How to connect old laptop to TV

DavidP24

For the USB cable forget it, will not work. The issue you are having with it is that your PC is configured to boot from USB before booting from hard disk, so change the boot order in BIOS (press F2 or Del on reboot to access BIOS).

Now for the display.

It would be helpful if you would actually say what your purpose is, e.g. to watch movies or just to use a huge screen for day to day PC use.

A VGA to HDMI will not include sound because VGA is only display, so forget that.

Easiest way is to just attach a VGA cable to TV and a Phono to 3.5mm Cable to your TV and leave them ready to plug into your laptop (to VGA port and headphone or speaker port).

VGA Male to Male 2.5m £2.49 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172440293387
Phono to 3.5mm Cable £0.99 for 2 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282218010982

The above are provide for example I am not affiliated with suppliers, choose your own.

The first time you connect you may need to update windows with a screen driver for your TV, then you will need to configure the resolution that suits your requirements best. Some will not work well, as you try each one, if you see nothing, wait 15 seconds and it will roll back.

Various models of old Dell have differing results, some are business laptops, some are cheap consumer laptops and some are "Studio" laptops which tend to have better output.

I have VGA and speaker for some laptops, I have HDMI which is best for when laptop has HDMI but some old TV's or old Laptops need further config for sound. Modern ones just work.

On a PC rather than a Laptop I would consider other options, for example rather than watching a movie off the laptop I might install Plex.tv and make the PC a plex server, then for the TV I would use a NowTV (without Sky Sub) or a Roku and sideload Plex client. This has the added benefit that you can watch your movie collection on Ipads and mobiles via wireless.

Hope this helps

neilmcl

What make/model of TV are you trying to connect to? It might help if we knew exactly what video inputs the TV has?

In the past, before HDMI, I can recall connection up a laptop to my TV using a combination of a VGA to phono composite cable and a scart adapter.

ripplyuk

I appreciate all the advice, though a lot of that is a bit too technical for me. The reviews for this dvi cable were quite good but it's definitely not working for me.

The TV is an LG. I'm not sure of the model but it's 5 years old. It has HDMI, scart and USB connections.

I did think of a chromecast but I thought my laptop would be too old to be capable of casting anything. Also because it's running Ubuntu instead of windows, I couldn't cast to my Roku.

I have Kodi on the laptop and it would be nice to be able to watch stuff on a big screen instead. Would a firestick be simpler?

System

Hi

Kodi fits on a FireStick.

neilmcl

ripplyuk wrote: »

Would a firestick be simpler?

It definitely be the most simple and neater solution.

grumpycrab

ripplyuk wrote: »

I've also seen this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U20ZTKO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AI2GDOEQT9PU8

Any advice would be appreciated.

I may be late to this party, but that adapter didn't work on a Dell Vostro I tried the other day. Does your TV have VGA? (sorry, haven't read the thread).

ripplyuk

I'm not really sure what VGA is. The TV has some round pin things on the back. Apart from those it's just the HDMI, USB and one scart.

Just googled vga. The laptop has that but not the TV.

I think I should just get a firestick. Hopefully it'll be easier.

DavidP24

ripplyuk wrote: »

It's a Dell Latitude and was bought second hand many years ago, so there's no HDMI connections. I'd like to be able to play movies from my laptop to the TV but I've no idea of the best way to do it, or if it will work well. I've tried looking up YouTube videos but I'm getting confused with all the terms like VGA etc.

There are USB sockets so I was wondering if an adapter to convert USB to HDMI would work?

I've also seen this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U20ZTKO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AI2GDOEQT9PU8

Any advice would be appreciated.

ripplyuk wrote: »

It's so old that the main stickers have worn away but the service tag is 3JNNY1J. I've just googled that and it says the model is a D610.

ripplyuk wrote: »

I appreciate all the advice, though a lot of that is a bit too technical for me. The reviews for this dvi cable were quite good but it's definitely not working for me.

The TV is an LG. I'm not sure of the model but it's 5 years old. It has HDMI, scart and USB connections.

I did think of a chromecast but I thought my laptop would be too old to be capable of casting anything. Also because it's running Ubuntu instead of windows, I couldn't cast to my Roku.

