watch movies from laptop on HD TV

[lollypopoh]

Hi, all.

I own one of SONY Bravia v5100 series. I am planing to buy new laptop to connect to my HD TV, so I can watch movies from my laptop on my TV. The guy from FS recommended to go with either Toshiba Satellite L500-00Y with 1366*768-native resolution or Sony Vaio FW340 with 1600*900. Both of them Have HDMI port. Here's the confusing part.

To have Full Pixel HD mode on TV, what type of native resolution should I look at to choose the laptop? On my TV input signal reference chart, It says I can set the PC output signals to 1920*1080 for HDTV signals. Does it mean that I need to buy laptop with same native resolution like this SonY model below? Or any of those models FS guy recommended should be fine? Does the high ratio efffect computer resolution when you hook up your laptop to your HD TV?


http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/ProductDetailDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&productId=1006045&navigationPath=32009n100589


Anyone knows about these stuff, please help me.

[chinesedevil]

The resolution on the laptop screen is irrelevent to what you need to watch on the TV Screen.

So, say i have a laptop with 1280x800 screen, when I use a HDMI or the VGA port to plug it into my television, i can set the HDMI port resolution to match the TV's, be it 1366x768 (720p) or 1920x1080 (1080p)

It all depends on whether your laptop has a discrete GPU or a X4500HD to do the HD decoding, so the processor doesn't need to do all the work. And that VAIO, IMO its overkill unless you want to watch bluray from it.

[zoolander]

If you don't mind spending that much, that Sony is nice and would do fine. All you need is an HDMI cable like the 6ft Belkins for less than $10 I'm seeing at FactoryDirect and computer stores. Like the previous poster said, their respective resolutions don't matter. You have a 1080p screen on your laptop, and a 1080p screen on your TV. It's the resolution of your content that will determine the picture quality on the screen your using, whether it's a 480 AVI/DVD, 720p mkv, 1080p bluray, etc.
However, you do want at least a 2GHz dual core or C2D processor for smooth 1080p playback which that Sony more than has in an Intel P8600.

From an RFD approach, I have seen the specs you need with bluray in other models for sub $1000. If you don't need the bluray, Futureshop has a new 15.6" HP with HDMI out and a T4200 processor for $549.99.

Blurays/DVDs consume a lot of battery power in a laptop, you have to wait for it to boot, and you'll hear them spinning. The heat generated will also shorten the battery's lifespan.
You could save some money and find a standalone Sony bluray player for around $250 to connect to your TV that will be quieter and instant on, for immediate playback.

[dlhunter]

I have MBP w/ CD@1.83Mhz and it plays everything I throw at it

[zoolander]

I could recommend lower specs but I don't think the OP will be playing with filters and offloading acceleration software. She/he sounds like a "works out of the box" person.

[lollypopoh]

If you don't mind spending that much, that Sony is nice and would do fine. All you need is an HDMI cable like the 6ft Belkins for less than $10 I'm seeing at FactoryDirect and computer stores. Like the previous poster said, their respective resolutions don't matter. You have a 1080p screen on your laptop, and a 1080p screen on your TV. It's the resolution of your content that will determine the picture quality on the screen your using, whether it's a 480 AVI/DVD, 720p mkv, 1080p bluray, etc.
However, you do want at least a 2GHz dual core or C2D processor for smooth 1080p playback which that Sony more than has in an Intel P8600.

From an RFD approach, I have seen the specs you need with bluray in other models for sub $1000. If you don't need the bluray, Futureshop has a new 15.6" HP with HDMI out and a T4200 processor for $549.99.

Blurays/DVDs consume a lot of battery power in a laptop, you have to wait for it to boot, and you'll hear them spinning. The heat generated will also shorten the battery's lifespan.
You could save some money and find a standalone Sony bluray player for around $250 to connect to your TV that will be quieter and instant on, for immediate playback.

I have to say you are right, Zoolander! I am like a "works out of the box" person. I appreciate all your answers though. Could you recommend any other laptop with blu ray player under $1,000? Thanks!