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Well, I guess it's soon time to replace my Dell Dimension 4100. It seems to do most of what I want, but I think I've had enough of monkeying around with Windows ME. If I'm going to make the jump to XP, I might as well just get a new computer. My question: should I buy or build? I'm sick of...

I finally have a few extra dollars that I can use to buy a row of 3 HT recliners. My budget is about $2,500 max, but if I can get good seats for less I'm not committed to spending every last nickel. I'm thinking I want to go with leather (well, leather and vinyl combo is fine) in either red or...

It's time to improve the presentation when guests stop by for a movie at our home theater. Specifically, I want to show a short or cartoon before the main feature, with the ability to quickly switch from one DVD to another. I currently use one DVD player and don't/can't run the video through my...

It's time to finally add some animation to my DVD rack. But which disk or set? Here's my parameters: I'm looking for a good, relatively inexpensive disk or collection of theatrical cartoons. I'm not real fond of Disney, but I love Warner's and early innovators like Max Fleisher. Ideally the...

In building my basement HT, I added a new wall in the back, thereby creating a small hallway outside the theater. This means that when you come down the steps, there is a 5 foot wide hallway straight in front of you going back about 16 feet. The door for the theater is about three feet ahead on...

When all the little kiddies in the neighborhood come looking for free candy next week, I thought I'd try something a bit different: I want to set up my InFocus 4805 for outside viewing. While I'll probably set it up as simply as possible (projecting on a wall), my alternate idea is to put...

My Harman Kardon AVR-125 sounds great, but programming the remote control is a real pain. I've gone through the convoluted instructions from the owner's manual several times, and the results are never satisfactory. No matter how I program it, it seems to lose the ability to control volume (and...

After over a year of working on this entirely by myself, I am 95% finished and watching movies! Still to be done: poster frames and adding the theater seats. (An old sofa serves for temporary seating.) Take a look and pass along any suggestions you'd like. I'm just going to ignore them...

I just finished my free X1 demo (great program - I highly recommend it!), and I'm beginning to see that switching between 4:3 and 16:9 may not be a simple matter of putting some masking on the edges of my DIY 16:9 screen. Considering how inexpensively I can build a screen from blackout...

I was just walking through Lowe's looking for shelves (for the HT equipment - that problem will probably show up in a different post), when I saw a 15' x 26' berber marked down to about $150. Since I am "frugal", 38 cents a sq ft certainly appeals to me. Not sure how to phrase this, but will...

I'm in the middle of installing a string of 9 mini eyeball recessed lights (50W, low voltage) in my basement home theater. Here's a link: http://www.usalight.com/lighting/ove...98067637648559 (As an aside, I'll point out that these were a great bargain - less than one-third of the cost of...

A friend was nice enough to give me an old 35mm Goldberg film reel (a take off reel) that I plan to hang on the wall. (I've got some old trailers that I can put on there, then loop some film around on the wall.) My question: does anyone have any advice on cleaning the reel? It's, I believe...

I am psyched! A very generous theater owner just gave me a set of three used rock-back style theater seats. (I am probably going to impose on his generosity again and ask for a few more so I can do a row of 4 and have some extra parts.) I plan to paint and reupholster them. However, I have...

I am try to keep costs down wherever I can, and I'm getting sick of buying overpriced lumber. I think I'm going to build a couple of small columns (probably a foot wide, maybe 4 or 6 inches deep) and a soffit to hide wires and add some visual appeal. Can I use 2x2s? 1x2 furring strips? Must I...

I'm still in the framing stage of construction of my basement home theater. One area I just can't get a hold on is where to place the equipment rack. Here's the stats: The room is 18'3" from screen to back wall, 13'4" wide, and the ceiling is 7'2". The screen is not at the wall - there is...

It's amazing how many issues come up when building a home theater room! My question today is what would be a good height for a stage and a riser. Obviously, the riser should be high enough to allow for good viewing over the heads of the folks in the front row, but not so high as to create a...

You don't get much more basic than this deep, critically important, philosophical question. Is the correct spelling "Theater" or "Theatre"? (I've got my bias, but I'll hold off on my opinion for a bit.)

I'm looking for opinions on what to do with an old, sliding glass patio door in what will be the right wall (back of the room) in my basement home theater. You should know that the door does not work well, and we rarely use it. I don't see us using it at all once the theater is finished. I...

In my basement remodeling project, the two side walls are currently 60's era paneling. I do not know the condition of the walls underneath, but I doubt that it is anything I want to expose. (In fact, I think it may just be the wall studs without drywall.) I hate the paneling, and don't think...

Ever since I worked in a movie theater as a teenager (where I met my lovely wife - more on her in a minute), I have wanted a Dedicated Home Theater room. Even back then I talked about finding seats from a closed theater, maybe a 16 or 35mm projector, and creating a gosh-darn real home movie...