My Ridiculously Inexpensive Dedicated KICK*** Home Theater! - Page 12

It sure does, it is a very satisfying experience. I am really tossed up regarding this whole remote issue. On the one hand I can see the benefit, on the other hand I really don't want to drop over $100 on a remote. I also do not like the idea of having to go through multiple pages of assigned buttons to get to a specific feature. I think I am just going to stick with the original remotes that came with everything.

In other BIG news: tonight I bought a plant at Walmart for $9.96 to stick on the projector shelf.

Rickster: HAHAHAHAHA, now that is funny-a 2nd home theater. I can see it now " honey the guys on AVS think I need another home theater, we won't be needing that garage anymore, will we?"

ShamHollingera: I can see your points and frankly have not completely put the
Harmony out of my mind. I am having a hard time seeing past the coolness of that color screen.

Next up is the conversion of the closet to a PC workcenter. I am looking for a desk that will fit within the following dimensions:

Width-45 3/4
Height-77 3/4
Depth-28 1/4

What do you guys think about building a desk into that closet? How would you go about it? I was thinking about nailing some wood at the height I would like the desktop around the periphery of the closet and then laying some sort of material down on the wood. This would provide a desktop that appeared to float. The only issue is that the rear of the closet at one point is not straight and angles forward. I am not sure how I would cut the desktop to size to accomodate for that angle. I was also thinking of putting cabinets below it and above it.

Any other ideas? Is there an easier way?

I offer: The Broken Beak Cinema

Here are photos of the closet that I am having an impossible time finding a desk to fit in:





The wire on the shelf above is the coaxial cable I ran under the crown molding for cable TV/Internet access.

So what would you do with this closet to turn it into a PC workcenter? Keep in mind that it is in my HT and I want it to look awesome.

Thanks!

HAHAHAHAHA I just realized that would make your theater the BBC!

You wouldn't happen to be British or British descent by any chance?

I found my desk!!!!!!!!!! I realized that my audio rack was built by Sauder so I went to their site to have a look around. Low and behold they have a desk which is a perfect size and in the exact matching color as my rack! A miracle has transpired. I will be ordering it tonight!

Here is the desk for the curious out there:

http://www.sauder.com/furniture/product.asp?p=725

Compare it to my audio rack to see the match:

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...sin=B000DT7DG2

They are both called caramel birch so even though I can't see the desk in person I am absolutely certain they will be the identical color.

Next on the shopping list: A new PC! And this is not part of my HT budget, this is a Xmas gift from the wife. She is generous this year, I have the green light on a 22" LCD and a core 2 duo system with all the trimmings!

You caught the same bug we all have, it's contagious this HT thing.

Rickster: you are not kidding, I am so excited to get a new PC. I started researching last night and man have things changed since a year ago when I got the PC I am using now. it was a $99 black Friday special at Frys, it actually is a great computer. But you know newer, faster.....and that 22 inch LCD! The desk is such a perfect fit it really is amazing. It will completely fill the space from left to right and is only 19.5 inches deep so it will be totally recessed in the space. The height is great too at 62 inches, the closet opening is about 77 inches so that will leave me a foot of space. I plan on installing track lighting or some sort of lighting at the top of the closet opening which will illuminate the work area. The only issue I see with track lighting is that it is very directional and incandescent. So it might put out a lot of heat and too much light in certain spots. To combat these issues another idea I am toying with is to put some lighting up inside the closet all the way at the top, maybe a flourescent sort of shop light. Then this will provide a very nice gentle, diffuse, even illumination of the area.

It's interesting the last time I bought a nice PC was for my first HT 3 years ago. I used it as a HTPC for DVD playback. Now that the Oppo is so amazing I wouldn't even bother with an HTPC. It was a PITA to use and I never used it for anything but DVD playback. I am not a gamer at all so this time I wanted simplicity, turn it on and it plays, period.

Update: I just spent the better part of 2 hours in my HT watching all sorts of DVD's and HD TV. I don't know how to put into words how exquisite the experience was. The picture from the HD70 is remarkable both on the Oppo 971H at 720p and on HDTV at 1080i via component. The sound system is crystal clear, I have NO hollowness or unnaturalness to voices. Music is sublime, the bass, oh the bass! I am just in utter awe of this equipment. And the Showtime leather recliners, OMG could anything be more comfortable?

I did find myself wishing for 1 remote though and realized that for the entire 2 hours I was in there I used just a few keys on each remote. Maybe a universal is in my future after all? On Universal HD they were running some HD trailers, eegads did those look good! And Discovery HD also looked fabulous. But what took the cake was watching storytellers on MTV in full surround sound, what an experience-I was in heaven and I am not a big DIxie Chicks fan but I couldn't turn it off.

I could not be happier with the room or the gear, everything is 100% recommended without a milligram of hesitation. Whoever would not be happy with this is simply impossible to please.

Thanks Brian, I am leaning towards the 880 but having a very tough time swallowing the cost. I did realize that I have 2 more remotes to control than I originally thought;

1-Ceiling fan
2-Computer closet overhead lighting will be controlled by a wireless module probably from Radio Shack, already found it in Logitech's supported devices list.

Wow is picking a Harmony remote difficult! They have too many models to choose from. throw the Harmon kardon TC30 into the mix and it is utter confusion.

I found the TC30 for $110 shipped, that is tempting. I would rather go with a Logitech branded harmony however. I like the 550 and the 676.

Any more advice or thoughts?