Home DVD Theater Systems – YouTube – Philips Soundbar DVD Home Theatre
Sunday, January 17th, 2010Can I hook a new DVD player up to my home theater?
I bought an “all in one” Panasonic home theater system (ie receiver, stereo and DVD are all one unit, not separate components) 5 years ago. Recently the DVD player refuses to play certain commercial disks I get from Netflix or Best Buy–it simply refuses to “spin” and says “Disc Error–No Play.” The only fix I've been able to discover is that if I play an older movie in its entirety, after the older movie is over, the player will SOMETIMES load the newer movie (Its bizarre–its like the DVD player needs to “warm up” on the older disks first). I've tried a disc cleaner to no avail. Anyone have a solution? Alternatively, since the audio still works great (if I can get a disc to actually play), I was wondering if I could buy a new DVD player and somehow connect it to the current home theater system so I still have surround sound without having to buy a whole new system. Is this possible or do I have to buy a whole new system?
Watching a movie is a great way to escape reality for a few hours. Whether it is a drama that requires your full attention or a comedy that has you laughing the entire time, movies have been and will continue to be a great hobby/time waster/escape for almost anyone. While watching movies in a theater has its advantages spending time at home watching DVDs is overall the better experience.
The movie theater does have one huge advantage over home viewing, the gigantic projection screen and the amazing surround sound speakers. However that is generally where the advantages of the theater end. Purchasing a big HD television is becoming a much less expensive endeavor than it used to be and surround sound these days is pretty cheap as well. Even without these luxury items however the movie viewing experience at home more than makes up for its lack of technical superiority with other much more pleasant advantages.
First and foremost is the lack of strange moviegoers. Everyone has sat in front of someone who kicks the seat or sat next to the teenager on their cell phone. At home this is not an issue. If someone in the house is being loud feel free to yell at them to quiet them down. Most likely however that would not be an issue unless you live with total strangers however.
Another great advantage of the home theater is the power of control. Bathroom and snack breaks are not an issue when you can simply pause the movie and resume watching when you get back. Also if you want to see that amazing car chase scene again then feel free to simply hit the back button on your remote and watch it again!
An issue that has popped up semi-recently with movie theaters is the cost now associated with them. A movie ticket at my local theater costs $10. Now add another one for my girlfriend plus a few $4 boxes of candy and drinks and all of a sudden I have spent nearly $30 for two hours of entertainment. Now admittedly buying a DVD would cost about $20 but renting one would cost about the same price as that box of Junior Mints in the theater.
Movie theaters also have a strict no talking policy. This is a necessity of course to watch a movie in the theater and when spending the above amount of money it is clear that this policy is a good one. However some of the best movie watching experiences that I have had involved a group of friends watching a comedy (something like Wedding Crashers or Superbad) and just having a great time that involved a lot of talking and quoting of movie lines. Obviously in a theater this would be frowned upon.
So despite the lack of a giant projection screen and surround sound speakers watching a DVD at home is a much more favorable experience than going to the theater. Of course there are some movies that almost require you (or at least require me) to see them the day they are released, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for example, but there are plenty of movies that are not worth the cost or patience it would take to see them in the theater.
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