Connection cables

Hi im stuck using an old tv/monitor at the moment which only has one VGA connection, one (yellow/red/white connection) or an S-video connection and two AV connections.

At the moment i use the VGA connection for both my PC and 360, its a real pain having to switch the cable round all the time, but before i go and buy an S video cable for the 360 would i notice a major quality difference between them?

Also i have seen VGA splitter cables advertised for attaching the PC to dual monitors, but would these cables work for attaching a single monitor to two devices?

 

Splitters are designed for exactly that: splitting the signal. They will not normally allow you to make 2 signals into one.

There is no quality difference for an XBOX to run on s-video as that is how it is designed to run. I would recommend you check your XBOX boxes if you still have them as an s-video cable should have been supplied new with the unit.

 

"Two AV connections"? Did you mean two audio? AV means audio/visual or audio/video.

As collinsl suggest, a splitter divides, not combines. It would not be wise to "short" the two output signals together. The results could be disastrous - and costly.

There are devices that are designed to connect multiple source to one TV or monitor, however, most depend on HDMI connections, which your TV does not support. These devices are not cheap (well, the cheap ones are cheap, but are cheaply made too). And this KVM type switch will become obsolete when you get a new TV. So I would save your pennies and budget for a new TV which will surely support HDMI and several other input sources and in the meantime, manually switch - being careful every time to not bend pins and making sure you turn off power before switching.

 

Re: Connection cables (which monitor)

yea ive decided ill just go for a new monitor after all.

I was looking at the samsung syncmaster XL2370 but not sure exactlly.

What do you think of using this for both xbox and pc gaming?

 

Well, I've been using Samsung monitors for years and have no problems recommending them. That said, one thing I always look for, and that is hard to find on monitors, is an adjustable height base. Most tilt, some swivel too, but only a few let you adjust the height and I think that is a shame. Not all desks are at the same height and users should not have to raise or lower their chair to position themselves to the monitor's height. And many desks have hutches that may not support monitors on tall stands.

As for that monitor, it only tilts and that may or may not be a problem for you. I generally recommend entering the model number and the word "review" into your favorite search engine and read what reviews sites say. So for yours, see Samsung xl2370 review.