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    Which TV TUNER do you guys recommend for my W700? Quick HDMI/DVI question! I've never done this.

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by CrunchDude, Aug 25, 2009.

  1. CrunchDude

    CrunchDude Notebook Evangelist

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    ..and by that I mean connected any of my previous Thinkpads to my TV's. Now I have a Mitsubishi HDTV, and that baby has to get along with the W700 I recently purchased. Now, what's with a DVI-D port, and a DisplayPort???

    So which TV Tuner do you guys recommend I get? I'd also like to (finally!) play around with the supposedly MUCH improved Media Center in Windows 7. I'm also interested in the streaming high-speed wireless N media routers.

    DisplayPort means HDMI, and something else?? I take it that there is no straight HDMI port, and instead the DisplayPort for a reason. It's probably superior? And why do I have a DVI-D port on top of it? lol...

    EDIT: I'm sorry for the 20 questions. I have a Bluray player/burner drive in my Thinkpad. However, I rarely ever use CD's, DVD's, and I've never physically held a Bluray. It's pathetic, isn't it? lol...Anyway, I usually have a 2nd hard drive in the Ultrabay slot, and would like to stream (and also connect by way of cable) my Thinkpad to my TV. I looked, and it has a couple of HDMI ports in the back, or should I do everything wirelessly??

    Ah man, I'm so ready for this! Thank youThank youThank youThank youThank youThank youThank you. I mean it!

    Thanks again folks! :)
     
    CrunchDude, Aug 25, 2009
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  2. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

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    DisplayPort saves Lenovo the licensing fees of HDMI. It's also slighlty smaller and I believe higher bandwidth (although HDMI can easily drive 1920x1200 anyway). DVI-D is a hybrid Digital/Analog interface and supports very high bandwidth, it is also very common on displays; however, it's rather large.

    You will need a DVI-D or DisplayPort to HDMI adapter most likely. Unfortunately, you will also likely need a 3.5mm to RCA adapter to carry 2 channel analog audio because Lenovo's implementation of DisplayPort will NOT carry audio.

    I would NOT recommend any kind of "Wireless HDMI solution" as they tend to be overpriced and not very good. Alternatively, you can do what I do and use a PS3 or similar device as a media front end and pull media (wired or wireless using a uPnP server) from your ThinkPad and display it on your monitor. This works very well and you also get a game console/Blu-Ray player in the bargain (now $300).
     
    jonlumpkin, Aug 25, 2009
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  3. CrunchDude

    CrunchDude Notebook Evangelist

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    jon, hi, thanks for the update. You'd think we had an HDMI port in as expensive, and as versatile (not!) W700/W700ds "all-about-high-end graphics" machines. Wow...Even much lower-end machines have a dedicated HDMI port with audio. I'm all for saving money, ...well, it is what it is.

    And what's this about "2 channel analog audio"? Does that mean I won't even get anything in stereo? (This has the potential of being a "dumb question". I hope I'm right.)

    So who uses DisplayPort? What can I even connect to it then, if not the obvious (at least to me)?
     
    CrunchDude, Aug 25, 2009
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