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i want to connect my laptop to my tv so i can watch the movies stored on my laptop through my tv, is this possible to do? if so what sort of leads and shizzle do i need?

What laptop do you have?

Usually it's an S-Video lead for telly and you'll need a 3.5mm to Phono connector for audio

Vaio, i have a s video out port if that helps

If it's to a flat screen most have standard monitor cable ports. 17pin or whatever it is.

hmmmm i dont understand that, do u know what the lead is called i will need? its for a new plasma

VGA, but use S-video if you have it.

is there lots of types just basically just a s video lead

http://www.cabling4less.co.uk/S-Video_Cables.php?referrer=google&gclid=CJPhtv-1mJcCFUwb3godSRuPIw

or this if your laptop and tv have the right ports:

http://www.cabling4less.co.uk/index.php?pageLayoutId=14

http://www.cabling4less.co.uk/index.php?pageLayoutId=5

and that for audio

ok mate thanks, i havent got the tv yet, so shall i just get my tv then just check what connection it has and pick the lead from those lists?

or look up the spec online and get the corresponding one.

Would be surprised if there was no s-vid on a new tv, it's pretty standard.

ok mate, thanks alot for the help

Good boy, good manners.

If it's a fancy new laptop it may have an HDMI port you can use.

whats a hdmi port?

High def media input. I made that up

high def multimedia interface, but close.

Oooh

Not a bad guess. High Definition Multimedia Interface. I had to google it.

It's a High Def connection JPC. Your fancy telly will have it, laptop would have to be quite new I'd have thought.

[url width=400 height=400]http://www.k1cable.com/images/hdmi_000.jpg[/url]

yeah my laptop doesnt have that, another quick question, if i downloaded a movie in blu ray and played it on my tv through my laptop would it be blu ray quality even though my laptop hasnt got blu ray, does that make sense?

The resolution you can get through S-Video is not high definition quality. So the answer is no.

If you want full HD your best route would be to get a media streamer or an external media hard drive with an HDMI connection.

In fact, I managed to find one that does both: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-044-FC

You can either transmit a video over your wireless connection to this and then hook it up to your tv via HDMI for full 1080p ralphy goodness, or you can put a hard drive in it and store your videos on there (like a normal hard drive) and hook it up to your tv via HDMI.

so i download bluray movies from the net but save to that media hard drive u just posted then instead of my laptop?

You must have a very good laptop if it's good enough to render a Blu Ray film.

my laptop is nothing amazing, so are u saying that it wont retain the bluray its quality as its downloading unless the laptop is shit hot?

It'll download it, but just won't play it smoothly.

Try this: http://www.cyberlink.com/stat/bd-support/enu/index.jsp

It'll tell you if your hardware is good enough for Blu-Ray / HD-DVD

Si what is ralphy goodness

If the download is in full blu ray quality, you can just put it on that hard drive and it will play it in HD. You'll need to add a hard drive though, that's just an enclosure, or use windows file sharing to do it. Would be a good method as it would save space on your laptop.

But using my method, you don't even use the laptop to play it.

any advice on what speaker systems i should be looking at?

also 1 more thing, sorry if im pissing u off, but is there anyway i can save my current recording on my sky+ box then some how get it onto my new sky+ HD box?

Without taking the hard drives out of the sky boxes, thus invalidating the warranty. No.

What's your budget for a sound system?

havent got a clue how much it would cost, £250 maybe?

Sounds like an all in one system would suit. This page might help:

http://whathifi.com/Reviews/All-in-one-systems-Reviews/Home-Cinema-in-a-Box-Reviews/Price_Desc/

Personally I wouldn't spend a grand on a telly and then only a quarter on sound.

what would u suggest to go with that tv mate?

As said, invalidates your warranty.

Taking the Sky+ box apart and getting the drive out is a piece of piss. Not so easy with the HD box apparently (not done that myself).

Anyway...if you go down that route this is very very useful:

http://www.skycopyplus.co.uk/

what size room is it in?

25ft x 25ft maybe

for £250 your best bet is a 5.1 package. Won't knock your socks off but will improve your 'movie experience'.

ok thanks for all the help

Bet he says that to all the youth team players though DRS - when he's finished with them!

why do u think im getting the new tv? entice them in

Good thinking! ;)

i would think twice before using s-video

s-video is only 480i, max 576i which is the same as a standard TV signal

and you will need to make sure both "ends" (your PC and the TV) support s-video at that res, but s-video is a bad idea whatever way you look at it

personally I would use VGA (someone posted the cable on page1) VGA can support whatever your laptop can output, maybe upto 1920x1080 which is 1080p full high def

you will need to check the manual for your TV to see what inputs support what resolution, if your VGA input (may be called d-sub) can support 1368x768 and upwards, then def 100% go for that

you want to achieve 1.1 pixel mapping, which means every pixel that your TV displays being filled with a signal from the laptop,  if you don't have 1.1 then you are either squashing, or more likely expanding a signal, and this can lead to poor quality images

VGA is the best option, the cable is cheap, as for audio... good options for audio have been discussed in this thread

you need to read and understand your manual before you decide on what route to take

what do u mean by adding hard drive mate? and also whats windows file sharing?.

so would that defo work si?

I like you jp you are as thick as me

haha cheers mate

I have given up asking for help on here as i dont understand the answers

i know they are all so selfish, they should just do it for us instead of explaining it, dont u think?

Yeah si pie should move into my spare room

you'll have to fight me for him, hes chained up in mine as we speak!

Lucky Si Pie.

Don't be jealous

The thing I posted does not include a hard drive, you'll have to add on £40 for a decent sized one. Otherwise you can stream the video from your laptop, but I heard this has stability issues in HD.

Other option is to burn films to dvd, then buy an upscaling dvd player, which takes the picture up to HD quality. Certainly going to be cheaper for you!

If you have a ps3, have you considered renting blu ray films? All this seems like a lot of hassle just for the sake of a few quid a film by downloading them. That is of course, if you're really fussed about the whole HD thing in the first place.

Oh and I've been in Essex, got back today. I certainly won't be going near JPC or DRS any time soon.

Upscalers do not take DVDs up to HD quality, they probably add on 50% of the difference at most. My Blu-ray player is an astonishingly good upscaler but it still isn't close to true Blu-Ray.

Yeah good point. Tbh, I was a bit dubious if a ripped blu ray disc is as good as the real thing. I think that's what Sam was trying to get at earlier. Did a google and came up with this, which suggests my scepticism is probably right.

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article5191014.ece


How much are blu ray discs to rent? Probably the only way you're going to get the best picture without buying.

So to conclude, ignore the previous 4 pages of rambling from me and just rent blu ray instead  8)

Lovefilm include them as part of their rental packages. If you're anything like axs, then the average cost of a rental from them is 70p.

As long as you play the game with lovefilm and watch them quick and post them back next day you can get the average cost down to 70p.

I try to, but my last 4 films have all gone missing in the post. Thieving postie bastards. Ralphy out!

Really? I've never had any missing or late - you must live in a dodgy area.

I post them on my way to work so won't be using that postbox again. I have to wait until Monday to report them lost which means I've only had 4 films this month. Grrr.