i want to use tv and laptop at the same time

lucky-colm

hi guys


i got a dell studio 1735 i have downloaded a few films for the kids and want to show them on the tv. i have a hdmi cable and can connect it to the tv, no problems there. but i want to continue to use my laptop while showing the film on tv.
how do i do this?
any help greatly appreciated

cheers

brianwalshcork

I haven't done this, but it sounds like you want to configure a dual monitor setup, then play the film back on one monitor (the tv) and work away on the other monitor.

NothingMan

There's a couple of options.

You could get a network media streamer. It will connect to your TV and you share out the movies from your laptop and the streamer will pick them up. It all happens in the background but you will notice your laptop will be slower.

Similar to above except you get a media player with a hard drive and copy all the movies to that leaving your laptop completely free to use.

If you had a really long HDMI cable you can just extend the screen to the TV and drag the movie to the TV side and keep using your laptop. HDMI cables are generally only 1 or 2 metres and I would say getting a longer one could be pricey.
Edit: If you want instructions to set this up what operating system do you have?

lucky-colm

NothingMan wrote: »

There's a couple of options.

You could get a network media streamer. It will connect to your TV and you share out the movies from your laptop and the streamer will pick them up. It all happens in the background but you will notice your laptop will be slower.

Similar to above except you get a media player with a hard drive and copy all the movies to that leaving your laptop completely free to use.

If you had a really long HDMI cable you can just extend the screen to the TV and drag the movie to the TV side and keep using your laptop. HDMI cables are generally only 1 or 2 metres and I would say getting a longer one could be pricey.

yes i have a 5mtr hdmi cable but the problem is when i start the film and plug in the hdmi cable the laptop screen goes blank i can still use the tv as a big laptop screen but i can't seem to get the two screens working at the same time

it is probably a fairly simple thing to do but iam not that good with computers:D

lucky-colm

brianwalshcork wrote: »

I haven't done this, but it sounds like you want to configure a dual monitor setup, then play the film back on one monitor (the tv) and work away on the other monitor.

yes but how do i do that

L31mr0d

lucky-colm wrote: »

yes but how do i do that

Here ya go:

http://tinyurl.com/y9sj9lu

lucky-colm

L31mr0d wrote: »

Here ya go:

http://tinyurl.com/y9sj9lu

so any one of them sites will do it for me

is that what your trying to say


ps
i like the "is that so hard" sign in the middle

NothingMan

lucky-colm wrote: »

so any one of them sites will do it for me

is that what your trying to say


ps
i like the "is that so hard" sign in the middle

Did you figure it out? If ya didn't what operating system do you have?

lucky-colm

NothingMan wrote: »

Did you figure it out? If ya didn't what operating system do you have?

windows vista 32bit


no i still couldn't get it to work so i have gone with your idea and ordered some gear on pixmania

Ireland


Your order :
DESCRIPTIONUNIT PRICE QuantityTotal vat excl.
D-Link Switch Ethernet 5 ports 10/100 Mb DES-1005D€ 10.33 1€ 10.33

WESTERN DIGITAL TV Live Media Player€ 88.35 1€ 88.35

LaCie 301304EK Hard Disk External Hard Drive Designed by Neil Poulton - 1 TB - USB 2.0€ 65.29 1€ 65.29

Total number of your products sold by PIXmania€ 163.97
Delivery costs€ 12.31
Total vat excl.€ 176.28
VAT€ 37.02
Total to pay€ 213.30

NothingMan

I don't use one myself but the Western Digital is suppose to be pretty good and supports all formats.

If you do want to extend your screen right click on your desktop and go to personalise. Then select connect to projector or external display.

Then click on External Display/ Connect Display. And select the 2nd option to show different parts of your desktop on each display(extended). That way you can drag the movie over to the TV and keep on using the laptop.

Hope that helps.

Alanstrainor

NothingMan wrote: »

I don't use one myself but the Western Digital is suppose to be pretty good and supports all formats.

If you do want to extend your screen right click on your desktop and go to personalise. Then select connect to projector or external display.

Then click on External Display/ Connect Display. And select the 2nd option to show different parts of your desktop on each display(extended). That way you can drag the movie over to the TV and keep on using the laptop.

Hope that helps.

+1 thats what i would've done, it should work fine that way.

old_aussie

Could have burned movies to DVD and watched them on TV, and saved a bundle. The your laptop wont become a slug while movies are being played

lucky-colm

old_aussie wrote: »

Could have burned movies to DVD and watched them on TV, and saved a bundle. The your laptop wont become a slug while movies are being played

yeah i could have but the brother came over last night and said this was the way to go

he knows alot more about this stuff than i do