Home Theaters

Hiring an architect or designer to develop your home theater may not be in your budget, but apparently you can still get a realistic view of what you’d like before you start building it.

Surfing for more great home theater ideas, I came across this video of a 3D rendering of a man’s home theater he is planning on building soon.

I never really thought about it, but taking this step seems like it would eliminate a lot of headaches and very likely leave you feeling far more satisfied with your finished product. Though not every detail is included, all the important ones from room size, viewing angle, screen size, furniture and lighting, are.

Designed with the Better Homes and Gardens Interior Designer software, there really isn’t much left to the imagination. Kudos for sharing and enlightening others to the possibility of digitally building your home theater before you get started on the actual construction.

You can check out some of the software’s abilities here, or purchase your own copy at Amazon for around $60.

home theater design, software, interior design

In a follow up to my recent post about the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player, I have recently found a price you won’t want to miss.

For the time being, you can get this top of the line, next-generation High-Def DVD player for only $311.50!

Through July 31, 2007, you will also get 5 free HD DVD’s with your purchase. You won’t find a better picture or price.

Enjoy.

toshiba, hd dvd, deal of the week, home theater, 2 geb

As if today’s dream home theaters weren’t enough to blow most of our collective minds, Microsoft (and a few other companies) is planning to take things to a whole new level.

Similar to Apple’s new iPhone, only “lifesize”, this touch sensitive 30-inch display can recognize physical objects or tagged devices like phones, cameras and even credit cards, and can transmit data to the device by touching the screen.

Check out Microsoft’s demo video below for some live action:

The applications for this technology are only limited by imagination. While it is being developed as a business tool for now, I can’t help but dream of how it can be used in a home theater.

Think of controlling your whole media room from your “coffee table”, including telling your microwave to cook the popcorn and seeing previews of other movies the actors you are currently watching have starred in. Or perhaps recognizing your guests and sending drink and food orders to the kitchen.

Check out this CNET review to see some more possibilities:

With an initial price tag between $5,000 and $10,000, it is expected to arrive in November in T-Mobile USA stores and properties owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. I doubt many of us are going to run out and add it to our own home theaters anytime soon, but one thing’s for sure though, the future is getting closer and closer, and it definitely looks amazing.

Microsoft expects consumer versions in the next three years or so.

Be sure to check out the Microsoft site for more of what they are planning on doing with this exciting technology. The blogosphere is also ablaze with Surface talk. Read some more great posts here, here and here.

Needless to say, this baby gets three green envy buttons from me and almost demands a 4 GEB category all to itself. Congrats to Microsoft on (finally) making a hit!

microsoft surface, tabletop computer, home theater, 3 geb, multimedia

Today, the following movies will be released for rent or sale:

*Hannibal Rising (Unrated Widescreen Edition) - 6.0/10 with 8,166 votes cast; starring Gaspard Ulliel, Gong Li and Rhys Ifans

-Plot Synopsis: After the death of his parents during World War II, young Hannibal Lecter moves in with his uncle and his beautiful wife and begins plotting revenge on the barbarians responsible for his sister’s death.

*Be My Baby - 3.9/10 with 21 votes cast; starring Lacey Chabert, Rene Ashton and Brody Hutzler

-Plot Synopsis: Having been burned one too many times by cheating husbands who claim to be single, a woman plans an elaborate payback scheme.


*Big Dreams in Little Hope - 7.1/10 with 14 votes cast; starring Julie Goldman, Emma Bowers and Emily Burton

-Plot Synopsis: A lesbian twist on the classic buddy movie.

*Drive Thru - 4.9/10 with 67 votes cast; starring Leighton Meester, Nicholas D’Agosto and Van De La Plante

-Plot Synopsis: Horror gets Super Sized when Horny The Clown, the demonic mascot of “Hella-Burger,” starts slashing Orange County teenagers with his meat cleaver from Hell.


*The Foursome 6.9/10 out of 27 votes cast; starring Kevin Dillon, Siri Baruc and Chris Gauthier

-Plot Synopsis: Four old friends reconnect at their 20-year college reunion.


