# Help me get Internet videos on my TV

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-internet-videos-on-my-tv/572342>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 23, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-internet-videos-on-my-tv/572342 "2011-02-23T14:34:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-internet-videos-on-my-tv/572342/21 "2011-02-25T15:47:37Z")

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> [@Sal\_Ammoniac](#):
>
> Huh… just when I had given up on the idea. So let me understand – the TV is basically your monitor in this setup, and in fact your only monitor? So suppose you need to click something on the screen with your mouse, how do you do that if your TV is in one room and your PC in another?

Oh, well, I assumed you would move the Dell to the room with the TV. That’s how I have it set up. I have a wireless keyboard and mouse too.

But yes, my tv is my monitor. I just built a new computer and got a new flatscreen TV but before that it was a 27" CRT television and before THAT it was a 21" CRT monitor.

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**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-internet-videos-on-my-tv/572342/22 "2011-02-25T18:29:41Z")

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> [@Sal\_Ammoniac](#):
>
> Well, I think I’m abandoning the idea of sending the signal from the PC to the TV with a long cable and a series of adaptors. Seems like too much of a kludge. Newest idea, as some have recommended above, is to get a wireless router, and maybe a new, cheap laptop to be the boon companion of the TV. Definitely a more expensive solution, but probably vastly more satisfactory.

This might be the easiest way. I already had a laptop, so I hooked up to my TV with the supplied VGA cable. I then ran an audio cable. Of course, my TV is a HD flatscreen, so has these connections.

Once I connected (my desktop, with a wireless router is in another room too), sitting with the laptop 8 feet or so away, the big screen is exactly like my computer screen. If I move my wireless mouse while sitting in the chair, the cursor on the TV screen moves just like on a monitor, so can get Firefox opened, go to Netflix or YouTube and stream movies or videos directly. Works like a charm.

You might look on Craigslist for a more up-to-date TV though.

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**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-internet-videos-on-my-tv/572342/23 "2011-02-25T18:47:04Z")

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Do you want to 1) use your television as your computer monitor or do you want to 2) watch Youtube, netflix, Amazon movies on demand, etc. on your television. Those are two very different things. For about $100 bucks you can easily do #2 with an internet ready device like a DVD player or a Media Player. Doing #1 means either moving your computer next to your tv or buying another computer.

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