VGA to Scart cable: No signal when connecting old laptop to LCD TV

Hi, I'm trying to hook up an old Toshiba laptop to my new LCD TV.

The issue? The laptop only has a VGA port. I happened to spot a VGA to SCART cable today and picked it up, thinking that would be the fix. It wasn't. When I connect everything, there's just no image—the screen stays stuck on "no signal," even though I've set the TV to the correct AV1 input (the one marked with the SCART icon). On the laptop side, I'm running Windows XP. I've cycled through all the display settings—monitor, TV, whatever—but nothing works. No picture at all.

Can anyone point me in the right direction regarding settings or hardware?

The laptop:
http://www.pcworld.com/product/13305...-notebook.html

The TV:
http://uk.kagoo.com/TVs-Monitors-Pro...G-22LS350.html

Thanks.

Edit: Is there any other way to link a VGA laptop to a modern LCD TV? What's the deal with those HDMI-to-USB cables? A bit lost here.

Let me stop you right there: don't get your hopes up—it’s not going to happen with just a cable.

This is an old-school issue that you can't fix simply by swapping out wires. You need a signal converter, and those aren't cheap. You used to be able to find them everywhere, but lately, they're getting harder to track down since VGA and Scart connections are basically becoming relics.

Here's the deal: generally, cables with different connectors only work if you're converting the same type of signal—like analog to analog or digital to digital. But VGA is this weird hybrid with a different signal structure, which is why it demands an actual converter.

Sure, you can find all sorts of cables online; Chinese manufacturers will slap any connector on a piece of wire you want, but that doesn't mean it'll actually function. Specifically, the cable you're looking at is likely designed for video projectors that have built-in conversion circuitry to handle the signal themselves.

For your VGA setup, you're going to need something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/vga-to-scart-converter
http://www.amazon.com/vga-to-scart-converter

Just make sure you check the supported resolutions. Also, see how your TV handles scaling non-native resolutions, because the result could range from "okay" to a total disaster. Don't expect any extra image quality here.

Much appreciated for the response.