Need to connect laptop to an analog TV

3

I have a somewhat recent, but already outdated, albeit nice analog TV. I also have a dell laptop and a MacBook (with an adaptor for standard VGA monitor). I wish to use one laptop or the other (but not both at once) to watch a movie. How can I connect both video and audio of a laptop to that TV? Do I need a power adaptor due to digital to analog conversion? I need a cable that is ideally 15 feet in length, but anything in 12-18 feet range should be fine. Specs are below. Not sure if S-video or RCA is better. I do not know that much about all of the jacks, to be honest. What should I buy? I must spend under $50 on the gadget, preferably $35 or less.

http://www.retrevo.com/s/Insignia-NS-F24TV-TVs-review-manual/id/4563ci761/t/1-2/

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/stats/macbook-pro-core-2-duo-2.2-15-santa-rosa-specs.html

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2827

Thanks, and let me know what questions you have.

My apple computer:

  Model Name:   MacBook Pro
  Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1
  Processor Name:   Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed:  2.4 GHz
  Number Of Processors: 1
  Total Number Of Cores:    2
  L2 Cache: 4 MB
  Memory:   2 GB
  Bus Speed:    800 MHz

Fantomas

Posted 2010-10-06T01:09:08.533

Reputation: 399

VGA is analog, not digital, so no digital to analog conversion is needed. – ubiquibacon – 2010-10-06T01:43:54.010

Answers

3

You have an S-Video out on your Dell. Use that.

If your TV has S-Video in, then use that. S-Video gives you better quality than straight up composite (RCA plugs) video. Now, an S-Video cable only covers the video portion. You will still need to run audio.

If your TV doesn't have S-Video, get a cable like this: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10207&cs_id=1020704&p_id=6163&seq=1&format=2

Brad

Posted 2010-10-06T01:09:08.533

Reputation: 4 459

TV has S-Video in, but my Dell is ancient - no matching port. Thanks for the link, it is cheap enough. For MacBook Pro ... I might need a separate cable there. – Fantomas – 2010-10-06T02:14:10.720

Most of the ancient Dell laptops have S-Video out, and the link you put up for your laptop definitely has one. – Brad – 2010-10-06T02:16:29.623

If the Dell has any sort of secondary video out, it should be rather trivial to throw it onto an S-Video, composite, or component cable with the right adapter. Audio is as easy as picking up a stereo headphones to RCA adapter. – MBraedley – 2010-10-06T02:35:54.353

Ok, looks like you are right. It just looked a bit different than the similar round hole on the TV side. Are S-video cables symmetric, or are they like this cable in that regard? Which S-Video cable would you recommend? http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&expIds=17259,18168,25567,26792,26885,27006&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=usb+data+cable&cp=5&safe=off&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=7651535565896787856&ei=HuGrTOfOKtDpOc_RyPIG&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=6&sqi=2&ved=0CEQQ8wIwBQ#

– Fantomas – 2010-10-06T02:38:57.700

Monoprice.com has all of the S-Video cables that you need, in addition to what you need for audio. It's usually the cheapest too. http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10207

– Brad – 2010-10-06T02:45:22.523

What are my options for MacBook Pro 3,1? – Fantomas – 2010-10-06T02:52:50.810

Depends on the MacBook, but some of them actually switch on an S-Video out port on some of the pins on the DVI port. You can buy a simple plug adapter from Apple for this, but whether it works or not depends on whether or not your computer actually supports S-Video. Again, this is not a conversion from DVI to S-Video... just Apple reusing the jack on the laptop for both, when available. Otherwise, you will need a scaler box to take VGA or DVI in and output S-Video. – Brad – 2010-10-06T20:49:14.993

@Brad, I already have a DVI output on a Mac laptop. I suppose I need something like this then? http://store.apple.com/us/product/M9267G/A

– Fantomas – 2010-10-06T21:29:34.590

Yes, but it may not work for you. It depends on your laptop. – Brad – 2010-10-06T21:31:34.743

@Brad, thanks, almost there. I posted more info about my laptop. How can I find out for sure? – Fantomas – 2010-10-12T00:56:33.147

Asked: 2010-10-06T01:09:08.533

Viewed: 4 627 times

Active: 2010-10-12T00:55:52.307