*Free Zone - 6.2/10 with 667 votes cast; starring Natalie Portman, Aki Avni and Hana Laszlo

-Plot Synopsis: Two women embark on a road trip after they are brought together by circumstance.


*The Hawk Is Dying - 5.0/10 with 239 votes cast; starring Paul Giamatti, Michelle Williams and Michael Pitt

-Plot Synopsis: A Gainesville Florida auto upholsterer attempts to subvert his mundane life by training a wild, red-tailed hawk.

*My Brother - 6.0/10 with 43 votes cast; starring Vanessa Williams, Nashawn Kearse and Tatum O’Neal

-Plot Synopsis: An inner-city story of two brothers, Isaiah and James, who is developmentally disabled. Their mother finds herself in a tragic situation and desperately tries to get her two boys adopted together.

hannibal rising, be my baby, big dreams in little hope, drive thru, the foursome, free zone, the hawk is dying, my brother

When shopping for a big screen television, one of the first things you are really going to be torn about is whether to choose a plasma or LCD display. As with other big ticket purchases, you are going to want to do your due diligence and find the option that fits best for you. To help you get started, here are a few things you may want to think about.

1. What is the difference? - Though similar in width and flatness of screen, there are some major differences in how the picture is rendered. Depending on your needs, this may not be a matter of importance.

2. Picture quality - Plasma screens are generally considered to have a slightly better picture because they can display blacks more accurately, giving a truer contrast.

3. Plasma’s advantages over LCD - Plasmas more or less offer a better viewing angle, brighter colors, have larger pictures and are very often less expensive.

4. LCD’s advantages over plasma - LCD sets typically have a better screen resolution, consume less energy, weigh less, have a longer lifespan and are less susceptible to image burn.

5. Which is the better value? - The larger screen you are seeking, the more likely plasma is a good way to go. On screens over 50″, plasmas have a noticeably clearer and lifelike picture.

Check out this video comparison for a few more tips.

You can also find more information on the big screen format war here, here, here, here and here.

flat screen tv, plasma, lcd, comparison

Not everyone, including myself, can afford to buy their way to the ultimate home theater. Oftentimes, it’s far more feasible to build your own and save a bit of cash. Conversely, doing things yourself can look amateurish or otherwise leave something to be desired.

While looking for more home theaters to be jealous of, I came across this great theater built entirely by a man and his father.

I gotta hand it to these guys, they really did a terrific job. Included in their setup is a V2500 Dolby Digital 7.1 Channel Surround Sound receiver, Infinity Satellite Speakers, a 96″ Optoma Silver Screen and DLP Projector, step down theater seating and some great movie posters.

Really goes to show how much you can get done in three weeks if you put your mind to it.

home theater, ultimate envy, do it yourself, 3 geb

Ever wanted to “Pimp Your Home Theater”?

Now may be your perfect chance to use your current setups lackluster to get that blockbuster setup you’ve always dreamed of.

Boston Acoustics and Denon Electronics have teamed up and announced “The Ultimate Home Theater Makeover”. The idea is for entrants to make a video showing how badly their “home theater” needs an upgrade and one lucky winner will be chosen to receive a makeover featuring electronics, furniture and installation worth more than $17,000.

If you want to win, you’re going to need a good video. Judging from the competition, some people are willing to go pretty far to win this contest. This guy actually threw some of his equipment off his roof to the death it deserved.

You don’t have to destroy your current components to win, however. All participants automatically receive a $10 Circuit City gift card just for entering. Not a bad deal! Good luck to any of my readers and be sure to share your video and/or prize info with us.

You can enter your video, take a makeover quiz and see prizes and other videos here.

denon electronics, boston acoustics, home theater, makeover, circuit city

PC Mag today announced their Top 100 Products of 2007 list. Despite being less than half way through the year, I expect many of their picks will stand up on the year end list, two of which I’ve already posted on here and here.

Left out of this duo of great multimedia hardware devices is the TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder. Receiving an excellent 8.3 rating from CNET and 4.5/5 from Amazon, the Series3 can record up to 300 hours of standard definition programming and 32 hours of High Definition. It can also record up to two live shows at once.

