Home Theater For Dummies and over 360,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
48 used & new from $9.99

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
Home Theater For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
 
 
Start reading Home Theater For Dummies on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

Home Theater For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) (Paperback)

~ Danny Briere (Author), (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

List Price: $24.99
Price: $16.49 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $8.50 (34%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Tuesday, November 10? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
34 new from $11.89 14 used from $9.99

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Kindle Edition $13.19 -- --
  Paperback $16.49 $11.89 $9.99
Shop the Dummies Store
Like this book? Shop for more Dummies titles in the Dummies Store.

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Practical Home Theater: A Guide to Video and Audio Systems (2010 Edition) by Mark Fleischmann

Home Theater For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) + Practical Home Theater: A Guide to Video and Audio Systems (2010 Edition)

Special Offers and Product Promotions


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Smart Homes For Dummies (For Dummies (Home & Garden))

Smart Homes For Dummies (For Dummies (Home & Garden))

by Danny Briere
4.2 out of 5 stars (42)  $14.95
HDTV For Dummies (For Dummies )

HDTV For Dummies (For Dummies )

by Danny Briere
4.3 out of 5 stars (12)  $8.16
Wiring Your Digital Home For Dummies (For Dummies (Home & Garden))

Wiring Your Digital Home For Dummies (For Dummies (Home & Garden))

by Dennis C. Brewer
2.5 out of 5 stars (4)  $19.79
Home Theater Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools

Home Theater Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools

by Brett McLaughlin
4.0 out of 5 stars (7)  $16.47
Home Theater Design: Planning and Decorating Media-Savvy Interiors

Home Theater Design: Planning and Decorating Media-Savvy Interiors

by Krissy Rushing
3.6 out of 5 stars (11)  $14.99
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...clear and concise...a good read throughout..." -- DVD Monthly, July 2003

"...exhaustive and uncomplicated..." (Camcorder User, August 2003)

"...clear and concise...a good read throughout..." (DVD Monthly, July 2003)

"...superb at demystifying the murky and often bewildering world of home cinema...written in plain English...worth the investment..." (Hi Fi Choice, July 2003)

"...exhaustive and uncomplicated..." -- Camcorder User, August 2003

"...superb at demystifying the murky and often bewildering world of home cinema...written in plain English...worth the investment..." -- Hi Fi Choice, July 2003

...clear and concise; a good read throughout... -- DVD Monthly, July 2003

...exhaustive and uncomplicated... -- Camcorder User, August 2003 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



Product Description

Overwhelmed with big screen TV and home theater audio options? What do you need to build the perfect home theater experience? Home Theater For Dummies, 3rd Edition shows you how to plan a home theater system and choose components that fit your budget and your room.

Beginning with the most basic information, this guide helps you choose what you need and put it all together. It explains DLP, 3LCD, HDMI, DTV, and HDTV so you can talk intelligently with salespeople at the electronics store. You’ll find out about Blu-ray, explore HD and satellite radio options, and see how to incorporate a Wii, Xbox, or Playstation 3 into your set-up. Learn to:

  • Choose among plasma, LCD, and projection TVs
  • Know the difference between digital TV and HDTV
  • Assess and choose an LCD TV, a new 3D TV, or an HD radio
  • Set up your audio system and TV for maximum performance
  • Use a Media Center or Home Theater PC
  • Fine-tune your system and add cool touches such as accessing home theater content from your cell phone
  • Explore HD and satellite radio options, CD players, DVD-Audio disks, and options for old cassettes and vinyl
  • Set up your system with the proper cables for each component, or learn what it takes to go wireless
  • Calibrate your video with a calibration disk, an optical comparator, or a DVD containing THX Optimizer

Get the perfect home theater experience by following the expert tips and techniques presented in Home Theater For Dummies, 3rd Edition. You’ll be watching movies and listening to audio in no time!


Product Details


More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Inside This Book (learn more)
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

 

Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
171 of 175 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let the title fool you, this is a great book, June 16, 2003
By A Customer
I went out and got Home Theater for Everyone (Harley), Build Your Home Theater in a Weekend (Bruyn/Karabian), The Complete Idiot's Guide to Home Theater Systems (Miller), Use Your PC to Build An Incredible Home Theater System (Farkas and Govier), and Home Theater for Dummies (Briere and Hurley). (I've posted this review in each of the books).

There's a clear difference among these books, and approaches. In order, I would get these books:

1. (tie) Home Theater for Everyone; Home Theater for Dummies. This surprised me. I've heard a lot about Harley's book and it is great. It's getting dated though, and some stuff was simply way over my head for what I'm going to do with my home theater. But it's one of those books you have to read even if you don't understand a lot of it (and mind you, I've got seven computers in my house, a 100Meg LAN, multiple wireless systems, etc...I'm not scared of technical stuff.) It's not so much not understanding it, as much as it is that a lot of it while important to a magazine editor such as Harley, it's not something that you're going to use in putting in your home theater.

