How can I play things like YouTube through my TV??

TV is connected to a DVD/Home Cinema with USB port.

One of them chrome cast things?

isn’t that what chromecast does ?

Bah!

HDMI cable?

Laptop through TV – how??

Maybe a big catapult, or some elaborate slingshot arrangement? Or just get REALLY cross with it. Although personally I recommend the window; more satisfying.

We’ve settled on an Amazon Fire stick. It’s a pain to use the onscreen keyboard for search but is the most convenient otherwise.

HDMI cable from the laptop works well, but is untidy and you need a long cable, to fiddle around with HDMI ports etc. Even assuming the laptop has a HDMI out.

Kodi was unreliable, wouldn’t work for more than a few days and didn’t always stream correctly.

Playstation and external bluetooth keyboard also works well, but obviously you need a Playstation and have to wait for it to boot up.

OP, as above chromecast and send stuff via your phone or laptop. Or if laptop has hdmi out use that.

Chromecast will work for apps that support it.

For mirroring you want a miracast device or wdtv.

Another option is pick up a bluray player with smart features, a Sony would be a good bet, as they often have miracast and specifically for YouTube a YouTube app that you can cast to from your PC, phone etc and is slicker than mirroring the whole screen.