How do I hook up a MacBook to a "locked" LCD/Plasma at a hotel?
January 7, 2010 1:03 AM Subscribe
A friend of mine will soon be staying at the Sheraton Wall Centre in vancouver for an extended period and is hoping to hook up his MacBook to the TV in the room. He has all the appropriate cords, but I have heard from someone that at the Sheraton, they "lock" the buttons to change over to VGA input.
Is this something that can be worked around? Is the feature intrinsic to the TV or would a universal remote help?
Since you asked more generally, I've stayed at a few Marriott hotels (different brands) with nice LCD TVs. I had absolutely no problem hooking my ThinkPad up to the VGA input. So at least it doesn't seem to be a problem intrinsic to all hotel TVs.
posted by vsync at 1:31 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by vsync at 1:31 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ditto vsync, most hotels with LCD TVs it won't be a problem (big hotel chains usually have "hotel" versions of the TV which often lock out tuning and picture adjustment but they almost always have an "input source" button).
posted by samj at 5:56 AM on January 7, 2010
posted by samj at 5:56 AM on January 7, 2010
A couple of hotels I stayed in offered rental of game systems like PS3 or N64. I noticed at those hotels locked out the composite inputs, but not the VGA inputs. So I think you should be in good shape.
posted by chitlin at 6:28 AM on January 7, 2010
posted by chitlin at 6:28 AM on January 7, 2010
I've had success picking up that little dealie that you can use to hook up a game system to an old TV through its cable TV input; what is that, an RF modulator? Anyway, it's worked for me when faced with a hotel version console TV that wouldn't otherwise allow for other inputs.
posted by craven_morhead at 7:52 AM on January 7, 2010
posted by craven_morhead at 7:52 AM on January 7, 2010
I stayed at the Sheraton Wall Centre last spring and I actually did just that. Well with a Dell Laptop but still the same idea. I had no issues at all.
posted by cirhosis at 7:52 AM on January 7, 2010
posted by cirhosis at 7:52 AM on January 7, 2010
Well, looks like cirhosis has your answer.
I was going to write that in my recent experience, Marriott branded hotels seem to be using the original remotes (with modified firmware on the TV, of course), while the Hiltons seem to be mainly still using the annoying LodgeNet boxes.
I stayed at a Renaissance a year or so ago and they not only had the TV not-too-terribly-locked-out, but had it hooked up to this 'input bar' (whatever you want to call it) that had plugs for HDMI, component, composite, and even an optical audio input. And it worked.
At smaller hotels I consider myself lucky if they use cable and I can tune clear QAM HD stations (it's hit and miss), since a great number have HDTVs but no HD service.
posted by wierdo at 11:56 AM on January 7, 2010
I was going to write that in my recent experience, Marriott branded hotels seem to be using the original remotes (with modified firmware on the TV, of course), while the Hiltons seem to be mainly still using the annoying LodgeNet boxes.
I stayed at a Renaissance a year or so ago and they not only had the TV not-too-terribly-locked-out, but had it hooked up to this 'input bar' (whatever you want to call it) that had plugs for HDMI, component, composite, and even an optical audio input. And it worked.
At smaller hotels I consider myself lucky if they use cable and I can tune clear QAM HD stations (it's hit and miss), since a great number have HDTVs but no HD service.
posted by wierdo at 11:56 AM on January 7, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by nitor at 1:13 AM on January 7, 2010