how do i attach a netbook to my tv

i have a 22 (approximately) flat screen tv and it hase a vga input in the back last time i tried i just attached the vga cable to the netbook plug on the side and fired the thing up it displayed the acer splash screen the brand of the machine then it displayed the windows xp splash screen but after it vanished nothing else came tp on the screen but the desktop came up on the netbook

how do i make the netbook display things on the tv and how is it done in aoth linux and windows xp

 

You could always try downloading and/or reading the manual for your netbook.

 

My guess is the screen resolution is not compatible. Try changing the desktop's resolution to something the TV can display.

 

the netbook is too small and there is only a limited number of screen resolution for the thing but i guess that would become different when running limux, but still i don't see how that would matter since from my experience big display device will support almost any screen resolution even the real small ones it just make them look bigger (i can recall making the screen resolution real small when i was running linux on a desktop of mine but whole different story with the netbook i guess)

 

I had an Acer Aspire until my son took it for school & gave me back my Toshiba laptop, but anyways did you try hitting the function keys and output to the TV. Should of suggested that first.
Usually there is a 'fn' key and two boxes []|[] on the top row of keys on the laptop to select the output.
But those netbooks do have limited display resolutions.

 

Right-click an empty area of the Desktop > Graphics Properties > Output to > ... take your pick ^^ (at least that's what I do on my Acer netbook, currently outputting at 1280x1024x32).

Standard XP way is to right-click an empty area of the Desktop > Properties > Advanced, then highlight the alternative screen you have connected and choose ''extend Desktop onto this device'' or similar.

EDIT: It's only the netbook screens have limited resolutions, the gfx chips can use up to 256Mb of RAM, some even more, so on a 'normal' monitor, they can go pretty big.

 

Agree with Satrow here. With Linux I was only ever able to "clone" the desktop (both exactly the same) and it was automatic but I was playing in a LiveCD environment. XP will allow you to extend the desktop and also indicate which is the "Primary Display" click on either screens Icon and then you can change parameters:

 

I don't think the size of the lap top makes any difference my Acer Aspire one works fine with my 42 flat screen.

 

i guess the process of doing it in windows is the same in linux (depending on the distro you use) i am looking at easypeasy linux for netbooks