I have Kodi on the laptop and it would be nice to be able to watch stuff on a big screen instead. Would a firestick be simpler?

A roku is a standalone device, it does not depend on you running ubuntu or windows.

You can sideload plex or kodi onto a roku via a web browser. Just google it or watch on youtube

The idea that anything here is more technical than running Linux is a joke.

So for starters let's deal with what you paid for, the cable from Amazon.

The reason it is not working is because your laptop is configured to boot from USB, you probably made this setting to install Linux.

There is a place for the settings, it is called the BIOS, you access it by pressing a certain key as the laptop is booting, that key is either F2 or DEL, depending on manufacturer of BIOS, Dell use several sorts but it usually displays a message saying "press F2 for Setup" or Press DEL for setup", so press the appropriate one when it is booting and when that message is displayed. If you are not quick enough try again and again until you go into the settings.

I just used my head and googled, for Dell Lattitude it is F2

Then check each menu until to see Boot Sequence this video shows it on a Dell 630

https://youtu.be/vdUDjC4JLIQ?t=103

The video shows you how to change the order, stop the USB being first, change it to Hard Disk as first device or CD/DVD then Hard Disk. If you ever need to boot from USB again you can go back here and change it temporarily.

Once you have it set then save your settings and boot with the Amazon cable plugged in and connected to your LG.

Personally I have never had a lot of luck with these old Lattitudes, they were biz PC's and yours is very very old.

The Amazon page says no drivers are needed for the device but you will need a driver for the TV, usually a default driver will work but may not give all the resolutions.

However, you are using Linux so who knows what exists, if you choose to use Linux then you have to be prepared to be technical, roll up your sleeves and dig in or roll back to Windows

So you need to figure out what your resolution is under Ubuntu, make sure it is set to one of these

640x480 /
800x600 /
1024x768 /
1280x720 /
1280x768 /
1280x960 /
1280x1024 /
1600x1200 /
1080p

You may need to tell it in Linux to switch to external monitor, you can do that via system menu --> Displays and activate the external display or set a key

http://askubuntu.com/questions/62319/is-there-an-equivalent-to-win-p-switch-video-output-hotkey



Product Description

Size Name:VGA to HDMI + USB Audio
Description:
This VGA to HDMI converter allows you to upscale analog VGA signals to digital HDMI signals. The converter will take audio from the computer via USB port and embed it to the HDMI output along with video signal making it ideal for connecting PCs and laptops to HDMI displays such as HDTVs.
Portable design.
Ultra compact and simple design, no tangled and complicated wires and cords, easy to carry and small enough to fit in your laptop bag.
Specification:
Convert VGA source and USB 2CH audio source to HDMI output
VGA: Video input
USB: Audio and power input
HDMI: Video and audio output
Supports 165MHz/1.65Gbps per channel (6.75Gbps all channel) bandwidth
Supports 8bit per channel (24bit all channel) deep color
VGA Resolutions: 640x480 / 800x600 / 1024x768 / 1280x720 / 1280x768 / 1280x960 / 1280x1024 / 1600x1200 / 1080p
Length: 25cm / 10inches
Splitted USB cable length: 60cm / 23inches

How to Use:
1. Connect VGA of the box to your pc
2. Connect USB of the box to your pc
3. Connect HDMI of the box to the HDMI port of your tv through a HDMI cable (HDMI cable not included)
4. Change the TV mode to "HDMI"

Note:
VGA to HDMI only, NOT Bi-directional. it only works from pc(VGA) to HDMI TV/projector. If you have a HDMI on your pc/ps4/apple tv etc and VGA on your TV/Monitor, then you should to buy a HDMI to VGA cable, not this VGA to HDMI cable.

Package include:
1 x VGA + Audio to HDMI Adapter
1 x User Manual



It may be worth you reading the following links


http://askubuntu.com/questions/72197/how-do-i-install-my-graphics-driver-for-dell-latitude-d620

http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/76077-35-dell-latitude-d610-video-controller-driver#7795375


It is no use saying "a lot of that is a bit too technical for me." if you are going to use Linux you have to figure sheeet out, try the above and get back if you get stuck,