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so off we go to Costco to do some bulk food shoppin', and next thing i know, i look up and hubby's walking down the aisle carrying a big box.

he decided we needed a new tv

so, we now have a Sharp LC-C3234U Aquos 32" LCD HDTV with NTSC/ATSC/QAM Tuner.

almost got the 37" Toshiba, but the picture looked sharper on the Sharp.

he is still setting it up as i type

down the road i will have to figure out how to connect WinXP Media Center lappie to tv so we can view DVDs ~ we do not have separate dvd player since i am the only one whose been watching DVDs, and the laptop's been enuf for me for that : )

Congrats ! I hook my laptop to my TV to watch movies alot. I just use a S-Video cable and and a couple of RCA for the sound. Works great. I know there are other ways to do it also, but that was the easiest and fastest way for me.

gratz - I hate the NBA but I ended up watching a bunch of the playoffs after I got my tv because I could see what the people in the stands were eating! check out pirates #1 if you want some eye candy!

nitro237 wrote:Congrats ! I hook my laptop to my TV to watch movies alot. I just use a S-Video cable and and a couple of RCA for the sound. Works great. I know there are other ways to do it also, but that was the easiest and fastest way for me.

Most LCD TVs now have a VGA port on the back, and most laptops already have that. Coupled with a VGA cable and a 3.5" to RCA cable, you are set. The biggest difference between the VGA and S-video will be the picture clarity.

Darcy, you can probably easily look at the manual to see if it mentions if it has it or not. Might be quicker to look at the back of the TV though From what I can tell, yours does.

Been using a laptop with my TV for years with the S-video out. Plenty good image for me (though I don't have HD). What's really nice is being able to play DIVX files as well.

normalicy wrote:What's really nice is being able to play DIVX files as well.

Or just jumping on http://www.quicksilverscreen.com or http://www.moviefather.com or any of the sites of major networks and watching shows you may have missed.

I highly recommend http://www.cbs.com and watch EVERY single Jericho.

thanx, all ; cool links, MSin

tv has a VGA port. i will have to flip thru my dell manual, 'cause i would think i would have 2 change some settings on laptop, too,, i dunno.

i will also have to find where to order these cables you guys are nattering on about : )
i have little smooth sailing w/software, i can only imagine what i would screw up w/hardware, lol : )

we do not have HD as yet either, normalicy ~ but we are going to check into it.
but wow ~ i just could not get used to the size and clarity when i first checked it out last night! { caught the tail end of pirates of the caribbean movie, was great }

Usually there is an F Key that you have to hit while Holding down the Fn Key near your Windows Key to switch to the external display Darcy. May be Fn+F5 Not 100%

GL!

eGo

thank u, eGo; once i get some uninterrupted time, i will read tv and dell manuals.
thing w/MediaDirect OS, you do not have to log into your account and wait for your settings to load to view a DVD, you just press the MediaDirect button.
of course, i don't do that much ; ) ~ i usually view DVDs on laptop w/PowerDVD, so i have* to log in. { i usually do things the hard way,, well, that is what my husband says,, }

so now i will take closer look @ the MediaDirect options, too.

but 1st i need cables!

On my laptop, if the monitor was hooked up before boot, it immediately sent output to it.

The only cables you should need is a 15 pin VGA cable (not totally sure, but you'll probably need a male end on both sides) & a 1/8" (like a headphone cord) to stereo RCA adapter. Both readily avaliable at Radio Shack or Circuit City/Best Buy (actually the stereo cable is avaliable just about anywhere, because they are popular for use to hook ipods up to stereos).

get HD, you'll be amazed. it only cost me $10 more.

If you look at the keyboard on the laptop you will likely have a Function key labeled normally as Fn.

If you look at the keys you will tend to see on some of them there have smaller blue letters or symbols. To switch the display to the external monitor, you would just hold down the Fn key and hit the key with a symbol similar to a monitor. It is normally one of the F keys. The Fn combined with another key can sometimes be used to lower/raise the volume, or mute.

Here is a sample image, the key on this laptop's keyboard would be F3.
I circled the two keys, pardon my bad drawing.



The audio cable should be fairly easy to get at a local store, you do not need to get any fancy brand. The VGA cable would need to be male to male, with local prices on that kind of thing, you might be best looking online at a site you can trust.

I would prefer to use PowerDVD myself. I like to have more options and a more familiar interface. But then again, my PS3 plays DVDs nicely.

many thanx, normalicy and zyfer, ~ i think i am understanding it better now : )

wvjohn wrote:get HD, you'll be amazed. it only cost me $10 more.

i was just checkin' online for my area, and they seem to have some promotional offers going on.
right now, we are paying $61.50 for "DTV", *plus* $14.95 for 1 premium channel.

Darcs,

Congrats on the new tv! oot

tuvm, pete!