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View Full Version : I hooked my computer up to my TV...


BlastOButter42
06-10-2008, 01:03 PM
...with this little gizmo (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X3FAJU) (Amazon link) that takes a VGA input, which how most monitors connect to the computer, and converts it to S-Video or composite, which you can connect to an analog TV. For sound, I also needed a cable from Radioshack to connect the audio-out 3.5mm stereo on the computer to phono inputs for the TV. Now, I can just turn the TV on and see and hear whatever's on the computer screen. It's not that great for normal things you do with the computer, 'cause you can't really read the screen from the couch, but it's great for watching stuff I've downloaded from Amazon Unbox and things from Netflix Watch Instantly, and for playing Need for Speed (my wireless mouse and keyboard come in handy for that).

Jamul
06-10-2008, 01:54 PM
I have been thinking about this very thing, for the same reason - Netflix! I'm tired of trying to watch on a little laptop set on the coffee table. Thanks for the tip.

Licking Post
06-10-2008, 02:09 PM
Cool. Are there any gizmos that let you hook up your WII to your computer's monitor and speakers? That would rule!

Ion Sumo
06-10-2008, 04:41 PM
There is probably an adapter that works that way. IIRC, there are video cards that allow you to do that.

drgamer
06-10-2008, 07:29 PM
I've got a similar thing. My dad got an hdmi cable that ends in a pci input, I believe (or whatever those monitor cables are). Connects my ps3 to my monitor when it's plugged in.

You can just get a television that has the right stuff. I know some of them, nay quite a few of them have normal computer inputs. You can find 'em on tigerdirect or newegg (both are .com's, not trying to advertise, just mentioning where you can find 'em... I think newegg's a bit easier to use IMO)

chinook
06-10-2008, 07:30 PM
There's something called a SlingCatcher, made by the people who made the SlingBox, that is coming out eventually, that intercepts the signal wirelessly and plays any movie from your computer on your TV. I can't wait until it comes out, so I can finally ditch the old XBOX which I use for that now.

Ubernoob
06-11-2008, 08:37 PM
I heard about a guy who used a projection TV, one of those things typically mounted on a ceiling producing an image that would fill the entire wall of an average living room, to play DOOM. I never got a chance to try it myself. But last time I was at a large electronics chain that shall remain nameless, I noticed both that HDTV's were getting cheaper, and that computer monitors were getting larger. My little 19" is definitely on the puny end of the scale now. They aren't cheap, but you can get monitors large enough to be suitable for watching HDTV. I'm not ready to have a PC replace my regular TV in the living room. And my Dad is even less ready; he's the one who does most of the living room TV viewing.

The only thing I can think of that would make it worth it would be having a huge hard drive on the PC that you fill up with recorded TV shows. But my relatively puny drive on my current PC already holds more shows than I typically want to stockpile at any time; I'll keep maybe a week of stuff and if I haven't watched it by then I just stop recording new stuff for a while until I catch up.

drgamer
06-12-2008, 05:25 AM
One of my friends played Halo (one of them) On a movie theater screen.
Yeah, he worked there, and no it wasn't in the middle of a movie, it was at a party or something. He even once had to work during that huge winter storm that knocked people out of power. And iced a lot of the roads.
'nuff said.

Ubernoob
06-12-2008, 12:53 PM
Awesome. I wonder if you could do that in IMAX.

Ion Sumo
06-12-2008, 01:10 PM
There is a guy who used to work at the school I used to go to and he has an Xbox connected to a projector.

Connor S.
06-12-2008, 01:16 PM
Or OMNIMax.... hehehe. For those that dont know what it is, its a huge screen that is in a dome shape above your head well your chair is tilted back enough that you see the whole thing. Basically, if you stare at the center, your peropheral vision allows you to see the rest, and they play movies on it that really make you feel IN the movie.

Playing certain games on that would be... awsome.

Ion Sumo
06-12-2008, 01:26 PM
Wow. I really need an OMNImax.

Baconstrips
06-18-2008, 12:39 PM
Now imagine that with color 3D glasses...

varkarrus
06-18-2008, 03:57 PM
Or playing a wii first person rampage-esque