Any tips on how to set up a home theater?

[Tarzan]

Hello there,

 

My wife and I are watching movies on a laptop for now, in our bed. We don't have a TV, as we only watch movies/tv-shows and it would be a poor use of space (;D). I plan on creating a "home theater" with a beamer, a screen projector, 2 loudspeakers (or one) and a small computer. But I have no idea what I should really do: is a computer necessary? or is it possible to load through wifi into the beamer the movie? What is the best solution to set up something like this?

 

My budget is around 1000€ (Belgium (Amazon.de or Amazon.fr)), but I have the computer.

 

Thanks,

[R3ep3r]

The best way in my opinion is using the laptop you already have, a TV since prices for smart tv's kinda lowered and a 5.1 system. You'll get them under 1000€ and that's only my opinion.

Hopefully you'll like it.

I am talking about a 40 or even bigger smart tv(full hd might be fine because there are not so many 4k movies) 

About the sound system I thought about a Logitech 5.1 since these systems offer a good sound quality for their prices. And maybe an external HDD with usb connection or a big usb flash drive so you can download the movies/series to your PC and watch them on the TV using that flash drive.

[Tarzan]

Well TV's are really too small for us :/. I already have a 32 inches monitor (for my computer), and I feel like the TV would need to be 60 inches to be great for movies from our bed. That's why I'd like a projector. The laptop we have is dying, so I can't really use it anymore.

 

The thing is, I don't know how to connect everything and run it. Link the speakers to a computer, and the beamer to the computer as well? And use the screen projector as "monitor"? Or maybe a linux distro to easily handle media files?

[Tarzan]

I think I'll use the Kodi distribution, it seems perfect for my needs : http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/xbmc-full-html/

 

Link my tower to the beamer and to 1 soundbar or 2 speakers (should be enough). Buy a remote or a bluetooth keyboard with trackpad, and voilà! What do you think?

[Stagea]

On 5/14/2017 at 7:59 AM, Tarzan said:

I think I'll use the Kodi distribution, it seems perfect for my needs : http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/xbmc-full-html/

 

Link my tower to the beamer and to 1 soundbar or 2 speakers (should be enough). Buy a remote or a bluetooth keyboard with trackpad, and voilà! What do you think?

I'd work. Mount the projector properly and select the right screen for your needs.