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How To: Create Your Home Theater For Under $5k

Epson Ultimate Home Cinema Experience : Welcom...
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A home theater was previously a luxury only the rich could indulge in, but is readily available for your home today. A beautiful, well-appointed and comfortable home theater can be had for well under $5,000. This is especially true if you’re the DIY type.

There are several compelling reasons to have a home theater. Statistics show that American families are returning to bonding by dinner together in the dining room. A home theater is similar in setting aside a formal space for getting together to watch a movie, educational program or sitcom.

Another fun advantage of a home theater is its application in gaming and other media. It becomes the hub of both home recreation and learning. In addition, a well-designed home theater can raise the value of your home. Even though a home theater is affordably within reach, it is still impressive to step into a nicely appointed one.

There has been – and continues – rapid growth in the technology of home theater systems. The evolution of Plasma and LCD televisions has brought a superior audio-visual experience into the home, inclusive of 3-D application. Sophisticated projectors are capable of showing wide-screen beautiful films you shot yourself, that people really do enjoy watching.

DVDs can be shown at home on a large screen television with the same viewing ratio as sitting in the best seat in the house in the movie theater, with stunning clarity and amazing surround-sound.

So, if you’re convinced that you’d like to have an affordable home theater, the place to start is with the basic decisions of where to put it, how to lay out the space, how to decorate it, along with the decisions of which audio visual equipment to purchase.

This first stage of arriving at the goal of a home theater for under $5,000 requires careful planning. Sit down with pencil and graph paper and draw up some plans. Even if you’re going to hire someone to do some of the work, the more you do yourself, you’ll save money and the end result will be what you want. Don’t forget to include storage space for equipment and media, which needs to be both easy to access and attractive.

It’ll be helpful and fun to take a look at home theaters. Visit a Street of Dreams housing development to get ideas of what professional designers have done. There are also many resources and examples of beautiful home theaters online.

Do comparative shopping for the audio and visual equipment. You’ll easily save hundreds of dollars by doing so.

In addition to the quality of sight and sound, other factors that make a home theater a place everyone loves to be are the lighting and decoration. Again, savvy shopping can provide an absolutely first-class environment on a shoe-string budget. Consider fabric for walls. It can be purchased at mill end stores for pennies on the dollar and adds to the acoustics. Places like Habitat for Humanity have all kinds of lighting and decorating components. You might go to a retro or antique hardware store and find gorgeous period light fixtures that make you space look just like an Art Deco period theater.

The important point is that you have as much fun designing and constructing your home theater as you will have during the many hours of entertainment with your family and friends. And don’t forget the huge savings you’ll realize on concession stand goodies.

Pass the popcorn, please!

Chase Sagum covers the Home Theater Screen Paint section of ScreenPaintHD.com. He also covers Organic Internet Marketing on his personal blog ChaseSagum.com.

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Coming Next: The Walking Dead Season 2

The Walking Dead (1936 film)
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The Walking Dead is a TV series inspired by the comic book creator Robert Kirkman. It was adapted into a television series adapted by the AMC directed by Frank Darabont and its first season was released last October 31, 2010. The story is about the survival of a police officer Rick Grimes in a zombie apocalypse. In the Walking Dead Season 1 Episode 1, “Days Gone Bye”, the protagonist experienced coma and awakens in a changed world overrun with zombies. On his road to survival, he met Morgan who also watched his back to survive the outbreak of the zombies. Rick tried to look for ways on how to protect themselves from the attack of the zombies, so he tried to return to the police station where he used to work and found out that the weapons remained locked up safely. On his way to find the other survivors, he ran out of gas and ended up at Atlanta where he met Glenn. Together, they discovered ways to disguise such as rubbing the dead parts in their bodies to fool the dead. Zombies however, are slowly moving and are easy to kill.

The Walking Dead was nominated for Best Television Series Drama at the 68th Golden Globe Awards and was named during the American Film Institute Awards 2010 as one of the top 10 television programs of 2010. Due to this success, producers were pressured to make the Walking Dead Season 2 to exceed the fans’ expectations. There has still no exact date on when season two will be released but Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman said that there will be an increased amount of zombie killing plus more exciting and thrilling adventures.

