Connecting laptop to tv?

[JoPie]

Can anyone tell me, in simple terms, how to connect a basic laptop to a basic tv set?
Cheapest, simplest, method, in words that small children can understand would be great!

watching with interest, oh and why do you want to?

I like to stream Tv shows on the lappy, but would prefer to watch them on the bedroom tv screen if possible.

You can only do it if the TV is expecting to get signals from a laptop. Our TV has a special socket for the laptop/PC which is exactly the same as the kind on a computer monitor, so you can just join it up.

I think if your TV doesn't have something like that, then you can't directly connect them up. I don't know if there's any kind of widget you can use to convert from a PC output to a TV input.

it depends on your laptop. My laptop has an S-video output (small round one with 4 holes on the side), so used an 's-video and twin phono to scart converter'(see maplins) then you need 2 headphone jacks (you know the things you use on your headphones so the socket fits in the little hole) to put on the phono sockets which then go in the headphone socket of the laptop. OFC all that said you could just take your laptop into Maplins and ask for the bits you need.

Most new TVs will have the VGA input plug that a PC monitor will have. You simply get a VGA cable and connect the two up.

Your TV should then have the option to select the input, i.e scart/HDMI/VGA.

I belive that you can do it other ways but this is the easiest.

Once it is connected up your laptop screen shoud go blank and will be on your TV. What you will quickly realise thought is that any sound will come out of your laptop not your TV.

Not so good for watching films, but surfing the net in HD on a 40 inch screen is pretty cool!

"What you will quickly realise thought is that any sound will come out of your laptop not your TV."

You can get a cable that runs from the earphone socket of your laptop/PC to the TV but I can't remember the name of it!

really simple and you can get your sound to come out of the tv/stereo.

Its called getting Some-One Technical to do it .

We have a MacBook and DH has an apple cable that he plugs into the back of the tv. And thats it. For sound, he has another cable connecting the tv to the stereo.

If you go to somewhere like Maplins and tell them what you want to do, they will sell you the right cable.