The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Hooking up notebook to ext. monitor

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by nickb, Mar 4, 2007.

  1. nickb

    nickb Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    66
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hi, I am interested in purchasing a monitor for my laptop (dell inspiron 6000. However, my laptop only has a vga output avaliable. How would I go about hooking up a monitor, could I only buy a D-sub one, or could I buy DVI as well and purchase an adapter? Thanks, Nick
     
    nickb, Mar 4, 2007
    #1
  2. coriolis

    coriolis Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,319
    Messages:
    14,119
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    455
    VGA works fine, though DVI would obviously be better. Converters don't necessarily mean it'll be just like DVI though.
     
    coriolis, Mar 4, 2007
    #2
  3. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,857
    Messages:
    16,212
    Likes Received:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    466
    Any VGA->DVI converter is not going to help you. The quality that you get out would not be any better than the quality that goes in.

    That being said, VGA runs perfectly fine and IMHO there's no reason to choose one over the other...except for when your connection or cable options are limited.
     
    Greg, Mar 4, 2007
    #3
  4. Gautam

    Gautam election 2008 NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    1,856
    Messages:
    3,564
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Just stick with your VGA out - VGA in cable. That's your best bet. To get a sound output, get a 3.5mm to (R-L) RCA (standard stereo in).

    Not really true. It completely depends on the signal source. But I see where you are going with it - DVI has the potential to always be better.
     
    Gautam, Mar 4, 2007
    #4
  5. Lil Mayz

    Lil Mayz Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    599
    Messages:
    1,463
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I don't think you'd be running super high reoslution on an Inspiron 6000, so VGA and VGA to DVI converters are fine.

    Just remember to press your external display quick key after you've hooked the cable up.
     
    Lil Mayz, Mar 5, 2007
    #5