A DVD copy of the first season of this frequently watched TV series is now out in stores worldwide. This 2-disc set includes all six episodes of the show:

  • Disc 1
    o Days Gone Bye
    o Guts
    o Tell it to the Frogs
    o Vatos
  • Disc 2
    o Wildfire
    o TS-19
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Organize Your DVDs and Media With A DVD Stand

Underside of a DVD-R disc, modified to have tr...
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Do you know off the top of your head how many DVDs you own? If you’re like most, you probably don’t have any idea. That’s because your DVDs are probably stuffed away in a cabinet or closet somewhere, or littered across a shelf, or even strewn about the floor in your basement or garage.

Whether you’re single and living with a roommate, or married, or a child, odds are that this isn’t going to go over well with whoever you live with. If you don’t like arguments or like to surprise others, then its a good idea to look into buying a DVD stand.

There are all kinds of DVD stands available, from sleek, modern designs that will blend in, to smaller, less noticeable DVD stands that just serve their function. When trying to find a DVD stand, the first question to consider is how many DVDs you have. Buying a stand that holds 30 DVDs when you have 48 will be a waste of time. So prepare and count the DVDs you have, and then add 20 to 25 onto that total, because more than likely, you’re going to add to your collection over time. Generally these stands are pretty cheap though, so even if you do start to exceed the allotted number, you can always get a second one.

There are also some other factors to consider when buying a stand for your DVDs. If you have children, then go for a DVD stand that is durable. If you want a stylish stand, then go for wooden stands that will blend in with your current decor. If you’re someone who is craving ultimate organization and want all of your media in one location, go for a multimedia stand that will hold your DVDs, CDs, games, and BluRay Movies.

Finding a stand you like will be easy to find, so just figure out what meets your individual needs and get to organizing today!

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VHS To DVD – An Easy Route For Those That Are Too Busy

Three different VHS-family video cassettes. Fr...
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If you have a big collection of old home movies on VHS but you are just too busy to get really complicated, then let’s make this simple. Honestech has your back.

VHS officially only lasts about 10-12 years in terms of delivering the best performance. After that, age and environment can work together to tear away at the binder material that has held the magnetic particles on the tape all of those years.  As the chemical that binds the material to the tape breaks down, so will your VHS memories, too. The sooner you act, the safer you and your videos will be.

Now, there are quite a number of VHS to DVD video converters on the market out there that will rescue your memories quickly and easily – the two most important factors for the busy person like yourself. Some of these can also save you a tremendous amount of money as well – especially compared to the prices of the expensive high end video transfer service companies out in the market. The Honestech VHS to DVD 5.0 digital conversion kit meets all of these requirements and satisfies most consumers’ expectations for transferring video that is over a decade old. Honestech comes with hardware and software to convert the video. Most people already have all of the other equipment that is needed. Other required equipment is a VCR or camcorder to play the old videos and a DVD burner, which may already be installed in your computer from when you bought it. You will also need some video editing software but you can use the free editing software that came with your computer.

Here is how it works. The video capture hardware will connect to a VCR or camcorder on one end of the converter box with an “S-Video” cable or a “composite video” cable and a USB 2.0 cable that connects to a PC on the other end of the converter box. All of these cables come with your Honestech. It is that easy. You can even use the system with other media formats such as VHS-C or Beta as long as the device playing those tapes connect to the cables that are used for the VHS format. Usually, this is the case.

So if you need a VHS transfer DVD kit to get your videos converted and doing it yourself sounds doable to you, then the Honestech VHS to DVD 5.0 kit is ready for you. Get one today and you will be on your way in no time.

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Is the Netflix Free Trial Worth Trying?

Is the Netflix free trial worth trying? I get asked that question a lot. In fact, it’s been put to me so many times that I’ve decided to write an article to explain my stance on the situation. That way, the next time someone comes up and says, “Is the Netflix free trial worth trying?”, I can simply direct them here.

When you sign up for the Netflix free trial, you’ll receive a free membership to Netflix for the amount of time stated on their website. As of this writing, the free trial runs for 1 month. In other cases, the trial has only lasted for two weeks. If you’ve ever taken advantage of the free trial before, or if someone in your home is currently a Netflix subscriber (or has been in the last 12 months), then you won’t be eligible. You will also need to enter a valid method of payment in order to get started.

Once the free trial is underway, you’ll be able to log in to the Netflix website and choose which movies you would like to have delivered to your home. You will also have the option to watch an unlimited number of streaming movies over your computer.

When you take part in the Netflix free trial, you’ll be able to participate in the lowest rung of their standard subscription service. This means that you’ll be able to have one movie at a time in your home, but you still have access to an unlimited number of streaming movies through their website.

