[LAWDOGKMS]

For those that are more knowledgeable than myself about PC's, I have a question:

I have a Toshiba A15-S120 Laptop, purchased new last year..

It's got a 2.0 GHZ Intel Processor, 512 MB Ram, and a 30 GB HD..

I have a European DVD, in PAL format, that will not play in "Color" on my Apex Home DVD Player, but plays perfectly on the Laptop..

I (DO NOT) have an S-Video-Out on my Laptop.

Is there any way to connect the Laptop to the Television, without an S-Video connection?

The back of my laptop has a monitor connection, 2-USB ports, and a printer connection..

Any ideas??

[MB-G26]

'cause this is light years beyond my knowledge base, but I bet if you post in TechTalk you'll have some pretty quick answers.
m

[chevrofreak]

Fn+F5 should scroll through the output options.

You can get a cable/adapter thing to go from composite to s-video.

[chevrofreak]

Did the laptop perhaps come with a cable that has a 1/8" headphone style plug on one end and red white and yellow RCA plugs on the other end?

[chevrofreak]

Oh, and dont pay much attention to my first post, I didnt read most of your post before I started responding ;9

[RWBlue01]

Does it have an RCA jack? (standard jack on most VCRs)

Option 2
buy a svga - RCA converter

[Medpilot 2]

Sounds like you have a region 2 DVD. It may be possible to download some firmware to your Apex DVD player to make it region free. Depends on the DVD player you have.

You might be able to find some help HERE

To connect your Laptop to your TV can be more trouble than it's worth. It would be a little easier if your TV has a DVI input, but I'm guessing it doesn't. Even then you would have to get a VGA to DVI converter.

That's one thing I like about the Sony Vaio's, they come with a vid-out.

[chevrofreak]

Originally posted by Medpilot 2
That's one thing I like about the Sony Vaio's, they come with a vid-out.

As do most Toshibas.

[another okie]

Too bad it doesn't have an S-video output, but if it has an RCA jack go to Settings - Advanced - twin view - clone and it will run RCA compatible video out that port. If it doesn't have an RCA jack you can buy a converter unit (whose name escapes me right now, but I'll look it up and report back) that will take the computer video output in one side and give you RCA output the other side. These units are quite cheap. I used to use one for presentations until I got a laptop with an external RCA jack. (As suggested above, some computers will let you cycle through output possibilities with one of the function keys, but that probably won't give you RCA output. To use the converter unit you still have to tell it to send output to the external RCA jack, which is what the F3 or whatever key does.)

That just solves the video problem. You may also need a special cord that goes from the audio output for your headphones (small jack) to the video input on your televison (big jack.) Those cords are available at places like Radio Shack.

If your DVD is Region 2, that's another problem. You can set your DVD program on the laptop to region 2, but Beware! It will probably only let you reset it two or three times and then it willl freeze you into that region, so you might want to consider copying the DVD onto a VHS. Just run the RCA plug into your VCR (assuming you have solved the first problem.)

[solie]

not to hijack the thread but I tried hooking my laptop up to the tv through the s-video and it looked like manure

[chevrofreak]

Originally posted by solie
not to hijack the thread but I tried hooking my laptop up to the tv through the s-video and it looked like manure

Usually the screen needs adjusted a lot, and sometimes you have to fool around with settings to get the flicker out. I have my computer hooked to my TV all the time, its just a matter of getting the settings to work for you.