Any laptops with optical audio and HDMI?

[Guest 37362]

Hi all

I want to get a new laptop with Windows Media Centre and I want to be able to connect it to my plasma and AV amp, but I cannot find a laptop with HDMI and optical (if poss) although HDMI obviously would cater for audio and video.

I see there are a few with HD -dvd drives, which is great, but I don't know how I would get the picture onto my tv.

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

[bigp2]

If the laptop has DVI out you can use a DVI-HDMI adapter to drive your screen.

Phil

[Guest 37362]

true, but are there any with DVI out and optical out. I could also use a VGA output, would VGA output at 1080??

[kiran_mk2]

A lot of laptops combine the optical output and the headphone jack. I was convinced mine didn't have an optical output until I saw the red glow from the headphone port one night.

[MagicBoy]

Originally Posted by Corrado

true, but are there any with DVI out and optical out. I could also use a VGA output, would VGA output at 1080??

Apple Macbook Pro. Has DVI and optical out. Ships with DVI to VGA adaptor in the box. Not sure if it'll run Media Centre, but I was quite happy using Front Row in MacOS.

[Guest 37362]

I should have said at the begining, I do not want an Applemac,really - want a Windows based machine.

I suppose I just need a decent laptop with optical out and Windows Media Centre

[bigp2]

You could always buy a MacBook and put Media Centre on it. Although it would be a waste of the nice Mac OS.

[MagicBoy]

The MacBook Pro will run Windows via Boot Camp. I'm not sure on the Media Centre version compatibility, I've only used XP Pro SP2.

I suppose it depends on what you want Media Centre for. Front Row does DVD and links into iTunes and iPhoto for Music and Photos. The Movie player bit played 99% of the AVIs and videos I threw at it, and you get a iPod Shuffle style remote for free.