Laptop to HDTV

I am trying to connect my laptop to my HDTV. I am doing this for two reasons and have been instructed on two different methods for each reason respectively. First I wish to do this in order to use the TV as a large monitor. I was instructed to use an S video cable for this. I also wanted to use the TV recording function on Vista's MS media center. For this I was told to get a TV tuner card. My question is are either one of these able to be used for both purposes/ does either method have a two way communication capability?

 

they are not 2 way. the s cable will go from the out on your laptop to the tv. the recording will go from the tv to your pc tuner card on your pc. depending on the type of cable tv you have. your pc card can be directly connected to your cable device.