RCA cables were at one time the standard cable for most audio and video products. Most VCRs, televisions and DVD players still ship with the yellow, red and white connectors for video and stereo audio. These cables are so prevalent that many adapters are manufactured simply so that we can continue to use them.

Useful Types of RCA Adapters
One type of RCA adapter that is useful to have around is a mini-jack to RCA adapter. The mini-jack can plug into the headphone jack on any portable MP3 player or to the sound card of your computer, and the two RCA connectors can connect to a receiver. This lets you play your MP3 collection through your main stereo speakers rather than listening to the headphones while you are sitting at home. Depending on your needs, you can purchase an adapter with male or female RCA connections.

Another useful RCA adapter is the S-Video adapter. This can be used in conjunction with other adapters so that you can create any combination of male or female connections on each end. While you will not get the same video quality as you would from an S-Video capable, this will let you connect a device that has only S-Video output to a television that does not have an S-Video connection.

In college, you might look to save money wherever possible. Chances are that you already have a computer equipped with a DVD player. If that's the case, rather than purchasing a DVD player to connect to your television, you could just use your computer. Many computers now have S-Video outputs, so by using an S-Video to RCA adapter in conjunction with a mini-jack to RCA adapter, you can have video and audio playback on your television. Even more incentive is that you can play computer games on a larger screen.