Be Excellent To Each Other

This should be simple, but it doesn't seem to be.

We've bought an adapter that supposedly lets you connect DVI to VGA, with a male VGA connector on one end and a female DVI (combined) connector on the other.

Only thing is, it doesn't seem to do anything.

I understand that there are something like 4 or 5 different "standards" all contained within the DVI spec, all using the same plug but with different pin layouts. The cable coming from the HDTV is DVI-D Dual Link

I assume the reason it's not working is because there's no conversion between digital (DVI-D) and analog (VGA) going on inside the adaptor.

So, is it possible to get this arrangement going without spending over £150 on a conversion box?

You mean VGA to DVI, right?

DVI-I does have R,G,B pins in the connector, so it should work if the set supports analogue.

edit: OK, you said DVI-D. That's why.

One of these USB video cards might be cheaper than a conversion box, but I've no idea how good or not they are: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-2-0-DVI-Exter ... 439b3e277c

Wait - your TV has an output?

It's the TV in our office, has a DVI port on it that we've plugged a cabl.... ah-ha.

I wonder whether it's the cable at fault... I'll see if the port on the TV supports DVI-A/I.

The way I read the subject is that your connecting a cable from a TV and wanting it to show the TV on a laptop.
That's not right, right?

I assume the question should have been "Can I connect this model [...] laptop to display on this model [...] of LCD TV, and which type of cable will I need to do that?"

'Connecting a DVI cable (for a HDTV) from a VGA laptop' would have done

I've only ever done this the other way around (DVI > VGA) so I'll shut up now.

kalmar is correct, yes.