Can You Hook a Dell Monitor to an HP Computer?

Even generic monitors will connect to your HP computer.

A computer monitor is a lot like a television: it takes video information and turns it into something your eyes can understand. Computer monitors from any manufacturer are compatible with any kind of computer, as long as you can physically connect the two. A monitor doesn't know what brand of computer you are connecting it to, so your HP computer will work with a monitor from Dell.

About OEM Computers

Hewlett Packard is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), much like Sony, Dell and IBM, and sells complete systems with branded hardware. When you buy any kind of OEM setup, all your hardware will be labeled with the name of the company; this doesn't necessarily mean that HP, Dell, or any OEM made all of that hardware, from the memory to the monitor, but that the company collected the hardware and packaged it together. Your HP computer might have hardware from a dozen different manufacturers inside of it, so connecting a Dell monitor (which itself might have hardware form different manufactures) isn't going to cause a problem.

Hardware Basics

Computers from any manufacturer always have the same basic components: a motherboard, memory, a processor, a hard drive, a series of cards for network, sound, video) and some external parts like a monitor, keyboard and mouse. When you buy a computer from Dell or HP, the company assures you that all of the parts it sells you in that system will work together, but that doesn't mean that other parts won't work in that configuration too. The motherboard, which controls every piece of hardware, doesn't know what company made the components; it only checks that the basic pieces are in place.

Monitor Connections

The monitor connects to the back of your PC in a special video port. Some HP computers have what's called an on-board video card, a tiny video controller that is attached to the motherboard. Other HP computers have stand-alone video cards, which often offer users more video memory and better performance. But both configurations have the same kind of video port: a standard connector to either a standard cathode-ray tube (CRT) computer monitor, a digital video interface (DVI) source or a high-definition media interface (HDMI).

Connecting the Monitor

You can connect a monitor made by Dell, Sony, or another manufacturer to your HP computer as long as it has the right kind of connector. You can't, for example, plug an HDMI cable into an older video card with a 13-pin connector, but you would be able to connect an older CRT monitor. Likewise, that old monitor won't connect to a newer HP computer. But all that matters is the plug: count how many pins are on the connector and make sure it will physically attach to your computer. If you can connect it, it will work.