Connecting New Laptop to Monitor Question

Ranger4 said:

VGA & DVI output sockets & cables from computers only carry the video signal & no audio. To get audio you have to have a separate audio cable. There is no audio connection on these, only video.
HDMI does have video as well as audio & is a much later developed cable, which was designed essentially for connecting High Definition video & audio between DVD players & recorders to TV's. But as it has audio & is easy to connect it is now available to computer users as well.
If you wanted to connect your laptop to a TV set then HDMI is probably the easiest way to go.

A 6' cable would be better. Also you wont have excess cable cluttering things up.
The only reason that I can think of for using 15' or 50' cables is because there is no other method they can use. But 50' cables will result in picture quality loss.

Is there reason ppl need that long of a cable? So basically anyone that connect a hdmi cable from laptop to tv... more often 6' is best b/c the laptop would be connected very close to the tv right? But those that want a longer cable, they just want the laptop to be say with them at the soft but the tv is many feet away from them when they watching? Is that what you mean? Also ppl that connect laptop to tv... whats their main purpose? Is it for watching a movie or something like that? Because i cant imagine its connecting it to a tv and using it as a monitor right since tvs aren't meant for monitors and most ppl would just get another monitor?

DocBrown said:

If I were buying a new monitor like the size you said, I would get one with all 3 types. So you will always have the option to connect any other type of computer display output to it.

Yea i know what u mean. The thing is im not 100 percent sure which monitor i will be buying so i dont know if it would have hdmi or not. The reason why i dont know is b/c i will be going to another country and using my laptop and monitor while over there and i heard there aren't many 1920x1200 monitors available there so it would be hard to get one. So whichever 1920x1200 monitors there is available there, then i will have to get that one. Thus if its one that doesn't have hdmi... then i would have to resort to another method of connecting it since my sager laptop the new one i bought which i will received only has Hdmi, mini display port and those 3 usb 3.0 ports and no vga port.


Again the laptops that i always used and desktop, i always connected it to a monitor thats vga the blue cable so thats all im used to.




The thing is this was the monitor i bought a year ago and it was new and used it with my old asus laptop.


http://www.amazon.com/Compaq-Busines...Compaq+La2405x


I connected it to my asus u45jc-a1 with a vga cable. They also came with dvi but my asus didn't have a dvi slot. But can you tell me if this came with an HDMI? Also when buying a new monitor, do almost all monitors come with dvi cable, vga cable and hdmi cable? I don't have this monitor anymore but i recalled when i got it, it came with 1 vga cable and 2 Dvi cables. But do monitors that are to be used with hdmi... do they generally supply you with one or you have to buy one yourself?


So monitors that only use dvi or hdmi... they supply dvi and hdmi cable or just dvi?


So since my new sager laptop will have hdmi, mini display and those usb 3.0s... i wont get the usb to dvi adapter if its 50 dollar whereas another option is less and basically the same thing. Someone said if i get this option it cost much more.


So basically assuming the new monitor only has DVI, then my options are


1. HDMI to DVI Adapter

2. Mini display port to DVI Adapter


But almost all monitors should have more than 1 option right? Thus if it has DVI, it must have either VGA as well or HDMI? And some might have all 3?





But if the monitor has DVI and VGA then its basically



1. HDMI to DVI Adapter

2. HDMI to VGA Adapter

3. Mini display port to DVI Adapter

4. Mini display port to VGA Adapter


Is that correct?

Hey thank you very much. Few other short questions i have. I will be buying 2 cables then, one thats an hdmi cable and another that is a HDMI to DVI cable since this old monitor i have at the moment, the only way to use it with my sager laptop would be hdmi to dvi.


1. Since the laptop connected to the monitor is going to be pretty close, is a 6 feet cable going to be good enough or it might be too short? Or should i get a 10 feet cable? I will be getting 2 cables so just wondering if i should get a little longer one as 10 feet as oppose to 6 feet or should 6 feet be more than enough. The thing is my sager laptop will be connected to the monitor and it should be pretty close. Then i will connect a keyboard to my sager laptop and that would be my keyboard.


2. Is there a reason ppl need really long hdmi or hdmi to dvi cables or dvi cables in general? The thing is if its for laptop to monitor it seems like short cable is good but why do ppl want long cable? Is it b/c the laptop is going to be far from the tv such as they want to have the laptop with them while sitting in their sofa or bed whereas the tv is like 8 feet from them and they want a 10 feet or 15 feet cable? Im curious do ppl who connect laptop to their TVs... do majority of them keep the laptop very close to the tv or its pretty far away? What i dont get is if someone has a really long hdmi or dvi or hdmi to dvi cable... isn't that not good b/c the cable will be going through the room they are in and thus through the floor and someone can't really walk across the room without having to go over it if that makes sense?



3. Better buy from walmart as oppose to ebay right? Price will be a bit more on walmart but not too much.

Bear in mind that there are 2 types of DVI socket on a pc -

DVI-D just carries the digital signal
DVI-I has digital and analog signals ( I = integrated )

if the pc has DVI-I, you can use an adapter to output an analog VGA signal (however, the extra size/weight of plug + adapter may strain the socket if not careful)

DVI-D seems to be similar to HDMI electrically (but obviously no sound on DVI), so there's no conversion involved - it's just a cable. I was testing a mobo recently that could output DVI-D, VGA and HDMI. Since I didn't have an HDMI monitor at the time, I got a DVI-HDMI cable from Amazon and got my triple displays.

Also these are the 2 cables im getting would that be fine?

Link Depot 2m Male Gold Plated DVI-D Dual Link to High Speed HDMI Cable - Walmart.com

Highs high speed hdmi cable with ethernet - Walmart.com


This is the other hdmi one i thought about thats 10 feet and not 6 feet and it cost just very little more. So just wondering if its better 10 feet or 6 fee.

Link Depot 10' Gold Plated High Speed HDMI Cable - Walmart.com


Wait so you suggest i get a dvi-i instead of a dvi-d? I just took a look and the one i posted is dvi-d.

The 1st link looks like the cable I used to go from HDMI (pc) to DVI (monitor). I'm not sure about HDMI w/internet - guess it's for smart TV's. DVI-I only comes into the question when you have just a DVI-I socket on your pc, and a VGA monitor. You can get an adapter and plug your blue VGA cable into it. That's what I have used with old monitors that had the VGA cable attached. Modern monitors don't have cables attached, so I guess you could use a DVI-VGA cable in that circumstance.

Since you're interested in monitors, you might want to Google HDCP. It's a kinda content protection anti-piracy malarkey that can stop you watching certain movies or TV shows on certain combinations of gear.

So would just getting the 1st 2 links be fine? Thus one hdmi cable and one cable that is dvi to hdmi thus this one would be able to be used on my current old monitor with the sager laptop?

Okay im bit confused yet again. The HDMI to DVI cable... are there different types? Thus a hdmi to dvi cable like the link i posted but theres also a hdmi to dvi ADAPTER? Or are the cable and adapter the same thing?