6.03.2008
Fun Things to Do with Your CineMagix Home Theater
Posted by Chip Lowell - VP Sales and Marketing

I am a huge PC game enthusiast - but second to gaming, I love whole house audio, video and automation. A lot of folks that buy our cool home theater PCs (HTPC) named "CineMagix" get them strictly to put in their living rooms. That is certainly where I have mine. Why a "PC" in your entertainment area? Firstly, it frees up all kinds of other hardware. No need for a CD or DVD changer - all my music and movies are on the storage system. No need for a Blu-ray player - it's built in! And when I play DVD's they are upconverted and look incredible! I don't need to pay my cable company for their DVR rental or get a Tivo and its monthly service fee - Vista Media Center does a WAY better job of helping me choose my shows and record them. Best of all, I'm not limited to the hard drive in one of those systems; I can expand my video storage as I need to. And, my wife can finally show off all our digital pictures - easier than using a digital photo frame!

But, having all that in my living room is really just the beginning. What you may not realize is the ease of which you can get your pictures, music and videos throughout the house. The easiest whole media solution is just get and XBox 360, run a network cable to it and hook one to each TV in the house. They become "extenders" and have the same functions as your main media server. Watch any recorded or live show, listen to any/all of your music, view your pictures and video library! It's great!


Now, not everyone wants video and pictures. And the downside to and XBox or other extender, is you need a display of some kind. Some of you just want great music all over the house. There are lots of ways to do it, but my favorites are products by Sonos and Logitech.

Check out the Sonos zone players here.

See the Logitech Squeezebox here.

Both companies make great wireless, audio zone systems. They are easy to set up and use.

So, start with a killer CineMagix Home Theater in your entertainment center as your main piece of gear - and as a solution for whole home media, start with an XBox 360 -- or just do music with a Sonos or a Squeezebox or two. You'll feel like you're controlling your world!

[6.03.2008 @ 3:53 PM]  [Digg it]