Possibly the best feature, however, is the ability to schedule recordings anywhere from tivo.com, allowing time-short and forgetful people ample opportunity to schedule their favorites throughout the day.

Check out this video for more features and functions:

You can also check out how some other bloggers feel about the TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder here, here, here and here.

All in all, the Tivo Series3 looks to be a fantastic addition to any home theater. Price has always been my main deterrent, but it looks like Tivo is trying to position it somewhat against Apple TV and Slingbox as the price continues to fall to only twice as much (instead of three times as much). I see rebates from time to time to bring the price lower, but for now, Amazon offers the best price at just over $600.

For continuing to keep commercials out of view, and now in HD, the Tivo Series3 will continue to be an item of my envy with three green buttons.

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I recently posted about a great audio system for your home theater from Onkyo that was under $500. If you didn’t take advantage of the great price then, you may want to give the Onkyo HT-SR600S another look.

Through June 30, 2007, you can now own this extremely well-reviewed 5.1-channel receiver/speaker package for $279.

home theater deals, audio system, onkyo

Today, the following movies will be released for rent or sale:

*Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto (Widescreen Edition) - 7.8/10 with 24,814 votes cast; starring Rudy Youngblood, Dahlia Hernandez and Johnathan Brewer

-Plot Synopsis: As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, the rulers insist the key to prosperity is to build more temples and offer human sacrifices. Jaguar Paw, a young man captured for sacrifice, flees to avoid his fate.

*Wes Craven Presents The Breed - 5.1/10 with 762 votes cast; starring Michelle Rodriguez, Oliver Hudson and Taryn Manning

-Plot Synopsis: A group of five college kids are forced to match wits with unwelcoming residents when they fly to a “deserted” island for a party weekend.


*Constellation - 3.4/10 with 92 votes cast; starring Gabrielle Union, Zoe Saldana and Hill Harper

-Plot Synopsis: Constellation chronicles the lives and loves of an African-American family in the deep South as they are forced to come to terms with a tumultuous past marked by an unrequited interacial affair.

*Epic Movie (Unrated Edition) - 2.2/10 with 12,700 votes cast; starring Adam Campbell, Kal Penn and Faune Chambers

-Plot Synopsis: A comedic satire of films that are large in scope, reputation and popularity.


*The Good German 6.2/10 out of 2,533 votes cast; starring George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Beau Bridges

-Plot Synopsis: While in post-war Berlin to cover the Potsdam Conference, an American military journalist is drawn into a murder investigation which involves his former mistress and his driver.

*Letters From Iwo Jima - Full screen edition - 8.3/10 with 11,312 votes cast; starring Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya and Tsuyoshi Ihara

-Plot Synopsis: The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

*Venus - 7.3/10 with ,746 votes cast; starring Peter O’Toole, Vanessa Redgrave and Leslie Phillips

-Plot Synopsis: Life for a pair of veteran actors gets turned upside down after they meet a brash teenager.

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Aimed at the those who relish showing off their HDTV’s feature set, the Sony KDS-R60XBR2 is a 60-inch high-def magnet.

Loaded with just about every feature of today’s HDTV, the “Grand Wega” flaunts 720/1080p support and can handle any new video input with three HDMI slots. One is conveniently located under a flap in the front for short-term connections like your video camera or Playstation 3.

With the future in mind, Sony included a built-in HD Decoder that is capable of rendering both over-the-air and cable high-definition programming and a handy CableCard slot in the back hidden from view. Picture quality is superb for a rear-projection television of this size, as this video of “Flushed Away” can attest to.

Reviews for this model have been excellent all around, garnering an 8.3/10 at CNET and a 4.5/5 at Amazon. See a full list of features here.

On the flipside, the Sony KDS is quite large, no thanks to the speakers which extend 5″ on each side, and has received poor remarks for its use with next-generation video gaming consoles. Standard-definition reception could also be better, but as I said, this set was made for the HD future in mind.

