I plug in a Chromecast, which can show almost anything being viewed in Google's Chrome browser, on PC, Mac, phone or tablet. It does require that you have some control over the WiFi connection being used, e.g. I can't see it piggybacking on a public WiFi, although it might be technically possible on an open WiFi.
I've encountered two problems. The first is when the controlling device goes to sleep or otherwise drops the connection to the content provider, the Chromecast might just go on playing the content to the end, and I have to cut power to force it to reboot. The other is when there is a connection glitch from net to the device, causing either a "brain freeze" or a "sorry, Chromecast has to reboot." The first almost always restarts the stream (NetFlix, at least) on the PC or Mac, and it can again be directed to the Chromecast. The second, the PC or other controlling device does not catch on that it has lost control, and the session needs to be restarted there, too.
Because of the way I'm using the Chromecast, I'm considering replacing it with something that does not require control from another device. In your case, however, it would work if all your content can be played through a Chrome browser.
VGA cable gives you VGA results, but anything on the laptop screen is on the TV, which is not the case for most of the other devices, which are going to the net for the content rather than carrying your screen display.
Unless the TV is fairly new and a "smart" TV what looks like a USB is probably a service port, and not recommended for any USB device, not even for power. If it is a smart TV, it can probably go to the net for content all by itself.
