I have an old Philips TV in my bedroom with no wall antenna socket or internet connection so it currently can only run DVDs from our old Sony DVD player. We got one of those external antenna things but it was useless. Im hoping to somehow watch video files (avi or mp4) from my laptop or purchase an external HDD. My laptop is a Samsung RF511 and looks to have a VGA port and HDMI port but no svideo.

The TV is some old CRT philips thing that looks like the pic below. I can get the model number if required but from what i could see it only has the standard red/green/blue video ports, svideo port and sound ports - no HMDI.


So, whats the easiest/most cost effective way to play video files on my TV. I dont mind buying a cheap external HDD if i have to but if i can use my laptop and just buy a cable then im happy to do that. Thanks.

You should be able to pick up a HDMI to RGB Cable like this:

http://www.sourcingmap.com/15m-goldplated-hdmi-rgb-cable-wire-cord-p-51584.html

A lot of set top boxes let you play certain files via USB plug. I think it's mpeg for a lot of them. Might be the cheapest option but restrictive.

yeah Hogfarther is on it... I bought one of these years ago except it was for composite. works perfectly

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SVGA-VGA-TV-Cord-RCA-AV-3-Adapter-Computer-Cable-Laptop-RGB-TV-PC-Netbook-/280793038027?pt=AU_Electronics_Accessories_Wires_Cables&hash=item416091bccb#ht_1485wt_1163

you wont notice any difference HDMI or VGA RBG quality is crap.

Get this

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HDMI-Male-3-RGB-5-YPbPr-8-RCA-4-Pin-S-video-2-5mm-Female-Adapter-Cable-/261009943295?pt=AU_Electronics_Accessories_Wires_Cables&hash=item3cc567aaff#ht_3921wt_1164

Does everything! you can use S-Video and also has audio

HDMI has audio and video.

Bedrooms are not for watching tv, unless you are a teenager late at night and you're watching porn.

So using this, i will also need a male to male svideo for video? And a male to male RCA for audio? Might already have both, will need to check.

yeah you do, but im pretty sure you will have some if not ask around i know i have heaps!

Twas jsut tongue in cheek dave, I have a huge arse tv in my room and a 7.2 surround sound system, put I don't think the tv is plugged in.

Have you considered getting a Telstra T-Box?!

Seriously though, you should just head down to cash converters with a pocket full of coins and get a dvd player or media player with a usb slot, with the change left over you should be able to get a soft serve from macca's on your way home, maybe even one with a cadbury flake in it, fuck yeah.

Lol mental, i wasnt taking you serious bro.

We have tivo with our main TV and id get another in the bedroom if we had an antenna wall socket but we dont n i CBF getting one installed.

Yeah that cable you recommended is looking the best option plus im pretty sure i have spare sound RCA cables and svideo for video.

Long term save money on power hey.

I did a quick google and found:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=54308.0
ITEM Annual Energy Use Annual Cost
Plasma TV 441 kWH $48.25
CRT TV 123 kWH $13.46
LCD TV 77 kWH $8.42

Our annual usage wouldnt be very much if we do maybe 4hrs a week but even if we used their values and saved approx $5 a year by switching to LCD, it would take us 40yrs to cover the $200 cost of buying the LCD.

Values are probably off by a bit given that its an old web page but due to our limited use of the TV and limited spare funds, id rather just grab a cheap cable and use my laptop for the time being. Still appreciate your post though as ill keep the LCD in mind should anything happen.

Have you got an old LCD Monitor floating around?

In short I think your best option would be to look @ something like an AppleTV or WDTV Live.

Both are networkable, and you'd have to check for RCA connection compatibility in either case.

If you had a spare monitor, you'd need the box (each are around $100AUD) and some computer speakers (can be had for around 60-100, and you'd only need these if you were using an old monitor obviously.)

buy a usb dvd player for like $30. or buy a new TV lol
use your 360/ps3

he cheapest way is to drop that brick out the nearest window and buy a 22" ish LCD.
A decent one can be had for about $200, and will have all modern inputs. It will also use about 50% of the power of that massive fuck-off CRT.
In the long term, you'll save money on power.

came in to say this:

please throw out that horrible tv right now and treat yo self to a nice new tv as they are cheap

i've had my aldi lcd wall mounted in the bedroom for a few years now and after some initial teething issues (i had a disagreement with aldi on what resolution HD actually is) its been awesome, my computer room is the other side of the wall to the bedroom, so i just run a nice long hdmi cable from pc to tv on wall, perfect!

That tv looks exactly the same as our old samsung tv, I just used to hook the xbox up to it & use its media player thing. Didn't play a great range but it played all the ones I wanted it to so that was all that mattered to me.

Hey i've got a question:
http://www.kogan.com/au/buy/agora-smart-tv-hdmi-dongle/

Has anyone used this or a similar product? It's essentially android on a stick for your TV. I was very seriously contemplating one for my TV right now.. it has wifi and further expandability if i want to throw movies/tv onto it directly.

Edit: Ah hell, its 100 dollars delivered, i'll just buy it and see how it goes.