Not a bad college living room....

My roomie and I just re-arranged our living room and for a college house, we are spoiled....
... really hard to get homework done though...

46" 1080p bravia - xbox360 to it
110" 1080p projector - ps3 to it
50" 720p lg - Wii/nextflix dedicated

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuude...how?? I'm rocking a 20" beast from the stone age. Need another roommate?

Wow I'm impressed... I had a 13inch that I would play halo on and the only way to see what i was doing was to sit right up next to it! Hey at least I got the feeling it was a big screen lol

Wow nice setup. That 110 inch sure makes those other tvs look small. lol

good for you guys, being able to save money for tv's..... I just blew my money on booze and women through college.

My roomie's brother works for best buy, so all of those were cheaaaap..... and of course financial aid helped out those.

Originally Posted by sidekicknicholas

and of course financial aid helped out those.

hopefully a joke...

My old Roommate worked for LG, we had a 60" in the corner, a 42" next to it and a 50" o nthe other side. It was fun, especially during football season.

How's the quality of the projector in comparison to the others? I've been thinking I'd like one of those someday, just not sure how the picture quality is compared to a standard hi-def tv

Projector is awesome.... honestly. Picture quality is just as good as any of the other TVs.

Here is what I came up with for pros/cons when I was looking at one -

Pros:
HUGE SCREEN SIZE - I'm running a 110" right now (have put it bigger on just a sheet hanging off the side of the house - drive in boat theater)
Takes up almost no space - Screen is only 1/2" deep and looks nice on the wall (motorized/pull down are even less entrusive on space) - and projector hangs from the ceiling and pretty much takes up ZERO usable space
Cheaper than a smaller TV would have been
Wii/Playstation move on it is soooooo much fun

CONS
Need the room (where the actual screen is) somewhat dark - wasn't a big issue for me
Bulbs last ~4000 hrs compared to TVs which are far more - ~$150 to replace a bulb
Need ~12ft. to get screen to 100" or more
Need surround sound - if a projector has built in speakers - they suck, bad


Here is what I did to get a deal -
Bestbuy offered 36 mo. no interest on all home theater purchases over $799. They also price match local competitors - in our town there was a company called "the projection guys" and I knew one of the owners from getting them business at where I worked - I asked him that when I went into best buy to buy this projector (Optoma HD20 - Bestbuy price ~$1200) that if I said they sold it cheaper, he would say they did sell it cheaper --- so I went to bestbuy , said its cheaper over there - they called, and said they sold it for $800 - great one day sale!!! wooo! - got the projector for $800, $1 more than the minimum to finance it for 3 years w/ no interest and the money I saved went to the Projection Guys to buy a screen, ceiling mount, and 50 ft. HDMI cable (got all 3 for $250)

So when everything was said and done I had a full 1080p projector, 110" screen, mount, 50ft. hdmi all for like $1100

If you have a dark enough room - and a nice surround sound setup - PROJECTOR IS AWESOME! Movies are just better when its like you're at the theater.

Originally Posted by sidekicknicholas

Movies are just better when its like you're at the theater.

Also, you can watch "movies" at home that you can't watch at a theater, which would seem pretty regular judging by all the gaming gear in the pic.



totally kidding Nick...sweet setup. I'd love to watch the playoff's on that!

so you spent 1100 bones on a projector? While in college? dude i just couldnt do it....tv's are sweet, but damn, i would rather spend the change on a new bike, or a new surf board, or snowboard, or climbing gear, maybe on my truck... ill buy a nice TV when im old and i HAVE to sit on my ass all the time hahaha.
we are in college...and the only gaming system we have is my roomies gf's wii and its never touched unless she is over haha.

We canceled cable and just watch stuff through netflix or just good a PC up to the projector and watch new stuff online...

Its all expensive but I've been salaried at a company for the last 2 years - so from financial aid grants / no interest loans + salary = fair amount of money.... I'm really really lucky to have gotten the job (just got a new one actually). I make more than my mom/dad (right now - he is in real estate) while only working part time and going to school.

I've got a nice new car, nice boat, great wakeboard gear (thanks slingshot for most of that), everything I need..... and shoot, a projector with a bulb life of lets say 4000 hrs means that when I've gone through one bulb, my entertainment from it has cost me --> .275 $/hr .... not bad.

Again, I'm quite lucky - I'll have ~20k in loans when I'm out of school (all no interest) and 25k "in the bank" which is averaging about 5.6% -- e.i. taking the loans lets me make 5%.... I know most people can't leave school with 2+ years of experience, no debt, and 401k/IRA already off and running - so $1100 with no interest is peanuts.

... and I've got to buy all the **** I want before I'm married or the money will be stuck going to curtains or whatever women buy

^^^^ain't that the truth.lol.

My wife has been in school for the last 4 years so we have been single income which has made things a bit tight. Atleast she will pay off here in June once she has graduated with her nursing degree. Then I won't be able to spend the money fast enough!