- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 2nd Edition edition (11 July 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0471783250
- ISBN-13: 978-0471783251
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 18.8 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,176,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Home Theater For Dummies
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
|
There is a newer edition of this item:
|
Product details |
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
"...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) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
DVD Monthly, July 2003
"..clear and concise..a good read throughout.."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
When you hear the term home theater, you probably think of big screens, cool sound, DVDs, CDs, and lots of remote controls sitting around your living room. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
When you hear the term home theater, you probably think of big screens, cool sound, DVDs, CDs, and lots of remote controls sitting around your living room. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An informative book packed with information. However, it is American! I am a big fan of American technical publications, almost all are universally well written, but, a considerable amount of the content in this book does not travel well. The GB technical standards are different or do not apply. GB connectors have quite different names and much of the equipment used in the examples is not released in this country or uses different branding.
That said, the principles do apply and I have learned a lot. The large number of Sound Standards are explained very well; mind numbing!
I bought three books simultaneously-- ALL turned out to be American! I must be more thorough in my research or, perhaps Amazon could emphasise the origin for those books where it may be important!!!
This review is also posted for
-Practical Home Theater: A Guide to Video and Audio Systems (2011 Edition) (Practical Home Theater: A Guide to Video & Audio Systems)
and
-Wiring Your Digital Home For Dummies
That said, the principles do apply and I have learned a lot. The large number of Sound Standards are explained very well; mind numbing!
I bought three books simultaneously-- ALL turned out to be American! I must be more thorough in my research or, perhaps Amazon could emphasise the origin for those books where it may be important!!!
This review is also posted for
-Practical Home Theater: A Guide to Video and Audio Systems (2011 Edition) (Practical Home Theater: A Guide to Video & Audio Systems)
and
-Wiring Your Digital Home For Dummies
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
183 of 188 people found the following review helpful
Don't let the title fool you, this is a great book
16 Jun 2003
Format:Paperback
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.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Must read for newbie
8 Jun 2005
Format:Paperback
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".
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".
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Great for novices
2 Feb 2004
Format:Paperback
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.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Computing & Internet > Digital Video > Beginners
- Books > Computing & Internet > New to Computing > Digital Music, Photography & Video > Digital Video
- Books > Home & Garden
- Books > Reference > Consumer Guides
- Books > Science & Nature > Engineering & Technology > Electronics & Communications Engineering > Electronics Engineering
- Books > Science & Nature > Engineering & Technology > Electronics & Communications Engineering > Stereo & Audio Equipment
- Books > Science & Nature > Engineering & Technology > Electronics & Communications Engineering > Television Technology
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
