setup -
http://i43.tinypic.com/292npk3.jpg
closeup -
http://i44.tinypic.com/2u90k1d.jpg
kids' tv -
http://i42.tinypic.com/x4hlr8.jpg
pc projection -
http://i41.tinypic.com/sawfo4.jpg
Here's my 3 year old setup, which has pretty much looked this way for about two years. It is pretty basic, and set up in our basement, which I felt was the only room dark enough to enjoy movies and such, even in the middle of the day. The room serves as a play room for our kids, plus a storage room with all of the shelves for their toys and our other items. You can tell from the PC projection pic that the DLP projector is suffering from "white dot syndrome", which has exploded from 1 or 2 dots to more than two dozen in just the last two months. This explains the "projector fund" container, which I now put extra $$ in each time I watch anything, to help save up for a replacement. Not sure if I'll get another DLP projector - maybe LCD, or ?
About a year ago, I finally ran a long VGA cable over from my PC, which can do dual output. This allows me to watch archived TV on the projector. It doesn't work as well as I'd hoped, however, because my wife will be doing something on the PC, and the mouse pointer will meander over onto the projector screen where I'm watching a video. Now I have a Tiny PC with VGA out that I'm going to set up on the shelf to be used for playing archived shows only. It may end up replacing the DVD player there.
The whole setup is composed of an Optoma 800x600 DLP projector, Pyle Pro 15 watt amplifier, 2 Blaupunkt tsx573 speakers, Magnavox MDV3000 DVD player, and a DTV Pal TV tuner that uses a standard Dish Network remote. I used part of a can of Oil based Kilz stainblocking paint on the concrete wall so that the image would look bright. I'm not sure if I should include the Galanz analog microwave or not, but it is strategically placed near the DVD's, so it is not too far from the couch to get the finished popcorn. I have boxes of unpopped popcorn on top of the microwave.
You can probably tell I needed to do this on the cheap, and that I like analog instead of digital. The microwave has the analog knob, so that anybody visiting can instantly figure out how to use it with no learning involved. Same thing with the Pyle amp - nice knobs on the front, and no remote to get lost. 15 Watts might seem pretty low, but it works great with the Blaupunkt car speakers I got marked way down.
Not including the microwave, I have $300 in the projector, $40 for the amplifier, $30 for the speakers, $45 for the DVD player, and the TV tuner was technically free with rebate. I guess that means I have a grand total of $415 in this.