How do I use my laptop as my 360 monitor?

[psychephage]

Hello,

I have an Xbox 360 outputting a VGA signal. Currently, it is plugged into a switch and sharing a standard aspect ratio flatscreen monitor with my PC. While the setup works pretty well, I've been tempted to swap out my monitor for a cheap 19" widescreen monitor. However, it occured to me that my laptop (a Toshiba M35X-S161) has a widescreen monitor that I could use. My laptop does not have a VGA input, but it does have USB 2.0 ports, a firewire port, and a PCMCIA port.

Does anyone know of a card (cheaper than the linked monitor) that accepts a VGA input that would allow me to use my laptop as my 360 monitor?

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: psychephage
Hello,

I have an Xbox 360 outputting a VGA signal. Currently, it is plugged into a switch and sharing a standard aspect ratio flatscreen monitor with my PC. While the setup works pretty well, I've been tempted to swap out my monitor for a cheap 19" widescreen monitor. However, it occured to me that my laptop (a Toshiba M35X-S161) has a widescreen monitor that I could use. My laptop does not have a VGA input, but it does have USB 2.0 ports, a firewire port, and a PCMCIA port.

Does anyone know of a card (cheaper than the linked monitor) that accepts a VGA input that would allow me to use my laptop as my 360 monitor?

uhhh.... PCMCIA TV Card?? and then plug the xbox360 in the video imput? other then that, i have no clue. but that might be a solution, and tv cards only cost like 69 dollars at most.

 

[TylerP]

Would that introduce some lag though? Using the card through the laptop?

Viewsonic also makes a 19"WS LCD. That is what I am using for my Xbox 360. I am currently testing the differences between the VGA cable and the VD-Z3 component to VGA transcoder.

I would say go with the LCD.

 

[erwos]

A good PCMCIA TV tuner card should presumably be no worse than a PCI TV tuner card for this sort of thing.

That said, you'd lose all the high-def capabilities that make the 360 so compelling in the first place. I was in a similar situation as you - SFF PC, no TV tuner, smallish 4:3 CRT. I ended up buying a Westinghouse 19" LCD TV from Best Buy (1440x900, 12ms). While it was certainly more expensive than what you've linked ($430), it also has a lot of different inputs - basically one of everything except HDMI. As a solution, it's quite compelling - I can route all of my sound to the good computer speakers I have (not a trivial thing for a regular LCD monitor and computer setup), and be able to access my computer very quickly even when I'm playing a game. And, if I decide to buy a PS3 and/or Revolution next year, I've got the inputs to handle those, too. Might need a new gigabit switch, though .

-Erwos

 

[mercanucaribe]

1440x900 ? What kind of resolution is that?

 

[TylerP]

1440x900 is 16:10 and is the standard for 19" WS monitors.

 

[Peter007]

I bought a CMV 19" WIDE LCD when I was in Taiwan.....
One word, AMAZING!

In Asia, Wide Screen 19" LCD Monitor is everywhere.
Here, I only saw one in Costco