My notebook doesn't have HDMI hookup... how to add it?

My notebook doesn't have HDMI hookup. Is it possible to add it?

I know how to take apart a notebook.

 

No, you can't add it, and if you can, it will be extremely difficult which requires heavily modification . Other solutions may be getting a HDMI PCMCIA card, that is if one exists.

 

No. If you had a DVI port on your notebook you could get a DVI to HDMI cable from Monoprice etc and be all set, but like most notebooks you have a VGA port (analog, not digital) and there are no cost-effective options for that.

Well, maybe:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...cs_id=1011401&p_id=3595&seq=1&format=2&style=
But it's not in stock. That's about as cheap as they get, some are ~$250, some even more than that. Plug a DVI-to-HDMI cable into the converter and you're all set. There might be converters that have HDMI built-in, not sure.

 

I do have S-Video, but isn't HDMI better?

 

Depends on what you're hooking it up to. But in general yes. Not only is the quality better (when sending it to an appropiate television) but it carries audio as well as video - helping to eliminate cable clutter.

There isn't a practical way to add an HDMI port to a laptop - unless you were able to find some sort of external card or USB device. It seems like the USB interface would be a bottleneck though.

 

That reminds me, one of these might work for you:
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/products/dh2go/digital/home.php
There's a triple-head version too. Not sure what the price is.

 

I just got the dv2500t with HDMI, but my external monitor is DVI. I saw a cable on Newegg that looks like it would convert it, but im not sure. Would I have to buy a converter?

 

Ya, you can get a converter/adapter. Should definably work. Won't get sound though.

 

No, you don't need any converter or adapter. Just buy an HDMI-DVI cable. I bought mine at newegg for $7.

 

Same thing, your cable converts from HDMI to DVI

 

Technically, there's no conversion going on. DVI is just HDMI without the audio. The video stream stays untouched. But that's just the geek inside me speaking.

 

hehe awesome. I will get the cable then. ^_^

 

wait no sound if I buy the cable? what does that mean lol im new to this stuff

 

HDMI can carry both digital video and audio streams, but DVI only supports digital video so what happens is that the cable basically ignore the audio stream and only outputs the video stream at the DVI end.

If you are using the cable to connect to a monitor, you'd only want the video stream anyway, so nothing is lost.

 

so how would you get sound in?
and if you have vga couldn't you get a vga to dvi adapter then dvi to hdmi, but how would you get sound in? is my question

 

VGA does not support sound at all. You would have to hook up external speakers to your laptop, or use the ones with the laptop.

 

You cannot convert VGA to DVI with HDMI (afaik). "Regular" DVI ports also contain all of the analog signals that VGA uses, which is why you can use an adapter to plug a VGA monitor into a computer with a DVI port. HDMI only supports the digital DVI signals, so there's no signal to convert.

Also, sound in HDMI is also digital, there are no separate audio signal lines, so there would be no way to split them out without a more intelligent processor.