e6500 spdif

does this laptop have it?

 

no it doesn't. u can get digital sound out from the displayport though. vista reports it as SPDIF out; see the second post here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=298801

 

So, has anyone seen an adapter to get a SPDIF connection from the DisplayPort? Either a SPDIF-only adapter, or one that provides it as part of another adapter, with DVI, HDMI, or another DisplayPort pass-through?

I've upgraded to the Dell Latitude E6500 from my last Dell Latitude c810. The c810 had an adapter that split the S-Video port into S-Video, composite video, and an RCA-style SPDIF jack. Not having an SPDIF output apparently anywhere on the E6500 is a bit disappointing., especially given the typical analog sound quality of notebook sound cards.

I'd also be interested to know if anyone has found a way to provide a S-Video and/or composite video output on the E6500. There are still times that I'd like to connect to a regular TV for presentations, etc., one that doesn't have a VGA, DVI, or HDMI input. The DisplayPort is digital only, so I don't think there are any options there. I have seen adapters that provide S-Video, composite, and sometimes even component video off of the VGA output, but those require special support from the video card to provide to proper frequencies, etc. I know there are complex, expensive converters that could be used, but I'm still looking for other options, first.

Thanks!

 

As far as I know there is no way to get an analog video output (composite or S-video) from the E6500 without an extra adapter, e.g. this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815117101
These kinds of adapters vary a lot in picture quality so if you decide to get one get one with good reviews.

Regarding SPDIF from DisplayPort, I don't think it is possible. I would recommend a cheap USB to SPDIF sound card instead. I have a Sinovoice UAC-05 USB sound card that provides optical SPDIF output including 5.1 DD/DTS pass-through. It works in both Windows XP and Vista and didn't cost more than 15 USD. I haven't tried it my new E6400 but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. See http://www.sinovoice.cn/en/product_details.asp?id=430 for more info.
If you cannot find this card you should be able to get it to work with a similar card. Just be sure that the card supports SPDIF pass-through.

Örjan

 

orjan - thanks for the reply and the ideas!

However, I'm already set with an external interface regarding SPDIF. I have a relatively cheap Creative SoundBlaster USB that provides "better" analog ins and outs, as well as optical SPDIF in/out. I also have a bit of experience as a sound engineer, and have a professional MOTU 828mkII interface with just about any input/output you can imagine, including both coaxial and optical SPDIF in/out. The point being, this was supported with nothing more than a tiny dongle on the Latitude C-series, and was also available direct on the D-Docks for the Latitude D-series.

You reinforced my point exactly regarding the S-Video/composite video output. There are adapters to convert from VGA, but they're big, relatively expensive, and vary a lot in picture quality. I was just hoping that maybe there was something already somwhat built-in to the VGA port / video card that allowed for only a simple adapter to be used, rather than a full-fledged converter.

It's a laptop, and every extra converter device I have to carry around is an annoyance. (I do/will anyway, but it's still an annoyance!

 

The Sinovoice USB sound card is not much bigger than a tiny dongle but of course it would have been better if there was SPDIF port on the laptop. Unfortunately it was some time ago that Dell Latitude had SPDIF out. My old D610 had the same type of combination SPDIF/S-Video connector as the Latitude C series but I could never get any SPDIF output from it.

I think there are some video adapters that are powered from a USB port and provide quite good picture quality. I remember reading a Mac forum where people talked about this.

To get video output from VGA you need to be able to tell the graphics card to output composite sync and you also need to solder a small dongle that converts VGA to RGB video. Unfortunately only ATI has an option to output composite sync as far as I know. Maybe nVidia supports this also but I don't think so.

Örjan