How to connect Mac Book Pro to HDTV??? Please help

There are HDTVs with DVI inputs. Ask for them, this way you don't need to buy anything.

HDMI is essentially DVI with added capability for transferring sound signals. I don't recommend getting a TV with DVI inputs because you'll be better off with HDMI down the road. I also don't recommend getting an expensive cable for DVI or HDMI, because it's a digital signal and as long as the bits get from one end to the other the picture with a cheap cable will look 100% as good as one from a premium cable.

I think that the 19.95 one would probably function pretty near as well. Both are dvi-hdmi adapters with possibly some different value in the wires that they use.

I have the same options to consider. The hdtv that I have been looking at has 2 hdmi connections but no actual dvi connection without an adapter. It comes with no wires or cables but many connections and options re: audio and video. Their booklet recommends a dvi-hdmi cable connection from computers.

The important thing is not the cable but the TV. Try and find an online link to the user manual for the TV you are interested in and read it carefully for information about making a computer connection. You will often find that PC connections are not supported over HDMI, especially true on Philips TVs in my experience.

When the cables came out, the word was that the 19.95 one was a true bargain and performed as well as the more expensive ones. Newspaper columns that I read on the web were recommending going to the apple store just to purchase the 19.95 cable adapter.

The picture quality with those two cables will be exactly the same. Period.

HDMI is a superset of DVI (DVI is video only), so in general an HDMI TV will support DVI with a simple cable with the proper connectors. Some manufacturers can probably hobble their HDMI implementation to prevent DVI use, and such a TV should be avoided if you're interested in connecting it to a computer.

If you also want to send audio from a computer to a TV you will have to get a separate cable for that purpose.

VIDEO: From MacBook Pro DVI port to HDTV HDMI port
DVI to HDMI cable can be found at Apple Store for $19.95 http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=7B7 8923E&fnode=home/shopmac/macaccessories/cables&nplm=TL952LL/A
Or go to Amazon (or whatever) and search on DVI to HDMI cable. This is the one I'm getting.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007MWE1E/ref=ordcartshr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
There are a lot of others available

AUDIO: From MacBook Pro Headphone/digital out jack to A/V receiver (my setup)
Forget RCA! You need (and want) a toslink (which is a standard optical digital input) to optical mini adapter.
The optical mini adapter connects to your MBP and then to the toslink cable which is connected to your A/V toslink optical input.
There are many of these available. Search toslink to optical mini adapter on Amazon or whatever.
This is the one I'm getting.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002MQGRM/ref=ordcartshr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2JSBUBRVPP4SX&v=glance

I hope this helps.

OMLooper