Computer to TV

tralev

I want to view video from my laptop on an older tube TV (red, white, yellow inputs).

I think I need more than just a VGA to Composite cable right, I need an actual converter box?

Sakebomb

Yup. You might find them at Radio Shack.
In my experience laptops usually have crappy resolution when hooked up to TV.
Smaller, less powerful video cards.

DrFrylock

It's not just laptops, a standard NTSC (and to a lesser degree) PAL television has terrible resolution, color restrictions, and so on. You will probably need something called a scan converter. Cheapo versions go for ~$50 or less, but you can spend $1000s on a scan converter if you want. Effective TV resolution is less than 640x480, and often the edges of your screen will be cut off (shouldn't be too much trouble for video). Also, the color range on a TV is more restricted than on a laptop.

If you want a lot of detail about this issue, see here. Otherwise, just get a cheapo box.

Also, are you sure that your laptop doesn't have a composite or S-Video output already? Many made within the last ~10 years do.