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HTC Advantage X7501 and VGA out

Htc_advantage_vgaPocketables reader TP emailed me this afternoon with a question about the VGA-out capabilities of the HTC Advantage X7501: "How do you hook up the Advantage to a computer monitor? Could you maybe write a short guide showing me how to do it and take pictures of what it looks like in the end?"

Rather than keep our exchange private, I decided to answer TP’s question here in case others were curious about how the VGA functionality worked or were just interested in seeing how the Advantage’s 640 x 480 resolution looked on an external monitor (in this case, my aging 17-inch Samsung CRT). Plus, you know I’ll take any excuse to put the spotlight on the Advantage whenever I can.

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Connecting to a VGA display is quick and easy thanks to the proprietary 16-pin VGA-out cable included in the HTC Advantage retail box.

Step 1: Remove the protective cap and plug the connector into the VGA-out port located on the left side of the Advantage.

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Step 2: Connect the monitor’s VGA cable to the other end of the Advantage cable.

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Step 3: On the Advantage, go to Start -> Settings -> System tab -> TV Out.

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Step 4: Select "On" from the drop-down menu and "VGA-out" as the connection type.

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And that’s it!

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Everything on the Advantage’s 5-inch touchscreen is now simultaneously displayed on an external monitor. The process is the same for connecting to a projector or TV, though the latter requires the HTC Advantage 4-in-1 cableir?t=pocketables 20&l=ur2&o=1 - for some reason we don't have an alt tag here and the connection type in Step 4 to be "Composite & S-Video."

One of the most commonly cited benefits of hooking up the Advantage to a VGA display is the ability to give presentations without a laptop, but the functionality could also be used for watching movies, playing games, and other entertainment purposes. In terms of productivity, the setup could be used with a wireless keyboard and mouse to get a good deal of work done (e.g., writing documents, editing spreadsheets, creating presentations, blogging, checking RSS feeds). There’s a lot of potential.

Here are some additional pictures of the connected duo:

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Thanks for your question, TP!

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Jenn K. Lee

Jenn K. Lee is the founder of Pocketables. She loves gadgets the way most women love shoes and purses. The pieces in her tech wardrobe that go with everything are currently the Samsung Galaxy Note II, Sony Tablet P, and Nexus 7, but there are still a couple of vintage UMPCs/MIDs in the back of her closet.

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