Though reviews call it one of the best televisions you can buy for the money, the steep price tag could scare some away. I’ve seen numerous online retailers offering it for less than $2,500.

sony, home theater, sony kds, television, 2geb, video

I’m always inspired by people that build their own home theaters. Not only are they gung-ho about it, the elation they have when they finally finish is seldom seen in life.

Take this guy for example. He couldn’t wait to tell the world about his new home cinema and quickly uploaded his film to the internet upon completion. I can’t say I blame him. If I had a room dedicated to housing a Stewart Firehawk 110″ screen, a Tannoy 7.2 surround sound speaker system, an Arcam A/V Reveiver AVR250, an Arcam DVD player DV78, a Panasonic AE1000 HD projector, AppleTV, all controlled by a MX900 remote, I’d be singing in the rain.

Shoot, I’d just be happy with the vintage Pacman/Galaga standup in his waiting room.

home theater, ultimate envy, 3 geb

I’ve always loved remote controls. When I was a child, my step-father used to have me record baseball games and things when he was out. To save tape space, he’d have me pause recording during the commercials. To do so, I’d have to get up and push pause, and then make sure I was back in a couple of minutes to unpause it.

I was ecstatic the day he bought a clicker that plugged into the VCR and allowed the user to sit a few feet away and pause the VCR from wherever they were sitting. It was a dream come true…for the early 80’s.

Fast forward a couple decades and we have remote controls for everything with every type of connection. I posted on a massive universal remote a month or so ago that controlled basically everything in your whole house, but for today’s post, I thought I’d focus on something a bit smaller.

The Logitech Harmony 880 is a great universal remote for those who have most of their multimedia hardware in one room. It’s also a well-reviewed mid-range universal remote that is focused on ease of use.

The best prices I could find or this well-designed and feature-packed remote were here and here.

logitech, universal remote, harmony 880, home theater, 2 geb

Looking for new uses for your Nintendo Entertainment System? This guy actually turned his into a working DVD player. It even has a functioning remote control!

I’m not to keen on the black duct tape, but if he got his design worked out a little better, I’d suggest getting together with the Nintendo guys to see if some sort of deal couldn’t be struck.

I know plenty of people that think retro design is far superior than neo design and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Nintendo brand couldn’t sell Trim Spa right now.

nes, nintendo, dvd player

Today, the following movies will be released for rent or sale:

*Creepshow III - 1.8/10 with 366 votes cast; starring AJ Bowen, Kris Allen and Stephanie Pettee

-Plot Synopsis:This third installment in the George Romero/Stephen King-launched anthology series features five new tales of horror: “Professor Dayton,” “Alice,” “Rachel the Call Girl,” “The Radio,” and “The Haunted Dog.”

*The Fountain (Widescreen Edition) - 7.8/10 with 18,316 votes cast; starring Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz and Ellen Burstyn

-Plot Synopsis: Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.

*Pan’s Labyrinth (New Line Two-Disc Platinum Series) - 8.6/10 with 45,045 votes cast; starring Ariadna Gil, Ivana Baquero and Sergi López

-Plot Synopsis: In the fascist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.

*Seraphim Falls - 7.1/10 with 1,201 votes cast; starring Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan and Michael Wescott

-Plot Synopsis: At the end of the Civil War, a colonel hunts down a man with whom he has a grudge.


*Stomp the Yard (Widescreen Edition) 2.4/10 out of 4,608 votes cast; starring Columbus Short, Meagan Good and Ne-Yo

-Plot Synopsis: After the death of his younger brother, a troubled 19-year-old street dancer from Los Angeles is able to bypass juvenile hall by enrolling in college.

*The Last Sin Eater - 5.7/10 with 135 votes cast; starring Louise Fletcher, Henry Thomas and Liana Liberato

-Plot Synopsis: In seeking her own redemption from the one man of whom she is most afraid, 10-year-old Cadi Forbes discovers a secret sin haunting her community of Welsh immigrants in 1850s Appalachia.

creepshow iii, the fountain, the last sin eater, pan’s labyrinth, seraphim falls, stomp the yard, dvd, new releases, home theater