Reviews and articles on moderately priced home theater systems. Cheap Dave is right now working on building his third and fourth home theater.

Movie Reivew: The World's Fasted Indian
Rating: Netflix it

The World's Fastest Indain is the story of Burt Munro a 70-something New Zealander obsessed with tinkering with his 1920 Idian Scout motorcycle and attempting to set land-speed records on it. I really enjoyed the movie. It is just a peek into one chapter of his life as he tries to make the trip from down under to Utah to attempt an official timed run at the Bonneville salt flats. The main action happens when he fires up his machine and shocks everybody with the speed.

Anthony Hopikins is excellent as usual. It isn't until you watch the extra features do you see how good he really is. And that is the main reason I wanted to write this review. After you watch the movie make sure to watch the short documentary about Burt. Then you see how true to life the movie is and how accurate the protrayal of this amazing man is. Many of the lines in the movie are direct quotes. Many of the motorcycle shots are recreations of those in the documentary.

It laso shows just how far his obsession for motorcycles goes when his daughter tells a story of Burt buidling a trailer to tow behind his motorcycle. After tipping over and dumping his 4 kids onto the gravel road several times they finally completed their trip.

If you are looking for a good movie to add to your library or Netflix list. Get The World's Fastest Indian. You won't be disappointed.

PS3 review
OK I have come back out to the light. I have been watching the PS3 blu-ray/HD-DVD battle for a while. When HD-DVD got the axe I knew it was time to jump in. I was stil just considering buying a blu-ray only player. But when they are $379 and PS3 is $399 that makes the PS3 an easy choice.

So far we have only watched a few blu-ray movies. But I really enjoy them. The picture is pristine. It really is impressive. Particuclary when you relize how much I violate the viewing distance rule of thumb (2.5x screen width = seating distance, yeah right!) My projeotor will only do 720P: so now that is the limiting factor. I am having a hard time convincing the wife that I really NEED a 1080P projector. But when the bulb burns out I will have a tough choice to make.

I also like using the PS3 wireless controller as the remote. It works great if I can ever remeber which button does what. There is a great 120X FF that lets you zip right along. Also you can play the movie at 1.5X and still hear the sound and it isn't even high pitched. I bought the separate remote but so far I haven't been able to make it work at all.

One of the blu-ray movie we watched was 16 Blocks. This is a strong action movie with Bruce Willis. I love the clarity in the detrails like the reflections on the car windows as they drove. And the sound was amazing. Some of the gun shoots literally made me jump.

For games the graphics are amazing. I have only had one game so far. It is called Lair. In the game you fly a dragon and shoot fire and blow stuff up. I didn't even know that PS3 has a motion sensitve controller (like Wii but not quite as sophisticated). But in the Lair game you fly your dragon by just tilting the controller, tilt right and you go right. It really does give you the feeling of flying.

Playing these games in a dedicated Home Theater is really a sensory experience. My screen is huge. You can get a lttile of that dizzy feeling as you feel the motion. And the soundtrack for this game is full sounding like a major motion picture.

It baffles my mind that these video games have somehow evolved from Pong and Space Invaders.

Of course I am cheap so I don't like to pay $60 for a game. Or even the extra $10 for a blu-ray movie. So Netflix and Gamefly are really kicking in. It was a simple thing to change my Netflix so that all the movies in my que that are available in blu-ray were changed to blu-ray.

PS3 - Blu-Ray overload
I finally got a PS3 and therefore a Blu-ray player. I am still on overload with watching Blu-ray movies and playing PS3 games. No time to do a complete review now but I promise I will when my eyes don't look like a bush baby's. Let me just say this is the most dramatic improvement to my system since we got the HD hooked up. I already got my reference disk - Fifth Element. I haven't watched it yet but soon and often.... Stay tuned. more...

Confused about digital audio vs HDMI
Hi Dave, I am so confused on home theaters what I really need to know is what is the difference between digital sound and hdmi is there one Im looking toward sony I need to know if digital sound will be good enough for new lcd tw please help!!!!! Signed Confused

See my answer here -------> more...

Low cost system recommendation

I enjoy getting questions on this site. Here is one I recently received:

Hey Dave:

I found your review on the same TV I just bought. I wanted to know what Surround System you suggest I buy to go with this TV? I look forward to your reply and thank you!
Leanda

I responded:
Leanda,

I am glad you found my site. I have a lot of general advice on Home theater stuff. Particularly how to get the most bang for your buck. So check out my articles. But to answer your question I will have to ask you some questions. What is your price range? Are you mainly going to watch movies or TV? What other components do you have (receiver, subwoofer etc.)

I look forward to your reply

Whatever you do, don't run out and buy a Bose system.

Hi Dave:

Thank you for your reply. I guess my price range is about $250-275 Max. We would like to use the surround sound when watching TV and Movies. Don't have any other components except a 6 Disk Toshiba DVD Player. I've looked at a few systems that are receivers with a subwoofer about 6 speakers as well as systems that have a DVD that has a built-in receiver with it and subwoofer and about 5 speakers. I'd like to go wireless with it. I saw a Sony wireless system (receiver w/ DVD) I might be interested in at Costco, but when I was shopping around the guy at Circuit City told me it wasn't good? he told me to buy Onyxo? Please let me know what you suggest for $250 max.

Thank so much!Leanda

Ok I have to admit when I saw the price range I thought there was no way I was going to find something I could feel good about recommending. But I did a little research on Amazon and was plesently suprised. The key for me in choosing this system was finding out that Leanda already had a DVD player.

