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3Tb Drives are Here! That's 500,000 songs. Enough yet?

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f0dder:
Sigh... This is true... Which I why for anything important I make 2 discs, and occasionally 3 when my paranoia levels get higher. -Renegade (February 17, 2011, 04:35 PM)
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I've moved away from optical entirely - harddrives are so much faster and more comfortable to use, and (knock on wood) more reliable as well :)

4wd:
I've yet to see any of them do a successful restore...-Stoic Joker (February 17, 2011, 11:32 AM)
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I've done one sir!</Puts hand up>

...but it was when I used DVD-RAM for backups...nowadays it's to HDDs.

If they could design an optical equivalent to DVD-RAM, (ie. very reliable), with a much larger capacity then I might be tempted to use it again.

superboyac:
Sure, I've got lots of thoughts on this subject. :D I'll try to just make it easy for you though. IF light is not a concern *and* you don't care about 3D, *and* you have no interest in regularly using your HTPC as a "PC" (i.e browsing the web on it or something), then a projector will give you greater size with good sharpness. It is *not* pixel-level sharpness, which is what an LCD or Plasma will get you, so it's not ideal for reading small text, e.g. a website, but it *does* make movies look good.

In fact some would argue a projector makes movies look better than LCD or Plasma, at least in the right viewing conditions (darkness and a good projection surface, ideally a professional screen). This is because pure digital, pixel-level detail is actually not necessarily a good thing. What projectors and analog TVs do is kind of "fill in the details" a bit, at least in a sense (not literally; no *new* and "correct" information is generated). You may have witnessed this phenomenon yourself in fact where, for example, seeing old broadcast TV on an LCD TV of similar size to an analog TV somehow still looks way worse. Why? Because it is displaying *exactly what is in the signal and nothing more*. An analog TV is a bit "softer", but since there is not much resolution in a standard definition signal to begin with, the slight softening is actually a good thing; it makes things look better. Now when you have a good quality projector the resolution is much higher so detail *is* presented fairly clearly, but there is still a bit of "softening", especially on larger projection surfaces (e.g. 10'), and this again can actually enhance the viewing experience, *particularly* at those large sizes and/or with lower resolution source content. I'd rather watch crappy YouTube videos on a projector than an LCD for example. ;)

Anyway all this does assume that you have a place in your house where you can effectively mount and project a 10' picture. If you do, you will be in love with the combination of size and quality it can create in a dark room. The majority of people do *not* have the luxury of that kind of space nor ability to dedicate a room more or less to media appreciation (i.e. a "theater room"), and a projector in a more mixed environment like a living room may not be ideal, unless you spend a bit of money to mount your projector recessed, along with your screen (because surely nobody wants a 10'+ space of blank wall in their living room, right? :D).

Anyway, I *do* use my 52" Plasma for computer activities, so I prefer it to a projector, but if I had the space and a dedicated "theater" room I'd probably go projector, especially with the costs of LCDs over 60". All that being said if I had the money I might just go for this:
http://gizmodo.com/#!5057047/incredible-secrets-of-the-worlds-largest-plasma-tv

- Oshyan
-JavaJones (February 17, 2011, 03:52 PM)
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Thanks soooo much JJ!!!  I think you have helped me decide right now.  I'm going with the projector.  I want to have the most badass theater experience around.  I love watching movies almost more than anything.  And I love watching it in as close to blackout conditions as possible.  Oh baby!  And yes, I am fortunate enough to have a large area to do this.  The bottom floor of my house is completely open, so I have a 10' high wall and probably 30' wide area available.  This is going to be great.  I even have a nook area, where everyone wants me to put my tv, but I refuse to.  I'm putting in the main living room area.  Why should I watch movies in the corner when I can use the main area for it and have plenty of room for guests?  That's a common syndrome in my family which I have railed against for years.  They like to take the biggest room in the house, call it the "living room" and use it about 5 times a year.  Then they take the "den" which is one of the smaller rooms available, and spend most of their lives there.  No.  I will not do that.  I remember being so pissed about that as a kid in my parent's house.  They have this huge room which is like half the house, and they only use it for Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.
I am so freaking excited about this.  There's nothing better than a cold, rainy Friday night spent watching a movie on a big screen in your house in pitch black conditions, with a buzz and a nice girl.  mmmm.  Can't beat that.
Spoiler(My guilty pleasure that I'm hoping is going to be a fun experience with this planned home theater makeover is to see what watching an opera on DVD will be like.  If that turns out to be as good as I think, oh shit.  People may have a hard time getting me out of the house.)

JavaJones:
Hehe, sounds awesome. You'll probably want to get a proper screen, which may need to be retractable given this is a multi-use room. And f0dder is right on getting a good projector, you need to get a full 1080p model with sufficient lumens and designed for a throw distance and projection size equal to or greater than your room dimensions. This will be expensive but doesn't have to be insanely expensive. You can spend a *lot* on an amazing projector, but to make best use of it you really want a proper dedicated theater room. For your purposes I would think something in the range of $2000-4000 would give you awesome results. You might even be able to get away with something more budget friendly, depending on how visually picky you are. 3-4k is more than most large LCDs mind you, so keep that in mind (you can get a nice 60" for about $1500-2000 now).

You should know though that this all may be opening a can of worms (worms which you may no doubt enjoy :D). If you spring for a decent projector, you'll want to properly calibrate it for example. You'll need a proper screen, not just projecting on your wall. You'll want a good 5.1 or better sound system (if you don't already have one). Etc, etc. In the end it could end up being a $10,000+ project, and that's *modest* for a "home theater", even a living room one. But it sounds like it's something you'd enjoy, and given the $500 alarm clock I suspect you can afford it. ;)

Potentially useful info here: http://www.projectorreviews.com/1080p-projector/index.php

- Oshyan

superboyac:
Thanks JJ!  You've figured me out!
Yeah, I'm interested in the whole home theater experience.  $10k...hmmm, that's not the cheapest thing in the world, but not entirely out of the question.  My other 2011 project is to buy a grand piano, which is also a big budget hit.  And there's my home server project, geez...i shouldn't do all of these this year.

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