Monitor cable splicing?

[Zephik]

My VGA port on my laptop just came disconnected after I tripped over the cable. But I still have the S-Video and DVI ports which work fine, but the only monitor I have is a VGA monitor. So until I can buy an adapter, does anyone know if its possible to splice a VGA cable with either a DVI or S-Video cable? Thanks.

Man I really need a new rig. lol no keyboard, no monitor, no speakers, the audio jack is gone, the vga port is now gone, the cooling fans have ceases moving, there's no optical drive, oh and the battery only lasts about 5 minutes. ...not that I ever get to use it since it's no longer a laptop in any sense. Hell, its barely even a desktop at this point. lmao T_T

[Zephik]

I think my cable is all fudged up too now that I looked at it. So now I need a new cable as well. But, here's where it apparently gets difficult. There are multiple types of DVI cables apparently. So what I need is this...

A cable that connects to my monitor via VGA and then connects to my laptop via DVI. (whatever DVI it is, I have no idea.)

or...

Since I have a DVI cable that works with my laptop, I need an adapter that can connect to the VGA port on my monitor and then I'll run the DVI cable I have from that to the laptop and then connect to its DVI port.

Does that make sense? lol why is this so confusing...

Anyways, any help would be much appreciated. I'm trying to keep the cost below $15 btw.

[Zephik]

I'm pretty sure what I need is DVI-D? So would this work or no?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119042

Edit: Also, keep in mind that I have an S-Video port. So a VGA to S-Video cable would work as well.

[Mark_Hardware]

I think that should work just fine. I got one of those with my graphics card, which has DVI output. That adapter allows you to plug in your vga cable to run to your monitor

[Zephik]

Yea, I'm just worried about the adapter because there are different kinds of DVI and the one I need, I'm pretty sure, is DVI-D.

Can anyone else confirm whether this will work or not?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119042

Monitor > Adapter (Listed Above) > DVI-D Cable > DVI-D Port = Working monitor? I hate to say it, but I just don't have the money right now to get this adapter and have it not work.

I didn't think about it before, but I suppose a DVI-D to VGA adapter would work too if I bought a new VGA cable along with it. But the adapter listed above would save me the cost of the cable, so... (yep, really am that poor. lol T_T)

[mtekk]

Check to make sure that your laptops DVI connection does output VGA and DVI signals, many Dell laptops have a separate VGA port and do not send the analog signals through the DVI port (check Wikipedia for reference pictures).

[Zephik]

Err. what? lol

Sorry, not really sure what you mean. I have a Dell Inspiron 9700 though, if that helps. I'm using a standard LCD monitor by the way, just has a VGA port. I think I read somewhere that not all monitors will support DVI or something? It works on my big screen anyways.

[mtekk]

Look at the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DVI_Connector_Types.svg

and see which of those connectors you can connect to your DVI port. If you don't have the four pins by the horizontal bar connector your DVI port can not output analog (VGA) signals, even with a DVI to VGA adapter.

Also, that Rosewill part connects the wrong way, you want http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812267001 if you want to use a VGA monitor on your DVI-I port.

Anyways, seeing that it is a Dell Inspiron 9700, IIRC that DVI port is a DVI-D port (digital only), so it looks like you are SOL. If you can post a picture of the DVI port (good enough ones so that the pin holes are visible) I can give you a definitive answer.

[Zephik]

My DVI Cable = DVI-D Single Link

My DVI Port = DVI-D Dual Link

The two are compatible I know for a fact because I can plug that cable into that port and then use this laptop on the plasma in the living room. My monitor doesn't have a DVI port though, which is why I need the adapter, which brings me to my next point...

Yea, the adapter is backwards because I don't have a VGA cable. Both the port and the cable are no longer usable. But, I do have a DVI-D (single link) cable, so I was thinking that I could connect that adapter to the back of my VGA monitor and then run the cable from there and into the DVI-D (dual link) port on the back of my laptop? I'm not sure if that would work or not though? But with the adapter you chose, I'd have to buy a new VGA cable as well as that adapter. I'm just trying to keep cost to a minimal. But... now that I think about it... it probably wouldn't be that expensive to just buy that adapter and a new VGA cable so that's what I'll probably do.

Edit: I'm pretty sure that's the wrong kind of adapter though? It looks like a DVI-I (dual link) whereas I need a DVI-D.

Thanks for the Wikipedia link, that was very helpful. At least I know what is what now. No wonder people are so happy about HDMI, there's only one configuration! haha (I think, there is only one, isn't there?? lol)

[OvRiDe]

Zephik.. I think you are totally missing something here.