Click here to see my recommendation:

more...

Movie Review: Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
Rating: Keeper This is exactly the type of movie to add to your home theater collection. Something a guest will not have seen but which you would like to see again. This movie really got to me. It did it in ways I would not have expected. It didn't have the usual overly predictable Hollywood touhing moment at the end to make you cry. It got me early and often.

Review: Logitech Universal Remote
Ok this might be my shortest review ever. My wife bought me the Logitech 720 Universal remote for Christmas. This was a brave move as she had done this once before and I couldn't make that remote work at all. So I was a little nervous. With the Logitech you just hook up to your computer and fill in your components and it downloads the codes. That's it.

Halloween Movie Party
Some people look at a dedicated home theater room as a waste of space. But after living with this purpose built room for a while I can say that it gets more use than you would think.

Tonight was just one such occasion. We hosted a haloween party for our godson (14). He is definitely girl crazy as his party inlcueded 7 girls and him. (married guys would say that is just plain crazy). The party was planned as a scary movie night. So we started early and played one movie (The Ring) and then had dinner and the followed with (The Ring 2). I think the second one was getting a little too scary for some of the girls as they started drifting out and checking out the Wii. But after that we put on Nightmare Before Christmas and they all gravitated back to the HT.

more...

Vizio 47" LCD TV
OK I know I have been heavily biased toward projectors and away from plasmas. I still don't think a 42" screen is going to give the same HT experience as a 10 foot screen. But we do watch TV too. So I picked up a 47" Vizio LCD flat panel model GV47L.

I hadn't given the whole Plasma vs LCD debate much thought until I was making my buying decision. I have to admit I was drawn in by the price and was prepared to buy the Plasma. But when I saw them side by side I liked the LCD better. I like that the screen has more a a flat finish instead of the shiny surface of the plasma screen. This might make a noticeable difference when watching the TV in a room with windows or lights.

I have actually had the Vizio for several months (so long in fact the price has already dropped). After living with it for a while I think I can really give it a hearty endorsement. This model has 1080P resolution and the picture is stunning. I use a DVR and record Hd programs so I can demo the unit. Planet Earth and Equator are amazing HD shows. It is as if an HDTV salesman commisioned those shows just to sell TVs.

(see rest of review here) more...

NETFLIX - Having the ultimate DVD collection 3 movies at a time

OK I have used NETFLIX before. I quit it when I realized the movies were spending way too much time sitting around the house waiting to get mailed. But that was my fault not theirs. I signed back up and resolved to do better at sending them back. more...

Projection Room
OK I have made fun of fancy equipment racks but that doesn't mean I don't think you should put some thought into where and how to house your components. As I have said I am a big proponent of projectors. One thing about using rear projectors is you may want to consider putting all of your components at the rear of your room as opposed to the front. more...

Movie Review: Hoodwinked
Rating: Buy it used

This is another of those movies that is great for the whole family. It is an animated movie with a slightly more edgy attitude (but not so much that even little kids couldn't watch it). It just takes a standard fairy tale like Little Red Riding Hood and gives it the Usual Suspect treatment. more...

Movie Review: Strange Brew
Rating: It's a Keeper!

Ok this one goes back a ways (1984) but a good DVD collection has to have some gems from the past. I hadn't seen this movie in a long time and usually it has been on TV. more...

Movie Review: The Weatherman
Rating: Netflix

This movie is a hard movie to categorize. It isn't really a comedy, although there are some funny parts. Most of the humor though is of the uncomfortable kind. more...

Movie Review: Galaxy Quest
Rating: It's a Keeper!

Ok I am officially moving this up my list of comedies and sci-fi movies. I have seen it many times but mostly on free TV. We had a large group and really had a wide range of ages. Young kids (9 and 11), a teenager (15) and several adults. Some had seen the movie but most had not. I have to say this one one of the best HT experiences we have had yet. It was a rollicking good time. more...

Movie Review: Alien Vs. Predator (AVP)
Rating: Buy it Used

OK I might have violated my sequel rule by watching this movie but I had already bought it used and it was in my collection. So when a friend came over and we were looking for a "guy movie" we picked this one. Beside since I did own it how could I not watch it that puts the sequel rule in conflict with the Cheap Dave rule. I will have to start enforcing the sequel rule at the DVD store. more...

To Plasma or not to Plasma
Ok I am a self proclaimed projector bigot. I am unabashedly biased toward projectors for HT. So I built a dedicated HT room and I have the full HT experience in there. But with a little bonus coming, prices dropping and a big room that needs a big TV, maybe it is time for me to look at plasma TVs. I have always been amazed how excited people were about plasma TVs and they have been waiting 15 or 20 years for them to become affordable. Well it looks like that time has come. more...

Equipment Review: NHT Super Zero Speakers
It is funny it took me so long to get around to reviewing my little NHT Super Zeros. I figured because they weren't new there wouldn't be that much interest. But these speakers have been around for a while and are widely available. more...

Movie Review: The Secret of Roan Inish
Rating: It's a Keeper!! Here is a great movie to add to your collection. Particularly if you have older children who have seen every animated movie but you don't want to show them PG-13 movies. This is one of the few movies that you can say "great for the whole family" and mean it. more...

Links
I am long overdue in making a link page to other pages that I really can't live without. more...

More Articles

Copyright 2006 by David Wright. All rights reserved unless otherwise noted. Hosting by GetWally