best way to stream wirelessly laptop to tv? what do i need?

[wakkaday]

i dont want to use a hdmi cable anymore, is there anything i can install use..

my laptop has wifi and i want to play a number of videos (various formats)

and my tv is a Sony Bravia 32'' KDL-32EX401 LCD TV" which isnt a smart tv, but it has a usb port and some bravia sync feature..

can anyone assist?

thanks..

[qasdfdsaq]

Wireless HDMI.

you do realise that this will cost you in excess of a ton? might be worth getting a cheap media player instead perhaps one with wireless DLNA

[Qtx]

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Wireless HDMI.

WiDi (Wireless HDMI) is good if your TV supports as well as your laptop. Otherwise it is expensive to buy the kit to do the same thing.

The WiDi option is the only easy way to show your laptop screen on the tv without a HDMI cable. For playing movies you have a few choices but they all involve buying hardware too.

The WDTV's are good for supporting a lot of formats. Some models need a separate wireless dongle http://wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330

There are some android based HDMI sticks with built in wireless that look like USB pens. They plug into the HDMI port of a TV and you can stream the video over wifi that way. Not used any of them so can't vouch for how good they are. The google tv box version only does 720p (without firmware hacking) but I personally wouldn't want to stream 1080p video over wifi.

---------- Post added at 00:22 ---------- Previous post was at 00:17 ----------

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

you do realise that this will cost you in excess of a ton? might be worth getting a cheap media player instead perhaps one with wireless DLNA

The reason I went for the WDTV a while back is due to it supporting nearly every video format without transcoding. DLNA is a good idea for supporting lots of formats but the fact the laptop/computer re-encodes a lot of video before sending it seems a waste of pixels. They are not expensive really either.

[RB2004]

not wireless, but I just connected the TV using a DVI over Cat5e adaptor, then used another 1 the other end to connect to spare HDMi port on graphics card on the PC, then just put the TV in PC mode and stream from computer by using the TV as effectively a 2nd screen for the computer.

[progers]

Two suggestions
1. Power line adapters
2. Cheap router by your TV coupled to your main router/SH wirelessly - the solution I use as it gives me four Ethernet sockets for TV, Blu Ray player etc

Wireless HDMI is expensive as hell & unreliable, Intel WiDi/Miracast is only in brand new laptops and AirPlay Mirroring is only on Mac.

If you want to mirror your laptop screen you'll have to use an HDMI cable.

[qasdfdsaq]

WiDi has been around for years and can be retrofitted to old laptops for £10.