I have a Dell Inspiron 9400 laptop with some kind of dvi out (as well as a normal vga out). Can anyone tell me what cable I need to buy to hook it up to my HD tv ?

Some Kind of dvi out, you mean a dvi out? All you need is dvi to hdmi cable, Have one myself for my macbook pro to the hdtv, easy to get
http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/scan/ml=6/sf=category/se=HDMI/se=to/se=DVI/se=Cables/tf=sale_price/to=n.html
http://www.maplin.co.uk/free_uk_delivery/HDMI-DVI_Cables_43457/HDMI-DVI_Cables_43457.htm

I dont know if its DVI, HDMI, HD-DVI-MD-DI squared. It just looks like a DVI type connector. Can you find out what it is has ?

Quote from: SamI dont know if its DVI, HDMI, HD-DVI-MD-DI squared. It just looks like a DVI type connector. Can you find out what it is has ?

If that is it then
http://www.maplin.co.uk/free_uk_delivery/HDMI-DVI_Cables_43457/HDMI-DVI_Cables_43457.htm Sort of cable as above is what you want

Sam - has the TV not got a vga in? Thought most HDTVs had them.

My XPS has a HDMI output.
Take a piccy of the connections and well probably be better able to tell exactly what you need.

Nexus picture is spot on.

Quote from: RivkidSam - has the TV not got a vga in? Thought most HDTVs had them.

Yes but doesnt that kinda defeat the point of having these better connections ?

Quote from: neXus

Quote from: SamI dont know if its DVI, HDMI, HD-DVI-MD-DI squared. It just looks like a DVI type connector. Can you find out what it is has ?

If that is it then
http://www.maplin.co.uk/free_uk_delivery/HDMI-DVI_Cables_43457/HDMI-DVI_Cables_43457.htm Sort of cable as above is what you want

Pricey then !

(I really didnt see that picture the first 3 times I read this thread )

You can get DVI -> HDMI cables for a lot cheaper from eBay. I paid about £5 inc p&p for a 3m gold plated one to run from my HTPC to my TV.

Radioshack will no doubt have something to help

Quote from: Sam

Quote from: neXus

Quote from: SamI dont know if its DVI, HDMI, HD-DVI-MD-DI squared. It just looks like a DVI type connector. Can you find out what it is has ?

If that is it then
http://www.maplin.co.uk/free_uk_delivery/HDMI-DVI_Cables_43457/HDMI-DVI_Cables_43457.htm Sort of cable as above is what you want

Pricey then !

Just what I got link wise so you know what your looking for, like Nimrod said - ebay is good for cheap cables but good quality but note about hdmi.


There are £40 or stupid price uber gold special coated hdmi cables being sold and countless places have done tests to see the difference between them and £5 - nothing, and like nimrod said you can get gold coated ones for that price anyway.

$30 in radioshack.
Am I right in thinking the dvi is the bigger one?

Yeah DVI is the bigger white one.

Quote from: Sam

Quote from: RivkidSam - has the TV not got a vga in? Thought most HDTVs had them.

Yes but doesnt that kinda defeat the point of having these better connections ?

Depends how anal you are really and the res of the tv. Once you set the resolution up to match the tv I cant see much difference between using my vga connection and my hdmi connection. HDMI is easier I suppose as it carries the sound too.

Quote from: Rivkid

Quote from: Sam

Quote from: RivkidSam - has the TV not got a vga in? Thought most HDTVs had them.

Yes but doesnt that kinda defeat the point of having these better connections ?

Depends how anal you are really and the res of the tv. Once you set the resolution up to match the tv I cant see much difference between using my vga connection and my hdmi connection. HDMI is easier I suppose as it carries the sound too.

There is a definite increase in quality for DVI/HDMI as opposed to analog VGA, the price of the cables are about the same, and the quality of the HDMI cable doesnt affect picture quality, as opposed to VGA which can cause ghosting etc for cheap VGA cables.

Just to clarify, DVI wont have sound (correct me if I am wrong), so plugging in to the TV via DVI > HDMI wont carry sound unfortunately, so will still require a separate audio cable.