Give Your Old Laptop the High Def Monitor It's Always Wanted By Nathan Kartchner

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There it sits: the shiny new high-definition monitor that you just picked up for a killer price. You pull out your laptop with dreams of sharp, hi-res graphics dancing through your head, only to realize that your laptop only has a VGA out port. You could always get a VGA to DVI adapter, but with only an analog signal, what do you do about the picture quality? The resolution? The definition? Without the digital, what’s the point?


You’re not alone. With the proliferation of high definition TVs, monitors, and projectors, laptop users looking to get a bigger viewing surface than the sometimes miniscule laptop screen now have the chance to see their desktop in sharp, clear, digital high-definition.


Until recently, most laptops have only had a VGA out jack. Even the nicest multimedia platforms have only had S-Video and RCA video out in addition to the ubiquitous VGA out. Unfortunately, all of these video options are analog, resulting in a loss of clarity and resolution. The loss isn’t devastating, but those wishing to experience high-def in all its glory will want to go digital.


Happily, you can now add a DVI port to your analog laptop, letting you take full advantage of the luscious visual goodness that DVI offers. The VTBook DVI/VGA Dual Display Video PCMCIA Card (the best, and as far as I can tell, only option as far as a DVI expansion card is concerned) plugs neatly into a PCMCIA slot on the side of your laptop, giving you a DVI digital high-def signal your parents would be proud of.


So go ahead and buy that hi-def monitor you’ve been looking at, but don’t forget the VTBook. You won’t regret it.


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Nathan Kartchner works as a marketer for Sewell Direct, an online retailer of hard-to find connectivity products like the VTBook DVI PCMCIA card, or the USB to Serial adapter. ?expert=Nathan_Kartchner