Building a new house and games room is up to me :D

Morf3h

Right,

So parents bought a new house and my dad told me I have the games room to myself to do whatever i want (within reason).

At the moment i have an Xbox 360/xbox/sky digital/dvd player etc etc

also have an iMac G5 desktop.

Was thinking...

Projector for gaming and small HD-lcd for everything else...

Big fúck off HD-LCD like 50" ... for everything

get some sort of cable to watch movies off my computer.

What's the best option for a 360 cause i'll probably be using that most. I've gotta really nice flat wall so could use a projector nicely there.

and obviously some sort of amp/receiver and surround sound to bring it all together.


Any ideas/suggestion? What kinda setup do you guys have?

Cheers,

Morph

Fallschirmjager

Morf3h,

i have some suggestions for you , since i am just after doing it.

you will need to wire up speakers. i would suggest soemthing like the following.

either put tubing (the cheap stuff used for plumbing) inside the walls (maybe ceiling also now that i think of it) before they plaster board it up. when i move (if i do) i will be doing this. so basically i would put this inside the wall so you can run cables thru it later on. alternatively put up some type of cladding over the plaster board that you can put on or take off to hide all those cables.

dont forget you will need a shed load of sockets for power (and try and keep these all seperate obviously) and also it might be worth considering wiring the house for a network. i know u can go wireless but i did this in my gaff and i have gigabit performace...

i have a projector and here would be my tuppence worth. projector is way cool for movies, i would certainly never go back, but u will also need a tv, obviously a big lcd/plasma jobbie

if you spend a bit of time and money now you can route all this thru your wall to avoid the place becoming a friggen death trap from wires running everywhere. i am about to undertake the last bit of mine by putting in wallpalates for hdmi,dvi, etc you could do the same in your place and it will be cheaper and a lot less hassle later on. trust me, doing it afterwards if a bloody nightmare...

also if you are going plasma/lcd, try and get the builder to give you something more then plasterboard to drill into. you may want try ask some of the plasma/lcd heads here on whats best. but if you are going to put it on the wall, they are all in the 20 to 30 kilo range as far as i am aware.

i have just htpc'ed my place and i finally got the dvd's on disk to work, so i am now waiting for perpendicular drives to appear at 1tb a go (i was going RAID before that).

i put 7.1 sound wired up with speaker mounts etc....to make it child proof as possible...

so to start have a look at the room and draw it out. decide where the dvd player will be, where the screen will be , where the projector will be, where the speakers will be and remember yo need to join them all up.. you are ideally placed now with a green field site to get it right from the getgo...

if you want any other info feel free to pm me ...i can tell you the probs i encountered and it might save you some pain later on...

Fallschirmjager

a couple of other things...

you can wire all this stuff up yerself. it is not difficult at all...its just slow.

if you have a window somewhere, you will need a good set of blackout material for the curtains...

u may want to consider a bit of soundproofing to avoid annoying everyone else or your neighbours, but i know very little on this .


one other thing, goto arnotts, goto furniture, sit in the laz-e-boys chairs and dream...:D mmmmmhhh as soon as i get a bit of spare cash, the missus and me are getting some of these...they are a bit cheaper on the web

there are alot of sites with people who setup amateur cinemas. they are worth a look as you get some amazing ideas (one guy painted the room matt black, lcd lights in the walls, ceiling etc, raised floors for his cables). have a look see and you will get a ton of cheap ideas...the best one i ever saw was a swedish guy who actually built a cinema foyer with popcorn etc...LOL absolutely priceless

it will be the dags dangler, when u finish, good luck to you...

slave1

sounds good, photos?

Fallschirmjager

slave1 wrote:

sounds good, photos?

dude if i could figure that out i would post a few...LOL

or do you mean the swedish guy?

http://web.telia.com/~u46216498/

Morf3h

Hey,

Thanks a lot fall for that advice. Yeah i think i'll ask the electrician's to stick loadsa sockets and tubing about the place.

Just one question regarding the dvd player and stuff. I was gonna just have em all in a stack beneath the tv but you seemed to suggest otherwise?

Thanks anyway,

Morph

Fallschirmjager

Morf3h wrote:

Hey,

Thanks a lot fall for that advice. Yeah i think i'll ask the electrician's to stick loadsa sockets and tubing about the place.

Just one question regarding the dvd player and stuff. I was gonna just have em all in a stack beneath the tv but you seemed to suggest otherwise?

Thanks anyway,

Morph

Morph,

i suppose it comes down to choice to be honest. if they are close , you have shorter cables, and that has to be a bit of a benefit. the downside of further away is if you add new stuff, lets say the new playstation, well then it becomes a bit of work to wire it all up etc. it depends on how 'clean' a look you want.

the reason i have it wired into the walls, is we have a year old baby obsessed with all things buttons...all things cables etc...so it is necessity for us. also i have the projector on the ceiling, so i need a run of cables to that (that is my next task to hide, as it happens).

one other thing to think of, skirting board is your friend here. however they guys who put mine in used all manner of nails, and what appears to be anythign they had at hand. i split a lot of these trying to take them off. now they are cheap so its not a problem, but you can hide a lot behind skirting boards. i didnt do this and i am sorry i didnt but perhaps using screws into the timber beneath the plaster board would make it easier to take off and put on -- IF you are expecting to be adding or changing wiring, etc.

if you do go for the tubing, reemeber you will still need to drill, but it will be a lot easier. if i were you i would do that meself, it will save you some cash and you will become very fimiliar where the tubes, corners are, etc. it will kae your life easier later, when you 'know' your setup. altho it is easier for me to say this then it maybe for you to do it.

if you thought about the web connection, i bought cat 6 on ebay from the uk for 90 stg (inc shipping)..it was the full 300 (either metres or feet-- i cant remember). it was far far cheaper then buying it in ireland. i also got the cat 6 connectors and crimping tools and testing equipment from ebay for next to bugger all. it is not difficult to wire. you hear a lot of scary talk on cat6...it is slow and once you screw a few of the rj45's up, you get the hang of it really really quick.

you might want to ask to electrician to make sure there is some type of surge connector in there to protect your equipment. i bought one of these in woodies or b&Q. you could also use of of these if he is going to charge you a kings ransom to wire them up!

i tip i got a long time ago is make sure you have a power socket in each corner of the room. that way it is very easier later on


bes tof luck!