advice on new laptop for streaming to tv

coco0981

i'm looking to get a new hdtv and laptop in the next while and was hoping to get a bit of advice. My budget is around 500 euro for the laptop. It'll be used at home for basic internet use mainly but hope to also use it for streaming football matches onto the new tv as well. I know very little about laptops so just wondering is there any particular software that needs to be on the laptop or is a hdmi port all that you need, is vga better than hdmi for this purpose?. The tv i'm looking at is a sony Kdl40ex403 although if this isn't a suitable model would appreciate a different tv reccommendation as well. sony laptop might be a good idea as could get a good deal on 2 of them from sony centre shop hopefully. By the way i have never used a mac so would have to be windows os. All advice much appreciated

coco0981

anyone know if all types of laptops will do this for me??

hearny

Just make sure the laptop has hdmi, your HD tv will have.

If the tv is full HD (too tired to check the spec on it) make sure the laptop is capable of 1920 x 1080 (1080p) output for the best picture.

You could also look at the possibility of a media server, or a PS3 (you might get a deal, my parents got a free PS3 with their Sony TV a few years back after I paid bout 400 for mine). I watch football online using my PS3.

coco0981

thanks hearny

Just to clarify are you saying a new laptop or ps3 will do the job, or that i need both??

Bit slow when it comes to technology

joe2687

PS3 will do the job if you're watching films or DVD rips, but unless you're a gamer I'd go with the laptop, more functionality and will be able to stream live.


You can pick up a decent spec laptop with a couple of gigs of RAM and a decent processor for under 500, just make sure it has a HDMI connection, as your TV will, this is how you'll stream from the laptop to the TV.


Have you got your TV yet?

Welease

Are you sure you have a HD stream from the internet?

If not, them using a basic vga cable from a netbook would do the job just as good (assuming the TV has VGA in)..

joe2687

Welease wrote: »

Using a basic vga cable from a netbook would do the job just as good (assuming the TV has VGA in)..

VGA only carries video though, audio will still play from the laptop speakers, HDMI will send audio/video

Welease

joe2687 wrote: »

VGA only carries video though, audio will still play from the laptop speakers, HDMI will send audio/video

Ahh yes, good point..

joe2687

Learned the hard way! Bought a 32'' a while back with only VGA/USB inputs, now I know why it was so cheap! In fairness, they make it fairly complicated for the average Joe Soap to get the corret spec, a lot of jargon thrown about as regards TVs these days...

coco0981

no haven't got tv or laptop yet, will prob look to get them in next few days while sales are still on. Thanks for the advice guys, seems straightforward enough

ricman

if you use the right resolution you,ll get a perfect picture on vga,eg 1024x768 ,refresh rate 60mhz .Read the tv manual ,pc input settings.tv ,s with a usb port are handy for watching movies.