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teeda_2006

Best TV for Basement Theatre

teeda_2006
16 years ago

Hi,

We are finishing our basement and want a bigger screen set up to watch movies/some tv. Our family doesn't watch much television, but we do like to rent DVDs. It's possible we could end up adding more cable services down the road, but right now we mostly watch movies.

The basement has little natural light, so glare is not an issue. We would like to spend less than $2,000. We'd like a screen at least 50". We have one big sectional which will be about 15 feet from the screen.

Should we get plasma, LCD, or a home theatre projector system? Any brand recommendations for our price range? Thanks.

Comments (6)

  • gail618
    16 years ago

    Hi teeda. A couple of years ago we got a projector for our basement and we love it!! We got it on woot.com and they come up for sale quite often there if you check daily. (They sell one item a day) We didn't even put up a screen because the movies look great on our wall, which is painted a soft yellow. It's by INFOCUS and was only about $500 and the picture goes from the floor to the ceiling, and about ten feet wide - it's great! I also got an inexpensive sound system and had it wired before they installed the drywall, so it's got fantastic surround sound. I don't know why more people don't do this - it is a fraction of the price of a TV and it is sooo much fun. We also sometimes run cables from our TV to the projector and watch sporting events - super bowl, final 4, etc. They often have very expensive projectors on woot but ours, the INFOCUS Screenplay 4800 has a wonderful picture and I don't think I would ever go for a more expensive one because this one works so well. I guarantee you will love having a projector - especially with little natural light it would work well for you. We also got a large sectional, put the projector, dvd player and sound system on a bookshelf behind the sectional, with the projector on the highest part of the bookshelf. Good luck! BTW you can also get INFOCUS projectors at Radio Shack I think but woot has great prices when they offer them.

  • teeda_2006
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks, Gail. You know, we were originally considering a projector, but have had the hardest time finding any reviews/recommendations this approach.

    I would love to be able to do this for $500--even if it got up to a few hundred more for audio stuff, I think it would be worth it. Thanks for the suggestion.

  • silverpl105
    16 years ago

    Since your basement has little natural light, you should choose the LCD, the 1080p (1920 x 1080) is pretty good technology for pictures. I advise you to have a look at the Sharp Aquos LC52D62U 52" 1080p LCD HDTV , it got nice reviews:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16889101095
    Right now the price is good for $1950:
    http://www.dealstudio.com/viewtopic.php?t=35578&ru=282

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sharp Aquos LC52D62U 52

  • kabir
    16 years ago

    Projector will be better than a palsma or LCD if you can control the lighting( which in case of a basement should not be a problem). Projectorcentral.com is an excellent site to know more about projectors. You can make a good DIY screen for $100 with basic lumbar from HD and photography backdrop paper from any camera shop.

  • anthem
    16 years ago

    Projectors are rarely better than plasma or LCD even if you can control the lighting and certainly nowhere near the performance a plasma or LCD can achieve at that price point (A projector gains you larger screens at a lower cost but given same size screens a projector almost always loses - and definitely if you start capping prices.

    There were some dlp rear projectors that gave the lcd/plasma world a run for its money in the larger pieces, but even those are few and far between.

    I can take one of the top of the line 50K projectors out there, with a top notch scaler and a 15K projector screen and it would be hard pressed to say its better than a 10k 50" or 60" plasma in terms of picture quality. Now, on a projected 10ft screen, nothing else could really accomplish it and the picture quality would be near plasma/lcd at smaller sizes but much larger.

    So, unless that statement is amended to mean "bigger" is better then that just doesn't hold true.

  • aliasalreadyexists
    16 years ago

    Please do yourself a favor and get something like the Panasonic Plasma (link below). Plasma is ideal for the basement where glare is not an issue and you can control the light. LCD will be expensive at the same size, and is not really required in a basement home theater. Blacks are sharper on Plasma, and the prices are coming down all the time. We have an LCD in the family room (lots of windows and glare) and a Panny in the basement. Both have their advantages, but if I were you I'd pick a plasma.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Panasonic Plasma

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