Sony Bravia + PS3 + WDTV = MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[Kzach]

Sorry, I desperately feel the need to brag because I've been working so hard that I haven't been able to catch up with friends and won't be able to until NYE.

That, and I hate Facecrack.

Between huge discounts (partly staff-based, w00t!), lots of hours at work, and finding awesome bargains, I've managed to put together a really good HTPC+ system and I'm really enjoying the benefits.

Sony Bravia 46" and a 160GB PS3 (why buy a larger HDD when you can swap it out yourself?) a WDTV Live, and a Sony 5.1 surround sound system and 2TB of media storage makes up my little collection.

OMG! I love it. Bluray's are so cheap so I've already amounted a decent collection of Firefly, Serenity, Fearless, Blade Runner, Starship Troopers, Unforgiven, Army of Darkness and a bunch of others, plus Sony's equivalent to the iTunes Store for HD movies on demand, and the WDTV for... err... TV shows 'on demand' D), plus some great PS3 games like Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 3 & New Vegas, and more music storage than I could ever need (played through the surround sound system), I'm in utter entertainment HEAVEN.

All of this for just over $1k AUD (not including the BR's, games & cables... wth is with not including cables with all this stuff?)!

Ok, I got it out of my system. Now you can share your awesome media setups with the rest of us too!

 

[IronWolf]

Sounds like a nice setup! Certainly a sweet setup for the price as well!

 

[Mallus]

My media setup is the perfect size for... err... well, my wife, who would object to both a 60' plasma TV dominating our admittedly tasteful living room and being surrounded by speakers.

32 Sharp LED TV, Denon 2.1 stereo, original 60G PS3 w/320 GB HD, (& sometimes my Dell XPS laptop hooked to the TV). We sit between 4-5 ft. away from the screen, so the size is actually fairly right.

I doubt buy many Blu-rays, just essentials and a few impulse-buys: all 3 seasons of original Trek, Firefly, The Prisoner, Planet Earth, Life, Flash Gordon, Dune --I *like* Dune-- Speed Racer --an under-appreciated masterpieces!-- maybe one or two more. Oh, and I've got Game of Thrones on pre-order.

 

[Janx]

blue ray movies are cheap? Must depend on where you find them.

My setup is considerably older:

42" Sony Wega (on the original bulbs from about 5 years ago)
stock speakers on the TV
xbox 360
U-Verse
PS3

The TV does 1080i. I doubt I'd notice a serious difference if it did 1080p.

DNS 3-2-1 NAS for holding movies, music, iTunes. Accessible as a single library from any PC and game console

The NAS is probably the most impressive component. In the sense that most mortals don't have one. Centralizing the media to a server means I have drive failure protection (RAID1), and I can easily get stuff onto my TV (no hooking laptop up to TV).

I also have another 360 hooked up in the bedroom's 32" Samsung HDTV (1080p).

 

[Kzach]

blue ray movies are cheap? Must depend on where you find them.

$10-15 on average, here.

Only the newest ones are more expensive and even then, usually about $25-30, and not for very long. I've watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes drop drastically (it's around $24-27 now) in the last couple of weeks. Some really popular ones like Harry Potter are up around the $40+ mark but that's pretty rare.

 

[CrimsonReaver]

blue ray movies are cheap? Must depend on where you find them.

I wouldn't say they're cheap, but Blu-ray movies have drastically dropped in price, particularly stuff that's been out for several months, and can be had at ridiculously sweet prices. A week or so ago, I snagged the complete Battlestar Galactica set for under $100 from Amazon. Considering each season (or, in some instances, .5 season) typically went/goes for $50 or better, that was a steal. And around the holidays a lot of great movies get marked down to $10 or less. This is an ideal time for build one's library.


And speaking of Amazon, the other day I was giddy as a gopher on crank to get the PS3 Uncharted 3 bundle with the Uncharted 1 & 2 Dual Pack thrown in free, plus a free $50 Amazon.com gift card, all for $299 (and I love Amazon's free shipping and the fact that I don't have to pay sales tax on purchases). Easily made up for missing out on the Black Friday bundle with its smaller hard drive and two games I probably really wouldn't play anyway.

I think it's time to upgrade my TV and sound system, and then I'll be ready to rock.

 

[ssampier]

Congratulations. Such a nice setup.

I have a smaller setup that needs some more upgrades.

I have a 32" LG LCD, PS3, upconverting DVD, and Vizio sound bar. I have a Netgear NAS for streaming purchased TV shows and movies.

The sound bar is awesome; it changes my audio for the better. Some day I will get a 5.1 or 7.1 setup, but for now, it works well for my needs.

My AV furniture needs the most help. I have a spare end table I am using for my TV stand. The TV woobles a bit when you walk on the floor. I need to upgrade to a stand that features a TV mount bracket.