The Best Buys On Home Theater Equipment.
Introduction.
At the end of each semester I always go back home to Chicago, Illinois, to spend some time with my family. Last time I was home my parents had installed a home theater system in a spare room upstairs. It was absolutely fantastic seeing and hearing some of my old favorite films, as well as some new ones, with a quality as good as at the cinema - yet in the comfort of my home. Now I’m back at Purdue University in neighboring Indiana and we’ve now installed some home theater equipment in the house that the six of us share. For us, the biggest headache was sorting out the sound system we wanted; the range of options is immense. So, if you’re also thinking of buying a home theater system, here are some thoughts on what you need to start considering.
Home Theater Equipment.
There’s a minefield of decisions to make here:
- The TV - should you buy plasma, LCD, CRT or rear projection? Also, do you want to be able to project a movie or program onto a wall?
- Next, obviously you’ll want surround sound in your home theater equipment, so the question is what type of audio do you want; Dolby or DTS, most people will opt for Dolby - then do you want Dolby 5:1 or Digital EX or Pro Logic etc.
- The DVD player, now here is a conundrum, whilst it’d be a good idea to be HD ready should you buy an HD DVD player or a Blu Ray one? Unfortunately the juries still out on this, although Blu Ray does seem to be ahead at the moment. You’d be well advised to ensure that the system can digitally record as well, unless you’re only going to use analogue TV channels on your home theater?
There are, of course, some other things you should consider to really maximize the use you get out of your home theater equipment.
Satellite TV.
Having spent all that money on your home theater equipment, surely you want to access as many TV channels as possible. Using a satellite TV service is the obvious answer to achieving this. Also, if you subscribe to a service like ‘Dish Network’ or ‘Direct TV’ you’ll be able to record digitally direct to your home theater entertainment system. That way, if you’re off out to a party or something, you need never miss a program or film again. Also, don’t forget, by subscribing to a satellite TV service you could even access movies on some foreign TV channels that are not available in the USA on region 1 DVDs.
Satellite Radio.
One thing I love doing is having some music or the radio on whilst I’m studying in the house. However, by and large I find local radio stations insidious and most national ones inane. However, by subscribing to a satellite radio service I can get a great choice in the type of music or talk show I listen to. ‘Sirius’ and ‘XM’ are two of the market leaders in satellite radio services that you could consider using. Sitting in the sound sweet spot of a home theater system, listening to satellite radio with no static or signal loss, is a joy to behold.
DVD rental.
It was seeing movies on a home theater system that made getting one myself a ‘must have’ thing to do. So, if like me, you’re a movie lover what can make more sense than subscribing to a movie DVD rental service, like ’Blockbuster’ or Netflix’. Having spent all that money on home theater equipment you’ll want to be using it everyday. Having to keep paying out to buy copies of DVDs doesn’t make a lot of economic sense, especially when you can borrow as many DVDs you want for less than $10 a month. There are some great introductory deals to these services and you can choose from a range of packages to find the one that best suits you.