How do I connect my laptop to my hd televsion so that I can hear the sound?

Question

I am having a New Years Eve Party and I have tons of music on my laptop. I would like to connect my laptop to the tv or the surround sound system so that I can have the music at a louder volume.

Answer 1

You can certainly connect it to your surround sound system, just like you would connect an iPod - get a cable with a mini jack (like a headphone has) on one end and two RCA connectors for the surround sound system end.  Plug it into the headphone connector on your laptop and an unused input on your receiver, set the volume level on the laptop to about 80%, and you will be good to go.

Check what kind of outputs your specific laptop has, and you may be able to make it sound even better.  

My macintosh laptop has an optical digital output - by using a special cable I can have the surround system decode the digital information (this is what it was specifically designed to do, so it's good at it) instead of having the laptop do that job (it works, but not as well because the laptop has a lot of other jobs to do).

Answer 2

You can find an adapter to do just this at Radio Shack or any electronics store.  Check this one out: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index....

Answer 3

Using the cable mentioned there by Chris. You'll want to connect the 1/8" phono plug to the headphone output on yout laptop and then connect the rca plugs to an available input on your stereo.

Keep the volume on your laptop all the way down.

Turn on your stereo and turn the volume up, on your stereo, to a level you know is a nice listening level. You will not hear anything at first just turn it up to a setting you know is not going to be super loud.

Now turn up your laptop volume just till it is about the same as your CD player or DVD player. Now leave the volume on your laptop set to this level.

Use your stereo to control the overall volume.

DO NOT try and turn up the volume on your laptop to make your stereo louder than it can/should go. Just use your stereo's volume.

Enjoy your party!!