After Anthony kindly gave me his Mum's old laptop, a Dell Inspiron 2500, I've put it to good use by getting the latest Ubuntu version (Feisty Fawn) installed on it and generally getting it setup.

One goal that has been evading my up until today however was getting the external VGA working so that it would display its lovely screen on my flashy new TV. Well after a bit of fiddling and reading about, I have got it working!

Firstly, make sure you've enabled simultaneous output through the LCD and VGA socket in the BIOS, or you will get nowhere. Secondly, avoid all the reading around I had to do and follow the steps on Ubuntu Guide here. And that's it, plug your TV (or monitor) in and give yourself a pat on the back for another job well done.

As requested, a photo...
Ubuntu running on a Dell inspiron 2500, successfully hooked up to my TV!