Can i tether my nikon d3100 to my mac laptop?

Or can i hook it up to a tv so i can see what i'm about to photograph? I've seen other people do it but i'm not sure how to or if i even can with my camera

Have you looked on the Nikon website?

http://www.nikonusa.com/...atibleWith

As you can see the Nikon tethering software does NOT support the D3100. The lowest cost Nikon dSLR supported by that software is the D5100

Adobe Lightroom 3 or 4 supports the following Nikon cameras

D3
D3s
D3x
D90
D300
D300s
D700
D5000
D7000

It seems that you need a different camera to do what you want to do

Yes, but it will involved hacking your camera.

Step 1 install free scipt from DIYphotobits at www.diyphotobits.com/
Step 2 plug USB/PC cable in
Step 3 Setup auto import in LR (or other program) including same folder as DIYphotos (I used a tether folder).
Step 4 Click use auto import in LR (leave LR running)
Step 5 Run the DIY script
Step 6 Alter the folder to your preference within the script
Step 7 Click Start tether
Step 8 Set your camera to manual/shutter/aperture priority
Step 9 Turn camera on
Step 10 use it… There's a slight delay of around 5 seconds, but it works… You do not need LR if you just use JPG, the script will preview those.

Have you tried using Image Capture? It's an integral part of the Mac OS. It should work but it's a bit clunky. If you've got NX2 it might be worth opening your download folder with it, that way you can edit on the fly.

Or you can get a Lightroom plugin here

All but the D3000 (D3000, D3100, etc) series entry level cameras can be tethered, providing you have the right software (Nikon Camera Control 2, Adobe Lightroom, etc).