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I have two options for connecting an external monitor to my laptop - HDMI and VGA. Currently I am using VGA. Will there be any advantage if I connect through HDMI.

Does using HDMI reduce the life of my laptop?

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harrymc's answer is good, but I just wanted to add...why on earth would you think using a video port would reduce the life of your laptop? If that was the case, I'd expect at the very least a large disclaimer from the manufacturer. I think it's a safe bet that anything that COMES WITH THE MACHINE isn't going to reduce its lifespan beyond normal wear and tear...! – Shinrai Dec 3 '10 at 15:14
Maybe Dimitri means battery life, as in working time? – Linker3000 Dec 3 '10 at 21:31
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Using VGA, the signal from the CPU is converted to VGA by the video adapter and sent to a monitor with VGA input. The conversion to VGA causes some loss of quality.

With DVI/HDMI the signal is not converted (kept digital) and sent to the DVI/HDMI input on the monitor. This gives the best video quality that your adapter is capable of.

DVI and HDMI are exactly the same as one another, image-quality-wise. The principal differences are that HDMI carries audio as well as video, and uses a different type of connector, but both use the same encoding scheme, and that's why a DVI source can be connected to an HDMI monitor, or vice versa, with a DVI/HDMI cable, with no intervening converter box.

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same with HDMI? – Dimitri Dec 3 '10 at 12:11
See addition above. – harrymc Dec 3 '10 at 12:13
i recommend HDMI as there are no thumb screws to mess with :) – Xantec Dec 3 '10 at 13:28
It also means you can make use of any inbuilt speakers on the monitor/display without an extra cable – Joe Taylor Dec 3 '10 at 14:48
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