Connecting an Inspiron 1545 to a plasma tv

Welcome to the forums :emotion-21:

Very surprisingly, the Inspiron 1545 doesn't even have a DVI port :emotion-3:  It has a VGA port only, so you'll need a VGA - HDMI cable of suitable length.

They're not expensive though.  You can pick 'em up on Ebay (in various lengths) for just a few bucks.

But you'll need to sort out something separate for the audio of course.

Hopefully he'll see this thread, and forum member Fireberd will be able to advise you on that score, if you're not sure what's required yourself.

Once you get the video cable... to activate TV Out:

Connect whatever cable you're using to both the computer and the TV, then reboot your system.

Once it's rebooted, open your graphics card's display options, and click on the video card's TV (/Output Device) tab.
Click Settings --> Advanced --> TV (/Output Device), and choose 'Enable output to TV'.
Different brands of video cards may have slightly different wording of course - i.e. 'Output Device/TV'.

(Restore the display back to your computer monitor by following the above steps, except choose to send the signal to the computer monitor instead of the TV.)



Also double-check the audio output, by right-clicking on the small speaker icon in the taskbar, and making sure it's set for external output?

Use the S video connector and audio cables. It's the cheapest and sure to work. According to Intel, the 1545's graphics have Svideo connections:

From the specs: Component, S-Video and Composite Output Interfaces

It's best to match connections on both the tv and the computer and not use converter cables. They don't always work.

Thanks for your help. You've both (including therealfirebrigade) offered some good advice. Shame it didn't have a DVI socket as everything else on the system seems quite up to date.

oop, I meant to say therealfireblade not the realfirebrigade. Oh dear! Thanks for your help though!

Hi there,

Further to your post, I'm still having some difficulties to connect my Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop to my flatscreen TV.

I have bought a "1.8m VGA to HDMI Cable Adapter M/M For Laptop PC LCD TV" on EBay and I have been trying for hours to set it up but no joy. can you please assist me on this?

what do you mean by reboot the system, restart the computer? Where do I find my "graphic card's display options"?

For audio it was fine, I connected it to my Hi-Fi Stereo and it works perfectly fine.

thanks in advance:emotion-2:

I have bought a "1.8m VGA to HDMI Cable Adapter M/M For Laptop PC LCD TV" on EBay and I have been trying for hours to set it up but no joy. can you please assist me on this?

You seriously expected a piece of cable to work?????

That advice about buying one was totally rubbish. I know he meant well, but the advice was WRONG.

Hate to break the news to you, but you just thrown your money down the drain.

Ain't gonna work, no way, no how. You can try until Doomsday. Not gonna happen.

Get the picture?

How do I get my laptop screen to appear on my TV?!?!?

That would depend on what connections are available on this TV, wouldn't it?

unfortunately, VGA to VGA is your only choice; you'll also need a cable for the LINE OUT to two RCA plugs.

the video quality won't be very good certainly not DVD-quality

Connections available on this TV are:

YPbPr ; VGA ; HDMI1 ; HDMI2 ; AV ; S-VIDEO.

Does it help?

Yes at least it's half the battle, lol :emotion-5:

I just ordered a 5m SVGA VGA Monitor Male to Male Cable Lead on EBay, should be good isn't it?

I think on my laptop it's Fn + F11, it's when the screen goes wider suddenly no?! I also have an option when I can duplicate/extend the screen or use a projector (F1), I don't need this do I?!

So, if I understand I need to get a VGA to VGA cable to set up the image on my TV, Do i need to do some settings on my laptop while connecting the cables?

for the LINE OUT to two RCA plugs cable, is this for the sound only or the image also?? if it's for the sound, I actually connected my laptop to my stereo already and it works fine. I just need to get the image of my laptop screen to my TV, just to VGA to VGA then, isn't it??

thanks a lot for your help and support though this complicated process.

Yes, the LINE out is for sound. If you have that working then that is 1/2 the battle. You need a male to male VGA cable.

You will need to tell your laptop to send video out the VGA port. It's Fn+F8 on my laptop.

I bought my VGA cable on eBay too. Worked for me. My laptop is older so all I have is Fn+F8 to output to an external monitor which this case was the TV.
You might have to fiddle around with some of the options to get it to work for you, but VGA out is pretty standard.

Hi Jamiethomas,

I, too, have been trying DESPERATELY to get my mom's Dell Inspiron 1545 hooked up to her TV. Did the VGA to VGA work? I do not think her TV has a VGA port but rather has Svideo and HDMI ports. I thought I saw you had tried a VGA to HDMI and it didnt work, which is what I was just getting ready to order.

Can you please confirm and let me know for sure if you did say VGA to HDMI did not work? I do not understand why that would not work?

Her TV is a panasonic led and I took pics of the ports but my pictures do not show a VGA port.

Any assistance you can offer would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!