Doug's "No Name" Theater/Gaming Room - Page 9

A shameless bump in my own thread to avoid the pitfalls of going to the archives.

But I finally, finally, picked up an XBOX 360 Slim. It was a sale on Thanksgiving for the Xbox + COD:MW3 for 199.99. My son and I have been playing alot since that day. I should have wrapped it up and put it under the tree, but technically this was a give my wife wanted me to buy for myself last Christmas or my last Birthday and I never did.

I have been missing out...COD is awesome and just when I thought Campaigns were all the fun, I went online (gamer tag ZzKeZuGzZ). I suck and get killed a LOT, but it sure is fun.

I also got the Media Center working and can share/stream a ton of stuff from my PC.

My rack updated...yes, I still have a VCR in there for nostalgia purposes:


Oh, and I finally got my bathroom done: here is an update:


and this is an interesting perspective as well:

I will add you soon...yes, your gamer tag gave me the idea of the Zz's

Thanks!

1. I dont have any pics and while looking at the back of my racks and thinking about taking a pic makes me have to clean all that area up...so, it may be awhile before I get a pic of that area

However, its kind of simple. Think of a 2x4 table, with the rack sitting on top of it. But I only have 2 legs on this table and that supports the very rear of the rack. The legs are just resting on the cement floor. Where the "other 2 legs would be", I just have it secured to the studs in my wall.

2. The crown is nailed in on the bottom part of the moulding directly into the soffit. I used a compressor/nail gun for this and it did take precise aiming to get the gun angled properly to get into the moulding and up into the framing of my soffit.

3. My projects (PT-AX200u) has a tilt shift lens. The project itself is level in the shelf and I just have to use the tilt shift on the projector to get the projected image squared to my screen. There is no keystone correction needed. Again, thats because the Panny allows for this. That is one of the great features of this awesome projector.

I hope this answers your questions...if you need more clarification on the rack question feel free to let me know. Thanks.

So my Panasonic PT-AX200u is nearing 2000 hours and I have noticed some dimming of the bulb.

- Do I purchase a new bulb
or
- Do I sell the 200u and get an AE4000?

How much could I expect to get for the 200u with nearly 2000 hours? I have no issue of flicker and it performs solidly!

I dont care about 3D (overrated in my opinion)...so would the AE4000 be a great step up from the 200u?

And is the AR100 better than the AE4000?

thanks for the replies guys.

Steve, the AE4000 has 1600 lumens vs the 200u with 2000 lumens. Did you notice the brightness difference?

I do have a light controlled room but I dont want to always watch the projector in total darkness (sports and xbox, I like to have the room lit some).

I do see that the contrast ratio is significantly higher on the AE4000 but I am not sure I know what that means when comparing one against the other.

Ok guys, I am embarking on the next phase of my basement. I consider this full force ahead now that I have a design (well sort of) for my next phase of my basement.

If you have been apart of my earlier posts, I was going to make a hinged cabinet to gain access behind the cabinet for extra storage. I nixed that idea and will just rather focus on the wall unit itself and nothing fancier.

I have 2 designs that I am tracking at the moment and they are similar except once is more dimensional on the vertical plane and is recessed further back into the wall. This "closet" is nearly 28" deep and I want to make every use of that space.

Since this is all going to be custom made, the bottom cabinets will either be standard 24" deep or 28" deep if I stay flush with the forefront wall.

Any feedback on these designs will be greatly appreciated. I have been scouring the net for ideas for inspiration and found a couple that led me to these 2 designs...

Thanks buddy for the response.

The one thing that kills me and forces me to recess further into the cavity is that I have nearly 18" of dead space behind that upper part of the cabinet if I keep everything flush. That is why earlier I was thinking to hinge the whole thing and swing it out, but that really adds to the complexity and I fear that the hinge will sag and too much stress will be put on the shelves causing it to flex and then not sit well when put back.

Thanks my other Hoosier buddy. I am favoring #2 as well. I am still tweaking the design a bit.

But just as all things, I will have a bunch of prepping to do before I get started.
1. Rework some wiring as my out in this "closet" is all the way to the right wall. I want to move it dead center behind the lower cabinet as that is were all the goods will be.
2. run some chase for the cables that are fed from cable box, network switch and coax which is near my A/V Rack.
3. cap off a water line that runs above this unit, which is for an outside faucet, which means I will have to run a new faucet in another part of the basement for the outside.

Until those are done, there will be no cabinet building!

Hey now!

Lol! If only you lived closer, I surely would stop over to see what I could do.

Ugh! My WIFE (notice the caps..there is some emotion going on here) would like me to add some puck lighting to hit the 2 shelves on the side and the upper shelf in the middle.

I was at Menards to 1 hour just staring at the LED strips and Puck lighting and am now more confused than ever...from 12v, transformers or 120v options and all the restrictions on how to power those things has my head spinning.

I ended up buying these but am not sure if this is the best option.
Patriot Lighting 5 Puck Xenon lights - BLACK

I am not sure if I can run these wires above the cabinets behind the upper molding as that might be restricted. If I dont, then the wires are goign to be exposed somewhat (I could put a lower overhang lip in the upper cabinets but then where do I plug in the those pucks?

I see 2 options. I could make the upper crown molding very easy to remove and have an outlight behind that molding (hidden) and plug in there. Thus hiding all wires (but I think that is considered buried or behind walls)

If that is unsafe, then my only other option is to put an outlet high up in one of the upper shelves and just do my best to tidy up the wiring and just plug it straight in there. The plug has a switch on it so I am ok with not having an actual light switch to power it.

UGH!

Or, I was thinking to just do rope lighting and run it on the back side of my stiles of the cabinetry. This will then light all the cabinet shelves, not just the top shelves on the sides (which is what the pucks will only be able to light).

Help! All 3 of you! Or should I start a separate thread on this?

Does anyone know of a good online source for cabinet doors? I could not find the doors at Menards without having to special order...I thought to turn to the internet to see if I could find a better deal and faster shipping (Menards estimates 3-4 weeks for shipping!)