Home Theater for Dummies surprised me. I must say, I found it incredibly well researched, practical, and more homey and less academic than Harley's book. I think the title would keep a lot of the HT mags from reviewing it, thinking it beneath them. And the authors clearly know how to have fun (they have sections on how to create your own drive-in and another on bathroom theater.) They cover home theater PCs and Windows XP Media Center PCs, as well as wireless projectors -- so this is truly up to day at publication time because these are relatively new things. (Harley's book does not even mention HTPCs and gives relatively small coverage to personal video recorders (PVRs) which HT for Dummies covers well. I'd say just get this book, but no one would believe me.

3. User Your PC To Build An Incredible Home Theater System. This is a niche book for the techies that like to build their own PCs. Sort of like me :-) I found it knowledgeable and fun, but like I said, you would not buy this book to build a home theater.

4. The Complete Idiots Guide to Home Theater Systems. I liked this book's coverage of budgets and little facts in the book. However there was nothing on HTPCs, the pricing is already dated, and there was nothing in it not covered in Home Theater for Dummies. So if I have to choose between being a Dummy or an Idiot, I'd say I'm a Dummy.

5. Build Your Home Theater In A Weekend. This was basically a waste of money. It was a nice effort, but outclassed by the competition above. It's not worth a longer review.

If you are looking to put a home theater in your home, I'd recommend Harley and Briere/Hurley. Briere/Hurley also wrote Smart Homes for Dummies which they referenced in the HT book -- I'm getting that now, because it basically tells me how to extend my home theater all over the house. Since I spent a lot of money on my home theater, I'm betting, based on HT4Dummies, that their book is worth the $$$.

My two cents.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for newbie, June 8, 2005
By Donald Frambach (Ventura, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
Three months ago, my wife suggested that we upgrade our 15 year old TV to a "home entertainment center". So off we go to the local store to look at options. Spoke to a couple of salesmen who were worse than useless. In frustration, I bought this book. After a quick and pleasant read, I felt that I had a reasonable understanding of the options one has when setting up a "home entertainment center." We now have a v-e-r-y nice component system that is a breeze to use.
It isn't difficult to specify and install a system. However, now that I've done it, I realize that most people make a number of unneccesary mistakes. If you know all about this stuff then don't buy the book. However, if you have questions like I did then buy the book and you'll find that you'll end up with a system far superior to the ones owned by most "know it alls".

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great for novices, February 2, 2004
Wish I'd bought this when I first started researching home theaters. I was a novice, having purchased only a couple of 27" analog sets in the past 15 years. Rather than starting with a book like this, I researched mine the time consuming way: talking to knowledgable friends; wasting time with sales droids at electronic stores, reading home theater magazines. About two months later things reached critical mass and I could finally make an informed decision.

My advice: buy this book, read it, and afterwards *still* do what I did. Only save the sales droids for last (by then you'll know more than they do), and look but don't buy. Then go home and buy what you want at Amazon.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Basically an explanation of standards and technologies
This isn't a bad guide, just not what I was looking for. If you want detailed explanations for the various technologies (HDMI v1 compared to 1.3), this is a decent book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Nom de Guerre

4.0 out of 5 stars HTPC
As always the "Dummies" book give good basic information and this book did not disappoint me. I was looking for more information on the integration of a HTPC on the self-built... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Duane A. Lueders

2.0 out of 5 stars Did not help me
This book was not what I thought. Most of it deals with what to purchase and how to set it up. I still have not been able to set my system up and will still have to call a pro.
Published 7 months ago by Erskine Payne

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Update to a Classic
I believe this is the first review of the new Third Edition which just came out in Nov 2008. It has been extensively updated and I highly recommend it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by AvidReader

2.0 out of 5 stars Good but out of date
This book is written well and explains the technology well, and is a good reference for the basic design and set-up. Read more
Published 13 months ago by G. Johnson

4.0 out of 5 stars Home Theater for Dummies
This was a well written basics type book. Definitely good for someone who knows nothing about home theater.
Published on February 6, 2007 by Darren J. Hamilton

4.0 out of 5 stars Very nicely written - but needs an update
This book is a bit dated. But since I am really a dummy in this area, it has been good to bone up my knowledge, as I gear up to buy and build up a audio home theater - I skipped... Read more
Published on August 11, 2005 by Ravi Venkatesh

3.0 out of 5 stars Good primer for newbies, but not great
For someone who's entirely new to home theater -- from A/V receivers to speakers to display monitors to hooking everything up -- "Home Theater for Dummies" offers a... Read more
Published on January 25, 2004 by Gadgester

4.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive inroduction
This book is great if you are new to home theater, and is also useful if you have not kept up with the latest (as of 2003). Read more
Published on December 21, 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Dummy No More
This book was GREAT!
It starts off simple, gives you all the basics and then adds layers of great information. Read more
Published on November 12, 2003

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   


Listmania!


So You'd Like to...

Create a guide

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.