How to connect my laptop to my TV

Hey there!
So, here’s the deal: I’ve got a Dell Precision laptop that I’m trying to hook up to my Sony Bravia plasma TV. The main goal is to stream movies from the web and stuff like that...
The tricky part is how to actually connect them. It looks like my laptop only has a VGA port, but the TV has just about everything else *except* VGA.
On top of that—assuming I can actually get the picture to show up on the TV—I have a bit of an audio dilemma. I want the video on the TV, but I want the sound to come out of my home stereo system instead. If I want to pull that off, should I just run a 3.5mm cable from the laptop straight into the RCA inputs on the stereo, or would I need to go through the TV first?
Sorry if this is a silly question and someone has already answered it somewhere...
Best regards!

Connect your laptop directly to the line without having to route everything through the TV.
You can grab a VGA to HDMI converter for this.

Converters are just there to bridge the connection, honestly. You can find plenty of them on eBay for like five bucks.

So, if the converter is actually working, that means I’m getting an HDMI signal into my TV, right? Which would mean both the audio and the video from my laptop are coming through... or am I overthinking this?

You can, though you don't necessarily have to listen to the audio that way. There are adapters out there that pass the sound through, and then there are ones that don't—it really depends on the specific model. But they always carry the signal through the 3.5mm jack. If you want, you could just hook up the 3.5mm connection directly to the line instead of using an adapter.

Got it. So, just a heads-up: an adapter doesn't always mean the signal from the VGA port is actually being converted into HDMI. It’s a bit of a tricky distinction. Do you guys have a link for a specific adapter that handles both audio and video together?

You might be able to find a better deal on eBay

I was browsing through eBay earlier, and I noticed that almost all the adapters listed say "HDMI to VGA." Does that mean the signal only works one way—from HDMI to VGA—or can they go both ways? What I’m actually looking for is something that converts VGA to HDMI.

You basically answered your own question—you’re going to need a VGA to HDMI adapter with a stereo jack if you actually want sound coming out of your TV.

Watch what you're buying when it comes to adapters. Those cheap ones are often just glorified wires meant for specific projectors and won't work for your setup. Also, an HDMI to VGA cable won't cut it; you specifically need a VGA to HDMI converter, something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VGA-To-HDMI-...-/181746699458

Basically, you need a converter, not just an adapter, to turn that VGA signal (which is a weird hybrid of analog and digital) into a pure digital HDMI signal. Since VGA can't carry audio by definition, you'll have to pull the sound from your laptop's headphone jack. With this kind of converter, you plug the VGA and audio from the laptop into one side, and the other side outputs an HDMI signal that includes the audio.

Besides the converter, you're going to need three cables, and you really need to pay attention to the orientation (the genders) of the plugs:

1. A VGA cable from the laptop to the converter
2. A stereo audio cable from the laptop to the converter
3. An HDMI 1.2 cable (I think 1.2 is the lowest version that carries audio) from the converter to the TV

VGA and 3.5mm stereo are pretty standard, but for the HDMI, check if it's a full-size or a mini version. And obviously, make sure you know which end is male and which is female, otherwise, you're stuck. If you can't find the right polarity for a cable, there are "gender changers" you can use to fix that.

That USB to microUSB cable included with the converter is there to power it. It just needs 5V from a USB port, so make sure you have a spare USB port on your laptop available.

It’ll be hard to find a converter like this locally since they aren't common, so eBay is probably your best bet. For all the cables and extra gear, I'd recommend checking out Chipotle—they actually have decent prices and a good selection of this stuff...