The Ultimate All-In-One Question

Posted by Karl Wobbe [IP: 207.34.201.20] on May 27, 1999 at 11:59:34
Using Mozilla/4.05 [en] (WinNT; U):

What I thought was going to be a straightforward project, has of coarse, gotten out of control. What I had originally planned was to combine a high powered home PC with a state of the art home entertainment theater and have an ability to grow over time.

This is what I started out thinking:
Dual PIII 450's
256 mg RAM
Creative 32 mg Riva TnT2
Creative 6x DVD
Creative Dxr3 Decoder
Creative Sound Blaster Live
Creative 5.1 home theater speakers
NEC Multisync XM37 Plus

But I would also love to be able to watch a DVD 'letterbox' movie on a Toshiba TW40H80 that was HDTV capable (I know the TW40H80 is not HDTV ready but there must be one out there that is…right?) AND be able to play Quake II at 1024x786 @ 75 hertz on that same screen.

Since everything is going to revolve around the 'screen', here is some more info about location. The room is rectangular 18' x 10' with a large window located in the middle of the 10' side. It is located on the middle floor of an open concept townhouse. The only time 'total darkness' is achieved is 3am on an overcast night. The plan is to have the 'screen' located 2 ft in front of the window on the 10' side. The front of the couch would be located 6' in front of the screen with a 5' - 'L' shaped workstation located behind the couch. That fills the room.

Now these are my questions:
1. What is the best combination computer / home theater I can hope for?
2. For the cost of a 37" NEC monitor ($5,400 apx) what are my best 'screen' options?
3. For TV's what is the best quality vs. size? (the smallest screen I want is 37" with better than average visual quality)
4. Will a monitor always be better quality than the same size TV?
5. Will I in any way, shape, or form screw up a TV by playing games on it?
6. No I don't work for Creative so should I be looking at other components?
7. Should I redo the room layout for maximum fulfillment?
8. Is it even possible to have a 'blow you away' home theater and be able to play Quake on the same screen?
9. Should I just give up the pipe?

Follow Ups:

• The Ultimate All-In-One Question - Rodent 09:17:33 05/28/99 (0)
• The Ultimate All-In-One Question - Brian Shannon 13:53:50 05/27/99 (0)

Return to the new SMR Forums Menu

Design & HTML © SMR Home Theatre, Images © SMR Home Theatre cannot be reproduced without permission.  The images on this page are digitally watermarked.  New forum messages should be posted into SMR Forums v2 - http://www.smr-forums.com/

	The Web   SMR Archive