Mini Display port to Samsung TV?

[0makol16]

Hi, I was wondering if it was worth the money to buy Apple's Mini Display Port to VGA and connect my MacBook (specs in sig) to my 42" Samsung Plasma. I already have a VGA cable that would be long enough.Also I'm not sure that the 9400m is up to the task since I do play a lot of games (all Source games) and it would be nice to play them on my TV. Any advice would be great.

 

[McGiord]

go for it, it will run fine.

 

[0makol16]

I heard there were some issues where Samsung TV weren't connecting the the Mini Display ports but the computer was able to detect the TV. Does this problem still occur?

 

[McGiord]

Well I have no idea about those specific issues, probably is better for you to be more specific and post the details of your Samsung TV model, so someone with the same TV can give you a better specific answer. Use google it is your best friend, check also in apple support forums.

 

[Guiyon]

I can't say anything about VGA (or your TV model, for that matter) but my Samsung LN32B540 works fine with both MiniDP->DVI and MiniDP->HDMI.

 

[0makol16]

Where can I find out what model my TV is? It's one of my dad's older TVs, it's about 1.5 years old.

 

[McGiord]

look in the rear side of it, it should have a sticker/label with the TV details.

 

[0makol16]

Model is: PN42A450P1D

Model Code: PN42A450P1DXZA

Type No: PN42A450

I don't know what numbers you are looking for lol 😱

 

[dbwie]

mDP to HDMI

Why not get a mini-displayport to HDMI adapter? I use this to connect my MacBook to my Sony HDTV. You will need a separate cable for audio. You can get these at monoprice.com

 

[0makol16]

Why not get a mini-displayport to HDMI adapter? I use this to connect my MacBook to my Sony HDTV. You will need a separate cable for audio. You can get these at monoprice.com

my TV doesn't have a free HDMI port 😀

 

[McGiord]

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1986323&tstart=-3

 

[0makol16]

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1986323&tstart=-3

Well that doesn't really answer my question...

 

[Guiyon]

In theory it should work fine but, judging from a lot of stories I've heard, the VGA port can be really temperamental on a lot of the newer HDTVs. Your best bet would be to just grab a MDP->HDMI connector and a cable (<$18 from monoprice.com) and use one of the 3 HDMI connections on your TV. If you are going to be playing games for a while it can't be all that inconvenient to simply swap out one of the HDMI cables. The quality of the HDMI connection will also be significantly better than VGA.

 

[McGiord]

Well that doesn't really answer my question...

Well, what I was trying to do was highlight that there are other Mac users with a Samsung TV like yours (same model), and that they are the ones that can truly answer to the level of detail that you are expecting.

I don't have a Samsung TV like yours, and I was just trying to help you, in theory it should work, the best way for you to know if it works is to try it, or to wait for someone else to answer to this thread with the answer that you particularly expect.

Good Luck and be persistent.

 

[0makol16]

Well, what I was trying to do was highlight that there are other Mac users with a Samsung TV like yours (same model), and that they are the ones that can truly answer to the level of detail that you are expecting.

I don't have a Samsung TV like yours, and I was just trying to help you, in theory it should work, the best way for you to know if it works is to try it, or to wait for someone else to answer to this thread with the answer that you particularly expect.

Good Luck and be persistent.

oh ok, well thank you

 

[Ride9650]

I would say the apple made adapter is NOT worth it, as you can find a cheaper adapter at Monoprice.com.

I bought a MDP->HDMI adapter, works great! And only $5(minus shipping) to boot. No audio, but its not really their fault. When it comes to cables/adapters, the more expensive ones are not necessarily better, and in most cases perform just as good as a cheaper option.

That being said I would also recommend trying to go through HDMI, as opposed to VGA, as you're likely to loose some picture quality the larger your TV is. I imagine you'd also be able to bypass those issues you were hearing about regarding connecting macs to samsung tvs

if there isn't a free HDMI port, have you thought about getting a switch box?
Not that expensive.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10110&cs_id=1011001&p_id=2786&seq=1&format=2

I've actually been meaning to get one myself, as I only have 2 ports, and 3 pieces of gear that'd I'd like to hook up via HDMI.