Okay, I have decided it is time for a home system, but don't have a clue where to start and am fairly ignorant when it comes to electronics in general.
So, what we are wanting is a system that can deliver music to several different rooms in the house, as well as out on the deck, and surround sound for the basement tv/dvd/wii/x-box. Bose appears to have such a system, and its recievers hard drive can store up to 200 hours of music, eliminating the need for changing cd's, and it claims it is remotely controlled from any room in the house, and in fact you can be listening to one thing on the deck, and something completely different in the house. It appears to be very simple to use, and would not take up alot of room as it is only a reciever, a bass module, and speakers. However it comes to just under $5K, which is more than we were wanting to spend. First, does anyone have this system, and if so, what do you think of it? Is Bose worth the money ? And second, does anyone know of something similar that would be less money and perform as well? Thanks for any advice or input.

A friend of mine has a new Bose setup.
He has Living Room, Kitchen and Deck zones. He has an extra remote (http://www.multizoneav.com/upload/products/bose%20remote.jpg) for the two secondary areas. They have great range and will go through walls etc.
I really don't have tons of experience with multizone systems. But the dedicated remote for different zones means you can be in the kitchen and decide to turn on whatever source you want via remote that lives in the kitchen. Pretty convenient...
Good luck!

Forget the Bose system, it's no where near worth the money. For much less than that, you can get something that will blow away the Bose system. First thing I would do is start breaking down what your requirements are so you can make sure you get what you want. How many zones do you want? 2 speakers per zone? For the basement, do you want a 5.1 setup? Depending on these answers, you may have a couple different options.

For instance if you want a 5.1 setup for the basement and only require 2 additional zones then there are some higher end Receivers that can do this. Then add a good RF remote.

If you want more than 2 additional zones, then I would look at getting a receiver for the basement and then add a system from here.
http://www.htd.com/whole-house-audio;jsessionid=0a0105531f4368e21c4de78a494c90fabb14aca345c d.e3eSc3uRax8Te34Pa38Ta38Ochr0
The mid level packages have a lot of nice features and will give you a great system.

Either of those directions when paired with the right speakers will blow away the Bose system. It may be more work to get it installed and configured, but in the end it will be worth it.

However it comes to just under $5K, which is more than we were wanting to spend.
Well, for the number of zones and control capability you mentioned that you'd like to have, $5k is a pretty good deal. I doubt you'd be able to come up with a system from Niles or Russound (the primary manufcturers for elaborate multi-zone systems) that could do all that for less money.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt