How do I know if my laptop has optical audio out?

[paulson07]

I was told to connect my laptop to my receiver that is would be the preferred method opposed to HDMI.

I have a Dell Insprion 5521, purchased a month ago.

 

[twoeyedbob]

If this is as simple as it sounds....surely you've looked at the available connection's...

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[BoredSysAdmin]

if you have HDMI port - you don't need optical out,
File:HDMI-Connector.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[paulson07]

I meant to say if my headphone jack doubles as an optical out. Is that going to give me the same quality as HDMI?

 

[Grador]

For windows 7: right click the volume icon and select "playback devices" If there's one in the list that shows up that says optical, then you have optical.

 

[twoeyedbob]

No a headphone jack is'nt an optical out ,
Neither is it an hdmi,
Which is what you should be using...if not you can use an optical out..which is a small square(ish) socket with a dust flap
And possibly some red light eminating from it

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[Grador]

There are plenty of reasons to use optical instead of HDMI....

It's also not enough to say to look for a toslink connector as many laptops [my sony and all apple systems] have a dual purpose headphone/optical jack.

 

[paulson07]

So Grador, how would I go about finding if mine is dual purpose? And what advantage does optical have over HDMI?
Thanks!

 

[Grador]

So Grador, how would I go about finding if mine is dual purpose? And what advantage does optical have over HDMI?
Thanks!

Check my first response for how. If you don't have any reasons in mind then maybe you should just use HDMI, it's likely to work out better.

The reasons I can think of: having equipment that supports optical and not HDMI, computers doing weird things video wise when you plug an HDMI cable in, the HDMI connectors aren't always that robust and in general require greater insertion force. Audio wise, until you're thinking about multi channel or high bit rate, there is no difference.

 

[cpp]

I was told to connect my laptop to my receiver that is would be the preferred method opposed to HDMI.

I have a Dell Insprion 5521, purchased a month ago.

if you have one of these ; Optical Digital Audio - Cable and Connection Explained

 

[Adam]

I don't believe that the Dell 5521 has a dual-purpose jack based on what Dell states on their website, but Grador is giving you good advice on how to figure it out.