How do I hook my laptop up to the TV to watch iPlayer, etc.

[kwaker5]

Can I do this? I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 and a Sony HDTV (a year old), not sure which model.

Thanks

From thelaptopcentre.co.uk "here's also a VGA port if you want to hook up an external monitor and an s-video connector if you ever fancy watching movies on a suitably equipped telly."

So it will depend on whether your TV has a "PC input" (VGA) or S-Video inputs.

Some laptops have an HDMI output to go into a TV, but not that particular Dell, sorry.

Yep, you need a VGA cable. The last one I bought was £25 from pc world, you could probably get one from ebay for cheaper though.

Just looked for *> Wiki S-Video

Thanks for the replies. I got one of these but haven't tried it yet! Not convinced the picture will be that great on a big TV.

The VGA output will be the same as it is on your laptop screen, so you need to run iPlayer in fullscreen mode.

Your TV may have options under Screen Zoom to adjust the picture size so it takes up as much of the screen as possible.

I would always aim to go for the best quality signal that is provided, which in the case of the laptop you have might be S-Video (it's a small round multi-pin socket).

You could then use a 3.5mm Jack to Phono with a Scart to S-VHS and Phono cable.

Mind you if the screen has a 15pin computer input, then that may well give the best quality.

Bit of experimentation may be needed. Have you got it to work with the cables you have got?

OK, I plugged in and held my breath. My TV said 'signal not compatible' or something similar. It was picking definitely it up but wouldn't display it.

I fiddled with the display settings on my laptop for a while to see if I could make it use the TV rather than the monitor as a display, but nothing I tried worked.

Gave up and we crowded round the laptop instead!

Try connecting the television before booting the laptop up. That worked for me when my monitor died. I just unplugged the monitor and plugged the tv in, got a similar message to yours, so just rebooted and now I have a lovely 32 inch monitor.