If you don’t wish to become a regular Netflix subscriber, you’ll need to cancel your free trial before the one month period is up. If, for example, you joined on January 15th, you’ll have until February 15 to cancel. If you fail to cancel your membership, you’ll automatically be charged $9.99 for the next month of service (which will continue until you cancel). If you cancel, you’ll have seven days to return any outstanding DVDs. A reminder email will be sent if you fail to comply. After a period of time, Netflix will charge your credit or debit card for their lost items.

For those who like Netflix well enough to become full-time subscribers, you’ll be able to choose from the following subscription options:

$7.99 – No DVDs are sent to your home, but you have access to an unlimited number of streaming movies.

$9.99 – Unlimited streaming and 1 DVD at home

$14.99 – Unlimited streaming and 2 DVDs at home

$19.99 – Unlimited streaming and 3 DVDs at home

$27.99 – Unlimited streaming and 4 DVDs at home

$34.99 – Unlimited streaming and 5 DVDs at home

$41.99 – Unlimited streaming and 6 DVDs at home

$48.99 – Unlimited streaming and 7 DVDs at home

$55.99 – Unlimited streaming and 8 DVDs at home

So to answer the question “Is the Netflix free trial worth trying?”: Yes, it’s worth the minute or two it takes to sign up. You’ll have access to everything that a regular subscriber does, plus you’re not paying a penny. Few things in life are free, but this is one of them.

Shane Rivers lives in Texas and writes for Only Good Movies. He’s written about Netflix free trials and Netflix pricing plans there too. In his spare time he watches movies.

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Instant Netflix’s Internet Takeover

For several years, it seemed like Netflix was in the process of merely killing off the brick and mortar video rental store. As it turns out, this was an understatement: Netflix is in the process of consuming not just video rental stores but the entire internet. With 16 million subscribers as of this October, Instant Netflix is now responsible for 20% of all primetime internet traffic. The service streams video to computers, handheld devices such as the iPad, video game consoles, set-top boxes, televisions, and just about anything and everything else with a screen and an internet connection. Furthermore, out of the 16.9 million people subscribed to Netflix, only 1.8 percent are responsible for this huge amount of bandwidth being consumed every month.

Most signs point to this trend continuing as time passes. To watch Netflix develop as a business in the 2010s will be to watch Netflix cease to be a provider of physical media, moving entirely to the streaming media system it has made so popular recently. As of November 22, Netflix now offers a low cost, DVD-free rental policy for users solely interested in streaming the website’s online content, a marked transition from when the service was a convenient bonus of having a Netflix DVD or Blu-Ray rental account.

In addition, Netflix has raised the cost of its shipping plans, built on how many discs at a time one has (plans can range from 1 disc at a time to upwards of 10) by $1 for lower tiers and by several dollars for plans offering large amounts of physical media. All of this points to the fact that Netflix will gradually phase out the DVDs that it built its reputation (and remarkable selection) on and instead solely function as a provider of online content, an ultimately more cost-effective, environmentally sound, and—for many customers—preferred means by which to receive content.

As a consequence, Netflix will quite possibly face two major hurdles in the next several years. The first is the company’s risk of losing customers who opened Netflix accounts in order to receive actual DVDs. Many users prefer the fidelity and bitrates of DVD (and especially Blu-Ray) over streaming video which lacks the definition and resolution.  There are also those who will find themselves alienated by price increases and perhaps by increasing unavailability of certain films. Losing access to Netflix’s huge selection of films may quickly drive users to other similar services or to specialty physical stores where such shops still exist (I, for example, joined Netflix in 2005 originally so that I could rent movies that I otherwise couldn’t ever find in the town of 3,000 in which I was living at the time).

The real struggle for Netflix’s growth, however, will be the one over bandwidth. As Netflix’s streaming service’s market share continues to grow, its users will continue to move huge amounts of data—a problem considering the increasingly restrictive internet access policies that attempt to meter bandwidth.

Despite these potential hurdles, however, Netflix has found a way to capitalize on emergent streaming media and plentiful bandwidth, leading to a service that its customers have found more useful than the one that the company once offered, and one that still has a fair amount of room to grow. The company’s change in strategy has so far worked extremely well for them, and it’s likely to keep them going well into the next several years.

Andrew Hall is a guest blogger for Pounding the Pavement and a writer on the subject of technical schools for the Guide to Career Education.