VGA/DVI/HDMI - huh?

[youbet]

My new computer came today and so far, so good, It's sitting on the dining room table running just fine. I don't have a network cable long enough to reach out there so haven't tried it on the internet yet but not anticipating any problems when I move it into the office.
I just wanted to be sure it was working before I tore down this setup.

I'm very pleased with what I got for the price. I purchased it refurbished from Dell. They were offering 15% off and free delivery of refurbished and scratch and dent merchandise and the price really seemed attractive, so I bit.

Dell Inspiron 546
Windows 7 Home Premium
DVD RW
588 GB HD
4.0 GB Ram
AMD Athlon II X2 215 2.70 GHz processor
I yr warranty
Dell 1905FB Monitor

The computer was delivered to my door by FedX for a total price of $351. The monitor was acquired at no cost through professional connections. It's brand new, but an older model manufactured in 2006. Flat panel, LCD, 19" square. I was somewhat concerned that my new computer wouldn't like the square form factor since new monitors have a wide form factor. But, no problem. Fired right up filling the screen nicely. And it looks great.

But, I have a question. The monitor has two inputs: VGA and DVI and came with cables for both. The computer has two outputs: VGA and HDMI. Obviously, I grabbed the VGA cable and used that connection and it seems to work fine. But the instructions say that if I want I can buy a DVI/HDMI adapter to use at the computer end and then be able to take the monitor DVI input and cable and connect it to the computer HDMI output. Is there some advantage for me to do so? Should I bother?

 

[DayDreaming]

VGA is just fine if you're using your computer as... just a computer - email, web surfing, etc. DVI/HDMI should give you better picture quality if you're using your comuter as a home theater component for watching HD movies and such.

 

[CoolChange]

If you are happy with your current set-up (VGA), I'd say you are done.

Using DVI/HDMI might give you more options (higher refresh rate, higher resolution, etc.) which would be important if you were into gaming, watching high def. movies on your PC, etc. But, I doubt if you will see any benefit if you are just doing email, surfing the web, managing spreadsheets, etc.

Personally, I wouldn't bother for the configuration you listed. Now, if I was hooking it up to my 52" plasma in my man cave, that would be a different story: I would spring for a HDMI cable to make that connection.

Have fun with the new setup.

 

[ERD50]

I haven't used VGA in years, but I was under the impression the newer standards were much better, very noticeable at 19" monitor sizes and standard computing work.

Is there some kind of panel in the OS for the display settings that will tell you what the resolution and other display settings the computer is using?

Also, very important, what is the 'native resolution' of the 19" monitor? You really want to match the resolution to something that the monitor supports natively. If not, you are 'splitting' pixels or trying to fill in gaps, and it really looks MUCH better at native resolution in most cases.

For example, my iMac (~ 2005 model) has a 17" wide-screen monitor. It is 1440x900 native. If I set it to other rez, (1152*720, 1024*768 are available in a drop down menu), everything is proportionately larger, but everything is a bit fuzzy too, because things don't line up perfectly with those pixel boundaries.

-ERD50

 

[youbet]

Thanks everyone.

This computer and monitor are replacing a 7 yr old Dell Dimension 4500 and the associated CRT monitor. Although I do tend to milk computers, cars, etc., for every bit of use I can get out of them, I am surprised I didn't change to a LCD monitor before this. It's nice by my spartan standards.

I only use the computer for email, surfing, Word and Excel. I'm guessing this VGA hook-up will do OK for me. But I'll check on ERD50's suggestions as soon as I figure out where the info is using the new op sys. Gee...... I was just getting familar with XP!

My son suggested that if the DVI - HDMI adapter was cheap, I get one and try it out. Might do that too.

Thanks folks!

 

[skyline]

A couple dollars for an adapter, and you can decide for yourself which option you prefer:

DVD-R, DVD R Media, DVD Cases, Flash Memory, Ink Toner Cartridges, Hardware, Electronics, Home & Décor, Accessories & More

The one thing I would point out is that many computers will be more restrictive on output that eventually goes to HDMI. Not restrictive like DRM, but rather resolution. It's possible that you'll have less resolution options over DVI-to-HDMI (potentially not supporting your monitor's native resolution). It may also be more restrictive on how it resizes non-full screen video (i.e. you playback VGA-resolution video, and the video output refuses to resize to full-screen native resolution).

 

[BigMoneyJim]

What, no DisplayPort?

VGA is fine, stick with that if it fits your monitor.

There's some nerdy goodness to HDMI and digital DVI (which are identical in signal but different physical ends), but I haven't noticed a difference to bother with.

I used DVI at first but now use VGA because I have a VGA switch allowing me to change between two computers with one monitor, keyboard and mouse.

I get my hands on a lot of corporate PCs, and VGA is still pretty universal. Even when both the PC and monitor have DVI ports the companies usually stick with VGA, for consistency I guess.

I also note that companies tend to have a standard resolution (1024x768 or even 800x600), and I can tell the difference when the resolution doesn't match the monitor. But time and time again I've had users who want the larger text instead of a "better" resolution. I didn't really get it until the past year when my eyes decided they are about to turn 40, and now I run at the "wrong" resolution, too. (Yes, you can change the font size independent of resolution, but this always causes interface alignment and clipping problems from Win2k through Win7.)

 

[Walt34]

Um, a little off-topic, but unless you received CD/DVDs with the operating system on them, make those NOW. That was the first thing I did out of the box when we bought the new system here. You should be able to create a bootable CD that will then allow you to restore from a backup. In my case I bought an external HD for backups.

A BIL didn't do that and when he asked for help restoring his trashed system I couldn't do a lot to help.

 

[ls99]

Um, a little off-topic, but unless you received CD/DVDs with the operating system on them, make those NOW.

Darn Good Advice +1. I just spent a good bit of time re-storing DW's PC. Mercifully had the OEM OS CD and the additonal program disks like Word Perfect with the serial number already embedded in the distro by the vendor/MFG, Whew.

Without it, well....... Pick several four letter words and repeat often..

 

[youbet]

Um, a little off-topic, but unless you received CD/DVDs with the operating system on them, make those NOW. That was the first thing I did out of the box when we bought the new system here. You should be able to create a bootable CD that will then allow you to restore from a backup. In my case I bought an external HD for backups.

.

Thanks for the tip.

My computer did not come with an OS disk. It did come with a backup disk for the drivers and for Works. The instruction book (little booklet actually) mentioned that depending on the region I ordered it from, the computer may or may not ship with an OS disk but didn't mention making my own bootable disk. How can I find out how to do this? Why would they ship some computers with this disk and others without?