[abbaZaba]

so I have an older model HDTV that only has one HDMI input that is used for the Cable. I want to be able to connect my mac mini to the TV but I don't want to keep swapping the one HDMI cable. The TV has a Component input and a VGA input.

What would be best? to go from DVI->Component or DVI->VGA? my personal opinion would be DVI->VGA but I have really don't have much expertise in this area. Any insight would be appreciated.

[mduell]

Component and VGA are the same signaling with different connectors. You can get the DVI-VGA pin adapter from Apple for $19 which tells the video card to output VGA instead of DVI. From there you can get a VGA cable for a few bucks.

An alternative that I'd recommend is an HDMI switch. Total price will be a few dollars higher, but the picture should look much better (particularly at high resolutions) since it avoids the analog conversion. And they usually support 4 or 5 inputs so you can add an tv, Blu-ray player, etc later.

Cheap route: 2 input HDMI manual switch for $16
A bit better: 4 input HDMI switch with remote for $30 (or 5 input for $34)

For either you need a $4 DVI-HDMI cable from the mini to the switch and a $4 HDMI-HDMI cable from the switch to the TV.

[dedalus]

The Internet appears to say that VGA ought to be better, but, personally, I would rather invest in an HDMI switch, they seem to come cheap enough. (Bear in mind that this is pure theory on my part, I don’t have an HDTV.)

[abbaZaba]

Thanks for the recommendation for the HDMI switch. I've never heard of them but it seems like a viable option

[Eriamjh]

I'd go with the HDMI switch, but if you also can use the component or VGA cable for other applications, you may wish to choose the other solution.

As for quality, they are all about the same (VGA vs. component). You won't see it.