i have got a new tv and connected laptop to it with a monitor cable but how can i get sound from tv as well?

If you have connected using a VGA cable then you will not get sound through that.

Find a pair of phono sockets on the telly: one red, one white. These should be labelled Audio In. Buy a lead with two phono plugs at one end and a 3.5mm jack plug at the other end. Connect the phonos to the telly and the jack plug to the headphone output of the laptop.

The Audio In sockets are usually associated with a yellow phono socket that accepts video input from a camera or video tape recorder. You may have to search for Audio In sockets that are active at the same time as your VGA input.

If you are connecting via a DVI-HDMI lead then you will have to the same separate audio connection. This is because HDMI carries sound but DVI (the computer end) doesn't.

It is sometimes possible to use the tv set SCART socket but the adaptors for SCART-VGA are fairly expensive (see www.maplin.com for an example).

If your laptop has a S-Video socket (small round multi-pin one) and yoru tv also has one (may have fewer holes but that doesn't matter) then you are sorted! The S-Video socket on the telly will have a pair of red/white phono sound sockets next to it. This is intended as a camcorder input but will work perfectly when fed from the computer's S socket (and sound leads as already mentioned). Some laptops have to have the S socket enabled, possibly by pressing the keys Fn + F4 (or similar).

youd be better off using a hdmi cable. all so look at your input source on your tv. see if its set to external.