Xbox 360 connected to a Laptop screen?

Kamran

Hey guys, hope you're all well

Quick question. I'd like to buy an xbox 360, but I don't have an HD tv, but i DO have an HD ready laptop. It has a 17" screen and I would like to connect the xbox 360 to it.

Is this possible? How might I go about doing it?

thanks!:T

darkfibre

Hi,

Generally this is not possible. The video connections you have on your laptop are (most likely) outputs, so will not accept an inbound signal.

It may be possible to connect a USB video capture device to the laptop that has a composite or s-video connection, then connect your 360 to that, but I think the image may look a bit ropey...

Best to try before you buy! Maybe buy it from a shop that does not sell these items in a blister pack so you can box it up again and refund it if it doesn't work.

darkfibre

Kamran

So perhaps my best bet is to buy an HD TV/monitor? what's the cheapest price I'd be looking to pay for roughly a 17"?
thanks again! :T

BillScarab

Just go to pricerunner and have a look. I can't see a 17" TV is going to be much. Mind you I don't know if one that small would be HD. You can pick up 32" HD Tv's for £300-£400 nowadays.

darkfibre

You know, you don't even have to fork out on a LCD TV...you can pick up an ordinary TFT monitor for cheaper if you wish to dedicate it to your 360. The quality is very good. You could even use that monitor as a second screen for your laptop for extra desktop space...the possibilities are endless...!

Suggestions:

- Choose a TFT (maybe a nice 19" widescreen...like and Acer X193W? £99 at the moment with free P+P...)
- Buy an Xbox 360 VGA AV cable (eBay, Amazon, etc...maybe read some of the reviews on Amazon)
- Connect and play!
- If you wanna go a bit further you could buy a VGA switching box and connect your laptop to it so you can extend your desktop onto two screens without having to plug and unplug stuff...but this is me being a geek

Kamran

darkfibre wrote: »

You know, you don't even have to fork out on a LCD TV...you can pick up an ordinary TFT monitor for cheaper if you wish to dedicate it to your 360. The quality is very good. You could even use that monitor as a second screen for your laptop for extra desktop space...the possibilities are endless...!

Suggestions:

- Choose a TFT (maybe a nice 19" widescreen...like and Acer X193W? £99 at the moment with free P+P...)
- Buy an Xbox 360 VGA AV cable (eBay, Amazon, etc...maybe read some of the reviews on Amazon)
- Connect and play!
- If you wanna go a bit further you could buy a VGA switching box and connect your laptop to it so you can extend your desktop onto two screens without having to plug and unplug stuff...but this is me being a geek

awesome! however, that would mean that the TFT screen could be used only as a monitor for the 360 (or PS3?) right? could it never work as a TV? I have a freeview box, is it possible to connect that to a TFT monitor somehow?

thanks a lot! and also, would you mind letting me know where you saw the TFT screen for £99?

darkfibre

That TFT screen can be used for basically almost any video signal you throw at it, including a Freeview signal. Yep, you can connect it to the TFT, using Scart to VGA cable or similar. But please bear in mind, quality can vary!

And the link to the monitor:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-X193W-Widescreen-TFT-Monitor/dp/B000WFQBYC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1209672372&sr=1-1

Hope that helps.

tomsolomon

Or buy a TV capture card.....
http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=pcmcia+tv+capture+card&btnG=Search+Products&show=dd

darkfibre

tomsolomon wrote: »

Or buy a TV capture card.....

...if you don't have a Freeview box

tomsolomon

darkfibre wrote: »

...if you don't have a Freeview box

Check out the above link........:D

darkfibre

tomsolomon wrote: »

Check out the above link........:D

Yep, could do that if you wanted to watch Freeview directly on your laptop. But then Kamran wanted to make use of his monitor with his existing Freeview box? Either way a solution exists