questions for the tech savy among us

[diymirage]

hey guys, i was over t my brother in laws place and he had what he called a WD box

it is some srt of magicvoodoo box that lets you play video on your TV

now, i have some movies on my puter i would like to watch on the TV so this may be something im intrested in

so here are my qeustions

*what magical box should i get?

*will i need anything else to store the moviies on or can i acces it wirelessly?

*will i be able to get netflix on it if i ever decide to get that?

*what would be the most cost effective awnser to all 3 questions?

thanks guys

[MikeMc]

http://compare.ebay.com/like/190532332863?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

It's basically a DVR, good ones have a 1 tetrabyte HD for storage...The cheap way to go short term is thru your cable provider...I would suggest looking thru Tiger Direct...their tech people can fill in the blanks.....One brand is TE -VO

[diymirage]

thanks Mike, but that one is in violation of #4...cost effectiveness

(it may not be, im very unschooled in this area, but well beyond my budget nonetheless)

[mopar01lee]

i have no idea .. but i use my laptop with my 42in flat screen ... and i connect them with a HDMI cable ... and i watch 210 movies off my PC...but my tv has 3 hdmi ports if urs dont then i have no answer srry.. hope this helps a lil

[Kaleb]

Why not just use the tv as a monitor. Most computers will have a port to hook up to a projecter and other things like that. Basically what he said before me, wasn't sure what it was called because mine does not have hdmi.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Kaleb

[diymirage]

yeah, my TV has a co-axial input aswell as the 3 wire deal, yellow,red, white

i dont have any off my movies on the laptop (though i could transfer all of that)

i do like the idea of not spending anything at all

[scale trucker]

if you have a ps3 you can send the movies to that also..

[diymirage]

lol, i had a playstation at one point but i got rid off it since i never used it

[heatride]

Not sure exactly what puter your using but if its the laptop , put it by the tv and use a vga cable blue from

puter to blue on tv. Set tv to VGA and watch movie ,eat popcorn .

[diymirage]

VGA huh ?

never heard of it, ill look into it

[diymirage]

like this one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VGA-TV-S-Video-3-RCA-AV-OUT-Converter-Adapter-Cable-/150717433175?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2317758557

[heatride]

VGA huh ?

never heard of it, ill look into it

You know the cord on a monitor that goes from the computer to the monitor . Used to be standard , but thats another story.

Get one of those cables I bet a friend or pal has a spare laying around . As long as your laptop has the connector for the

picture above and your TV does then it ain't rocket science .

[Rob Hall]

I use an HDMI cable to connect my laptop to my 60 inch HDTV and watch content via Boxee, Hulu, Youtube, Netflix streaming, etc on the big screen. I have a DVR (tiVo) also, as well as the cable box, 2 DVD players (region 1 and multi-region), a Blu Ray player, and if I really want to kick it old school, a VCR. Lots of choices for entertainment media. Maybe too many.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Rob Hall

[Harry P.]

It's basically a DVR, good ones have a 1 tetrabyte HD for storage...

That's "terabyte"...

[diymirage]

allright, my laptop does have a VGA output (my old laptop actually has a S-video output) BUT my TV only has a coaxial input aswell as the red/white/yellow ones (RCA?)

if i just get a cable that converts between the two we should be allright ?

[martinfan5]

I use either my XBOX or PS3 to stream stuff off the computer to the tv, I do have a VGA cable, but I need a longer one . Besides I like being able to use the computer while watching tv, so thats why I dont use the VGA anymore. Plus there is the DVR or I can kick it old school as well and fire the VHS

Edit- to stay on topic, I dont think there is an adapter for a VGA cable, but I could be wrong

Edited December 29, 2011 by martinfan5

[Danno]

... good ones have a 1 tetrabyte HD for storage...

I had a tetrabyte once. It was the last time I stuck my hand in the aquarium at feeding time!

[Harry P.]

I had a tetrabyte once. It was the last time I stuck my hand in the aquarium at feeding time!

Yeah, those tetras are mean!

[Danno]

Yeah, those tetras are mean!

Especially the hungry ones!

[MikeMc]

That's "terabyte"...

But it doesn't snow here......... B)

[diymirage]

allright guys , thanks for all the input

i ended up ordering a S-video to RCA cable

that should let me connect the laptop to the TV