Altona USB to HDMI Converter

I just noticed this thing at http://www.amazon.com/Atlona-AT.... Does anyone have first hand experience with it or know if it would work with, say, a Thinkpad X200/X201? Does it work for any laptop?

 

Should work with any laptop that has USB 2.0 and enough cpu power to run it.

Why exactly do you want/need it though? There are many cheaper alternatives that give VGA out that will give the same performance/quality.

Keep in mind its basically an external video card, your computers video card performance is null/void with what ever monitor is attached to that adapter so external monitor gaming is a no-go. It would be for office type work.

 

I don't game, but I do like to watch movies from my HDD, and not every HDTV has a VGA port to connect to. The sound seems to be off sync whenever I use the VGA+3.5mm combo, too, so I just really prefer using a cable to carry both sound and video at once.

The reason I ask is because I plan on selling a laptop with an HDMI port and buying another (X200/X201) that is capable of Displayport output (but only with a $150-$200 dock).

 

Well sounds like you have some funky equipment there.

I have never seen a HDTV without VGA (not that I go look at all of them but al of mine have them)

Also I have never seen audio out of sync with VGA + 3.5mm that makes no sense at all unless the video was out of sync in the first place.

3.5mm is great for feeding the audio to anything you want, if you go HDMI your forced to feed it to the TV with its crappy built in speakers, and if you dont want to use those you have to then use the line out of the TV and thats a longer signal path with more chance of degrading the signal than going directly from the 3.5mm output.

Plus if you use the line out on the TV you in most cases must have the TV on to hear the audio. Not so good if you just wanted to listen to some music and dont need to waist the energy to run the TV.

If you are afraid to use VGA though this is the best thing you can buy by a long shot for the money.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10114&cs_id=1011403&p_id=6038&seq=1&format=2

I have 2 of them and they work flawless and costs about 1/2 of what competing products cost. It uses the best adapter chip inside so supports lots of resolutions and its usb powered.

This adapter is VGA/DVI/HDMI though It does not do audio with the HDMI as it uses a DVI --> HDMI adapter.

 

My family's rear-projection Sony doesn't have VGA iirc although it does have HDMI. It is kind of big, though, so perhaps I should re-inspect it.

You may be right; some of the stuff I'd tested had questionable quality. I'll test out my VGA + 3.5mm setup again when I get my HDTV out of storage.

It is either the TV speakers or my lol-laptop speakers. I always assumed HDMI sound was superior because you don't have separate cables, but perhaps my ignorance and bad experiences tainted my opinion of 3.5mm sound connections (it could have been the VGAs fault...I'm still learning about how VGA converts to RGB so loss in quality occurs compared to DVI/HDMI). And you have a good point about hooking up external speakers; I'll consider using those instead.

Thanks! I'll definitely consider this.

 

Most modern TV's are equipped with an audio out these days. It basically by-passes the internal processing and redirects it to your amp. The 3.5MM jack may be out of sync with the video due to a driver issue, or just a crappy on-board sound card. An external amp would be best in this situation.

If your laptop has a DVI output you can get a DVI to HDMI converter for very cheap, but you would still be stuck with the audio problem.

The way I see it laptops aren't generally equipped for watching movies and media externally. Your best bet would probably be to put that $100 to a better use like a good DVD player with a USB input.

 

if you are not an audiophile then the only thing that would be noticeable to you might be a slight hissing noise when the laptop is plugged into the charger. not all laptop have this problem. The hissing is caused by something called a ground loop. you can easily remedy this though by fixing the grounds which are not truly grounded (usually not worth the trouble) or you can take the easy route which would be to buy an isolator. You can find these very easily in a car audio shop. the last time i checked you can buy one at radioshack for like $20 or so.

keep in mind you can get this problem on video also so make sure you check that too. i think your best bet would be to use the dvi adapter you were linked to above and use the 3.5mm audio with a ground loop isolator if you need it.

 

Yeah I doubt he will hear hissing with TV speakers or laptop speakers even if it is there.

But if in the case you do - PAC SNI-1/3.5 (sni135) - Noise Filters - Sonic Electronix