no you shouldn't have to (and wouldn't work if you did)
The RCA inputs on the back of the TV should be working..
Try pluging the end of the audio lead into something else (a mp3 player.... radio, anything with a headphone socket) and see if you get sound through the TV then.
also try headphones in the laptop to check the headphone socket is working.
OK...the laptop audio output works (my earphones work fine).
The back of the TV - on the setting 'PC-5' screen (which is what the laptop plays through I assume) there is no sound when I plug in my iPod.
What has confused me though is there are 3 pairs of red and white holes in the back of the TV and one other pair on the side of the TV. Which one is the RCA lead supposed to go into? Sorry, I do not know what the symbols on the back mean and the manual is useless!
I have plugged the red lead now into the hole directly underneath where the VGA cable is conected (the white is not plugged into anything), and there is now sound coming out of the TV! BUT...it is very very VERY quiet, even maxed up on the TV. Why is this?
Yeah, they seem to all fit into that elusive hole...weirdly there is a red and white hole also directly next to this one single hole under the VGA plug...assume they are nothing to do with it as there is no connecting line between the VGA and these?
Out of the list you just gave me, which one is correct/the best? Mightily confused!