If your port is a DVI-D you CANNOT use it to connect it to a VGA monitor. VGA is an analog signal, and the DVI-D is a digital only port. So an adapter will not help you at all. A DVI-I port has both Digital and Analog outputs which is why you can use an adapter and connect a VGA monitor.

If you look at a DVI-D connector...

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/ovride/images/misc/DVI-D_diagram.jpg

If you look at a DVI-I connector...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/ovride/images/misc/DVI-I_diagram.jpg

I tried to look up a Dell Inspiron 9700 and they don't list that as a model number, present or legacy. Are you sure its not a 9100 or 9200 with a ATI mobility 9700 in it?

I was at Staples yesterday and they had a Acer 18" widescreen for 89 bucks. I believe it had a DVI connector on it. EDIT.. just looked it up.. no DVI :( and its $129 online.

[Zephik]

Me brain no work today, come back soon plz! lol

Yea, this laptop is an Inspiron 9200 with ATI mobility 9700.

So it seems that I'm basically SOL. I love technology, but only sometimes. lol

Here is some good news at least. I found my other laptop, well, what's left of it. So I cannibalized the two and now I have a working computer. I'm so glad I never threw this thing away and I'm even more glad that I remembered that I had it stored away with all my other boxes of computer junk. I'm also glad that the two have fairly compatible parts. It was just a motherboard last I left it, so I took everything from the other laptop and threw them into this one and viola, working PC. Although I get a processor compatibility message every time I turn it on. It's supposed to be a 1.7Ghz Pentium M, but its reporting it as a 1.3GHz Pentium M now. My Windows Experience Score is now 2.4. lol T_T

I wonder if the Atom chips are now officially faster than what I'm currently running? That's just sad if true. lol

[OvRiDe]

I wonder if the Atom chips are now officially faster than what I'm currently running? That's just sad if true. lol

Well the Atom Z540 is 1.86Ghz and the Z550 is 2.0Ghz, but I don't think I have ever seen them available in anything yet.

Newegg has a board with the Atom 230 (1.6Ghz) on it for 59.99.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121342

[mtekk]

Zephik.. I think you are totally missing something here.

If your port is a DVI-D you CANNOT use it to connect it to a VGA monitor. VGA is an analog signal, and the DVI-D is a digital only port. So an adapter will not help you at all. A DVI-I port has both Digital and Analog outputs which is why you can use an adapter and connect a VGA monitor.

If you look at a DVI-D connector...

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/ovride/images/misc/DVI-D_diagram.jpg

If you look at a DVI-I connector...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/ovride/images/misc/DVI-I_diagram.jpg


Ding Ding Ding!!!! You understand what I was talking about, but was too lazy to make graphics for.



It's supposed to be a 1.7Ghz Pentium M, but its reporting it as a 1.3GHz Pentium M now. My Windows Experience Score is now 2.4. lol T_T

I wonder if the Atom chips are now officially faster than what I'm currently running? That's just sad if true. lol

Use CPUz to see what it is actually running at. And at 1.3Ghz I believe it is still faster than a 1.6Ghz atom.

[Zephik]

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/5530/cpuzci.png

[slaveofconvention]

Maybe the board is locked into a 100 mhz FSB - 133 would bring that cpu up closer to where you think it's meant to be (1729mhz which would show up as 1.73Ghz), but not a lot you can do if the board doesn't support it.

BIOS update maybe?

ARGHHHHHHH I hate when people post screenshots like that - I ALWAYS try to click on the bloody tabs to get more info!!!

[Zephik]

The funny thing is that the cpu that was in the board before this one was a 1.6GHz. So... 0.1Ghz more and it screws everything up and lowers it down to 1.3Ghz? LOL yay technology is awesome! haha

I know what you mean. Sometimes I forget that I'm looking at a screen shot and then I start getting irritated because I think my computer must have froze. haha

[mtekk]

That should be running with a 133FSB/533Effective and a click of 1.73Ghz according to intel's specs. So your motherboard is under clocking it, due to a FSB limmitation. You should get better battery life then :).

[Zephik]

Pro's:
Longer Battery Life! Yay!

Con's:
No WiFi
No Keyboard
No Touch Pad
No LCD Screen
No Optical Drive
No Speakers

But at least I have better battery life now! haha

I seriously need to get a new rig. This is ridiculous. lol

I'll have you one day my precious... (staring at a picture of an Asus 1005HA)