Everything you need to know about connecting your laptop to your TV.

Introduction-

For many of us, our lives are in our laptop. It has all the information about us, for us and is our lifeline to the rest of the world. It is how we connect to our banks and our friends, how we work and how we play. Laptops make it so convenient to have everything at our fingertips all of the time, but it isn’t a perfect solution. If you’ve ever had a crowd gathered around your little screen, you know what I mean. There is a lot that we keep in those little digital notebooks that we would really love to have on the TV where we can enjoy it more comfortably and share it with others.

Making the Connection-

Making the connection is easier than you’d think. If you take a moment to look at the available ports on your laptop, and the available video inputs on your TV you can quickly find the best solution for connecting your laptop to your TV.

VGA

VGA has long been the standard video output for laptops. While VGA is normally designed to connect to a monitor or projector, a simple converter box can let you connect to a standard definition TV or an HDTV. Some newer HDTVs even let you connect directly to a VGA port.

VGA Cable

TVdeck PC to TV

HDMI

HDMI is becoming more and more popular on laptops these days- and for good reason. If you have an HDTV, connecting to your computer through HDMI is dead simple. A single cable sends HD video plus audio to your TV and is available in a variety of lengths. If your laptop has HDMI and you have a Standard Definition TV, don’t worry, we have a solution for that too.

HDMI Cables

HDMI to Composite

Have a Mac?

Apple uses mini displayport (now Thunderbolt) for the video output on their new laptops. An inexpensive passive adapter can get you to either VGA or HDMI, so that’s no big obstacle. If your Macbook or Macbook Pro has seen a few years, it might have DVI or Mini DVI, but we’ve got those covered too.

Mini Display Port to VGA

Mini Display Port to HDMI

Don't Have Any Available Video Ports On Your Laptop?

You’re not out of luck. There are adapters available that allow you to add a video connection like HDMI to your laptop through an available USB port. These adapters are incredibly easy to install and allow you to connect your laptop to TV when you would otherwise be out of luck. If you’re connecting your laptop to an HDTV, you’ll want an HDMI adapter for the best possible quality.