Connect laptop to ext. monitor

Hi, I don't know much about this stuff, so I would like to know if I connect my laptop (Inspiron 1100..yes i know its old) to a monitor such as the Dell 2407WFP, will it work? Since the inspiron 1100 isn't widescreen and only has integrated graphics. Thank you

 

It should be fine. VGA ports should be able to handle up to 2048x1536 (max for VGA I believe) no problem.

 

thank you night 2004 for your answer


also, may i also ask in this thread, not relating to the initial question, will an external tv tuner work fine for the inspiron 1100, eg the dvico fusion hdtv tv tuner work fine, despite the video card etc.?

 

Do you have a link to the tuner you want to hook up? If the laptop meets the requirements, I don't see why the TV tuner would not work.

 

If I remember correctly, the PC will have Intel Extreme 2 graphics. While this is perfectly fine for general usage, I have no idea how much it will help in HDTV decoding. At the very least, if the GPU can't help too much the CPU should be able to pick up some of the slack.

But here's a tip: the HDTV tuner I reviewed uses software to decode the HDTV (makes it a little cheaper). In your case, I'd really recommend you get a chip that has HARDWARE decoding built into the TV Tuner itself. That'll eliminate any trouble you might have.

I've had both software and hardware based tuners, and I've seen the CPU usage go way down when it is a hardware based decoder.

Look for the term "built in mpeg2 decoding" or "HD OTA decoding." The tuner that you linked to refers to "Low CPU Consumption with DxVA SW Decoder" which stands for Direct X Video Acceleration Software Decoder. That's bad when you have a weaker card.

However, there is hope! Look for built in hardware capability. I know of SDTV ones (Hauppauge anyone?), but I'm not entirely familiar with all the HDTV options yet. Those are relatively new and I'm finding new info about them all the time.