You'll get more specific answers if you give us more details of your TV (what connections on the back, highest resolution) and what type of outputs your video card has: VGI (usually blue and trapezoid shaped), S-Video (black circle) or DVI (white and rectangular).
If you haven't bought any cables yet, check out www.monoprice.com It's reliable and far cheaper than anything you can find at stores. If I get you right, there's only VGA? What kind of video card do you have? Since you have a nice TV with DVI outputs, I suggest spending a little more for a video card with DVI support. Hooroo's advice is good...a card around the Radeon 9500 series can be found for around 40-50 bucks. Pros for DVI-I: Digital transmission usually a more recent card that can handle current divx/avi movies Cons: -Need to tweak the screen to match the dimensions of your tv -more $$ for the card, a little more for a DVI cable -Some ambiguity in the format... look for DVI-I instead of DVI-D or DVI-A S-Video and VGA are both analog transmission, so there's no future proofing if you get another computer. If you don't want to buy another card, and instead want a convertor like the ones found on monoprice, there's no difference in quality for a VGA to DVI convertor compared to VGA to S-Video. It's a question of which you would use more. Check out the Afterdawn forums for more info.
You can get yourself one of those external Video out gagdets, or you can get yourself a cheap graphics card that has svidio out, or a more expensive one with DVI out.
I have an older model gateway computer no idea what kind of video card. If I get a video card how hard to install?
The converter is much cheaper. Plugging in the card isn't hard. Opening and handling your computer could be. To install, you need to be able to open computer, know where a PCI or an AGP slot is, and be able to close the computer after everything is securely attached. Some older Gateways have a latch or button that allows you to slide the mold out. Check for any screws on the back of the computer (it could be knob shaped) before attempting the sliding. Some screws are for parts other than the mold. Try finding your computer manual first. If the computer is smallish, it's going to be a jungle inside. If you have an AGP slot, it'll be a black/brownish thin rectangle, while a PCI slot will be white thin rectangle. If your computer uses onboard video then there probably isn't a video card. You would know this by seeing where the VGA port is and whether it's on the motherboard or a card attached to the motherboard. The difference would be replacing the older video card. Your computer will run a little faster with a new card if it used onboard before. If you're still thinking about buying a new card. Do a search on the model of your computer and see if it has an AGP slot and how many PCI slots it has. The most general card will run on PCI, but there's a larger variety with cards that use AGP. Do not buy a card with PCI-Express or PCI-E unless your computer can support it (probably not). Whenever you mess with the insides of a computer, don't use a magnetic screwdriver, and touch a metal surface to ground yourself out beforehand.
I remember someone told me before that its on the motherboard I think I will try the converter and then go from there. Thanks to everyone for the info.
bigboi, no need to quote the entire HUGE post someone wrote to answer you. The database server here has to remember the entire quote, and your post on top of it. What's the model of your TV where you intend to connect your PC's video signal, and did you answer the question I posed earlier about an S-video output from your PC?
since your tv has dvi. the cheapest option might be a vga-dvi adaptor and a vga extension cable. btw, s-video output on the video card won't necessarily output to a tv. ie a lot of s-video on video cards use prop. software to run and are limited in what they can do.
Swoly sorry about that My Computer has no S-Video port, The TV I have is a RCA 61 inch its about 3 years old do not know the exact model.
I use a converter box VGA->component. However, this is not the route I would take if my TV would take DVI in. If you can do DVI, even if it means buying a new video card, do that. Pure digital > kluged vga conversion to digital >>>>>>>>>>> S-Video.
yes, a vga-dvi adaptor looks like this: http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProd..._Id=&Section_Id=16&pcount=&Product_Id=108267# btw, belkin products are usually double or triple the reasonable price. generic brands will do the same job.
