Help - HDTV to N100 Laptop

Hello.

I just got a 32" Vizion HDTV as a gift.

http://www.vizio.com/productDetails.aspx?id=1750&pid=1506



1. What cable do I need in order to connect it to my laptop?
2. Are there different qualities? Which one should I buy?
3. Can I expect good enough resolution that will allow me to read word documents? I want to use the screen mainly as a computer screen?
4. should I prefer buying a smaller computer screen instead?

Thanks!

 

You need a VGA cable just like one that works with any monitor.

Your resolution will be 1366x768.

 

You can probably read word documents and/or webpages on it, but the DPI will be very low. The resolution on that TV is 1366x768, and that is about on par with a 17" desktop LCD [1280x768], or even my 12" x200 [1280x800].

That display will be very good for video, but you will probably prefer the experience of working with word documents on the internal Thinkpad screen. If you want to use an external monitor for both Video and productivity, I would recommend an external LCD between 20 and 24", with a resolution of 1680x1050 or 1920x1200 respectively. Make sure you get one with a DVI or HDMI input that supports HDCP (this will let you hook up cable boxes, game consoles, etc).

This is my suggestion, but if the TV works for you, then there is no reason not to use it. FYI, any decent gauge VGA cable will work. Here are some good VGA cables, and these ones also have a 3.5mm stereo cable if you want audio as well(you may also need a 3.5mm to RCA adapter to hook into your TV). Just pick the shortest cable that will work, because VGA suffers distortion and attenuation over distance (shouldn't be a problem below 25 feet at that resolution though).

 

Thanksssssssssssssss !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If you're sitting farther away that may actually be a plus.