run my laptop on my tv

i like watching tv shows on my laptop and i was wondering what cables are recommended that i could buy that would allow me to watch the tv shows on my HDTV. all suggestions would be great

thanks
Brad

And what sort of Mac do you have ??
just for clarification so we can give you the help you need

my bad i have a 13.3 in macbook pro, the recent one with 2.26Ghz and 2 GB ram

you need a mini display to vga if you tv has vga. Or you need mini display to dvi then dvi to HDMI if your tv is hi def

female minidisplay to hdmi

Amazon.com: Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (female) Cable for Apple Mac: Monoprice: Electronics

found this on amazon, so if i got this then i would need a male hdmi correct? is this way better than the minidisplay to dvi then dvi to hdmi?

also another question, i have an older imac G5 (non-intel) with a display port, so i would just need a normal display port to hdmi adapter to watch my desktop on my HDTV correct?

thanks
Brad

"Merged duplicate thread"

1. That adapter is not any better or worse.

"Assuming" you want to plug the video in through an HDMI port on the TV, then you can grab one of the following instead of a purchasing two pieces - adapter and cable.

Adapter/Cable combined into one.

Before you buy that cable, you need to consider where you want the sound coming from. The mini-display port does not carry audio. Some TVs do not allow for separate sound input associated with any of their HDMI ports as they "assume" the sound is being carried on the HDMI cable.

Are you wanting to get the sound to the TV or to a separate receiver. If you want sound on the TV, will need to know the make and model of the TV.

2. The iMac G5 has a mini-VGA port, not a mini-display port. You will not be able to plug the G5 into the TV via HDMI. You will need this adapter and a VGA cable plugged into the "PC" (VGA - 15 pin) port on the TV if it has one.

I have a Samsung series 750 1080p. It looks like it has an opitical input for sound, so a converter from the 1/8th that my MBP has to optical would be necessary correct?

your MBP's headphone port is also a mini-tos. Get a mini-tos to tos cable and you'll be good.

Dysfunction said:

your MBP's headphone port is also a mini-tos. Get a mini-tos to tos cable and you'll be good.

Click to expand...

thanks guys

Yes, you can get sound through the optical input on the TV from your computer.

You can not get audio from that optical input at the same time as you are watching video through an HDMI connection.

To plug the computer into an HDMI connection, you must use HDMI # 1.
For the audio, you will need a stereo mini-plug to RCA cable. example

See the pic of your back panel below.

optikalefx said:

you need a mini display to vga if you tv has vga. Or you need mini display to dvi then dvi to HDMI if your tv is hi def

Click to expand...

I have 13.3 inch black macbook, would the same thing go for me?
I have an HD television so would I need mini display to dvi??

could I buy the adapter in the amazon link?
This stuff is so confusing.
:Blushing: