my laptop specs say it 5.1 sound and high definition output - connect speakers?

[wakkaday]

hi guys
im considering getting a home cinema system...althought i want to save as much money as i can...

i usually watch movies via my laptop which has a bluray player (hdmi connection to tv)

can i not get a 5.1 speakers for under 80 kwid and connect it to my laptop so i get high definition and better sound?

and secondly, buying speakers for example a set of creatives 5.1 can i not connect them to my tv via one of the inputs and so any sound comes from the speakers? i.e watching tv. playing games, movies...


thirdly, can anyone reccomend any good speaker sets please?
*http://www.sony.co.uk/product/t32-ex...s/kdl-32ex401* my tv
the specs on my laptop

"
Optimized Dolby Home Theater®10 audio enhancement featuring Dolby® Digital, Dolby® Digital Live, Dolby Pro Logic® II, Dolby® Headphone and Dolby® Virtual Speaker technologies11
AcerCineSurround with five built-in speakers and one Acer TubaCineBass booster supporting low-frequency effects
True 5.1-channel surround sound output
High-definition audio support
S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface)12 support for digital speakers
MS-Sound compatible
AcerPureZone technology with two built-in stereo microphones featuring beam forming, echo cancellation, and noise suppression technologies
"

the 5.1 I believe will most likely be through a 3.5 mm dual function headphone jack mini SPDIF so you will need to be able to connect this way

[damien c]

To get true high definition sound iirc you would need a 7.1 surround sound set up, which again iirc is only going to be found on some blu-ray film's.

The digital output as zing said will be a line out socket on your laptop, but that will also act as a S/PDIF output as well, with a little adaptor that should have come in the box of goodies with the laptop.

Other than that you could always just buy a 5.1 cinema system that has a phono connection input, and get a 3.5m to phono cable for your laptop and then iirc if it comes with a dvd/blu-ray player, and you connect it to your tv all the tv sound will come through the speaker's of the surround sound system.

The other way to do it is to get a cinema system, that connects to your tv then you connect your laptop to your tv, and connect the sound output of the laptop to the tv then the sound from the laptop should come through the 5.1 cinema system.

[wakkaday]

my laptop has hdmi, so will i get hi definition sound via the hdmi cable?

[peanut]

How I get 5.1 etc from my PC (desktop)...

I have a ATI HD 5850 that has HDMI output, so from that, a HDMI lead from the graphics card into an AV (Yamaha RX-V465). Then only via TV-Out using Catalyst control center and extending the display to my 32" LCD, the HDMI sends HD picture and the sound directly to the AV, and the AV is connected via HDMI to the TV obviously.

The only way I can get 5.1 bitstreamed and not fake 5.1 (PCM) is to use MPC (Windows Media Classic) and having AC3Filter installed as well. This then sends AC3 to be decoded via the AV (bitstreamed). This works for anything that is AC3, that is DIVX, X264s etc.

If you use VLC player then it'll only be PCM as they use their own codecs which is a shame.

MPC (for me) has problems with normal DVDs, but you can use things like WinDVD 10 which will use AC3filter to send bitstream. But I tend to use the DVD player via HDMI that's also connected to the AV.

This way is the easiest and most stable way of getting 5.1 etc from a PC, there are other ways but I'd rather stick with what works without too much hassle.