display.
There's several flavors of DVI - I'm assuming your TV has DVI in? That's not that common on TVs. VGA ports are much more common on TVs. TVs and media players used DVI for about a year then went all HDMI.
Info on DVI (DVI-A DVI-I and DVI-integrated) see what your has.
http://www.datapro.net/techinfo/dvi_info.html

If you just need the adapter,
goto ebay and search for DVI to VGA adapter
there's both DVI (male) to VGA (F)
and DVI (F) to VGA (M)
I can't recall offhand which one you need, take a look at your computer and TV.

there's also cables with DVI on one end and VGA on the other. search for DVI VGA CABLE
at eBay.
they're very inexpensive.

[radhak]

Are you certain that your TV doesn't have a VGA port?

Good question. I should clarify : the TV in my home is a 42" LG, and it does have the VGA port. I have not yet tried connecting to it yet; I shall now.

But this TV I need to connect to is a shared 'community' TV (32" LCD) bought to help for weekend classes (call it 'free tuition', if you will) that I volunteer for. When I examined it yesterday I found no VGA port at all, to my surprise. Lemme get the make/model # to double-check.

S-video won't cut it. not enough resolution for a computer display.
There's several flavors of DVI - I'm assuming your TV has DVI in? That's not that common on TVs. VGA ports are much more common on TVs. TVs and media players used DVI for about a year then went all HDMI.
Info on DVI (DVI-A DVI-I and DVI-integrated) see what your has.
http://www.datapro.net/techinfo/dvi_info.html

If you just need the adapter,
goto ebay and search for DVI to VGA adapter
there's both DVI (male) to VGA (F)
and DVI (F) to VGA (M)
I can't recall offhand which one you need, take a look at your computer and TV.

there's also cables with DVI on one end and VGA on the other. search for DVI VGA CABLE
at eBay.
they're very inexpensive.

The TV has only S-Video, RGB and HDMI inputs. I did not see either DVI or VGA inputs. On hindsight it does seem pretty odd; gotta check again.

My online research tells me that the HDMI port needs digital signals, which the VGA out of the laptop does not provide. And reviewers have also said that the cables with VGA on one side and any digital-out (DVI / HDMI ) on the other will not work on their own - they need an analog-to-digital convertor first.

I only wanted to use the s-video port to save trouble and money; correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't RGB and S-video analog? so maybe I could simply get a cable that has VGA on one end and RGB on the other - no conversion to digital needed, right?

Most of what I want to use it for is to display text. How will that work with these connections?

[natausch]

Worst case scenario; VGA to RGB Cable, you should be able to pick up one for less than $10, should be the cheapest option.

Then the only question you have to overcome is RCA to mini for sound or no sound.

[thrytis]

VGA out on the computer and S-Video, RGB, and HDMI in on the TV? I've seen a few converter boxes for such things:

VGA to S-Video/RGB for $18.

VGA to HDMI for $27.

Never used one though so i can't tell you how they well they work.

[thrytis]

Worst case scenario; VGA to RGB Cable, you should be able to pick up one for less than $10, should be the cheapest option.

Then the only question you have to overcome is RCA to mini for sound or no sound.

I think VGA to RGB cables require the video card to support it. I don't think it is universally supported by all cards.

[radhak]

I think VGA to RGB cables require the video card to support it. I don't think it is universally supported by all cards.

Now that's a new kink my sys-admin threw at me : seems since the T61 is an 'work' laptop it does not come with a TV-out, so I do need a converter. Looks like your other links are gonna be useful. Thanks!