Home Theater vs. Movie Theater

A quote from Slashdot user stienman, "Movie theaters exist because home theaters are very expensive and it's more cost effective to see the movie in the theater than to invest in a good home setup."

Is it? Let's find out.

I see, on average, two movies a week. Sure, they may not both be in the theater, but let's assume it's all or nothing. I have to choose between movies in my home or movies in the theater.

2 movies at $12 a movie is $24 a week. Because it's an average, we can run it over the whole year of 52 weeks. That's $1248 dollars per year in watching movies - pretty good entertainment value, actually.

Now let's say that I want to watch all the movies in my home, instead of in the theater. Let's also factor in that home theater equipment will age and need replacing. My guess is that new technology makes replacing a home theater setup every 5 years a priority for anyone who really enjoys movies at home.

5 years at $1248 a year - that's $6240 every five years. With today's credit cards and no payments for 90 days, etc etc, let's assume you don't have to drop 6 grand all at once. Let's also look at where I live - with 14% sales tax. We'll drop that off the end total, leaving me with $5475 (approximately) before taxes to spend on a home theater setup.

So what do you need for a good home theater setup? No, I'm not an audiophile, I'm just a guy with a room in the basement I like to call "The Media Room", and I want to feel the bass of explosions, and have a bit of surround action with a good picture.

Well, I don't think LCDs and Plasmas are quite cheap enough for the average home theater owner - maybe in the next 5 years.

For now, given that there's enough room in the basement, I think a rear-projection TV should be fine.

It looks like, at current pricing, I can get between a 46 and 53" rear projection TV for the $2000 mark. That's checking online at FutureShop, so your mileage may vary.

Even a progressive-scan DVD player is no more than $150 nowadays, so let's add one of those.

That leaves $3325 for audio. Holy moly. Maybe I'll get a bigger TV.

A home-theater-in-a-box setup starts around $500. But you don't want that, do you? you want explosions and lasers and things flying from behind you!

Oooh, the Bose LS-18 Lifestyle System is $2799.99 - that should be snazzy.. tiny little speakers, and has DVD in it already - the receiver does Dolby and DTS, but not THX.. oh well..

It's a matter of choice if you like the all-in-one receiver/dvd player setup, or you like a big, industrial-sized receiver, with giant front speakers and smaller rear speakers. But I know for a fact you can get it all for 3 grand. Even the nice Sony Setup is a hair under $2000.

So why switch to home theater and give up the movie theater? What are the advantages and disadvantages to both?

Well, let's start with Home Theater disadvantages:
1) Date thinks you're cheap for not taking her out.
2) Nothing beats theater popcorn.
3) You have to wait for the movie to come out on DVD.
4) No matter how big your TV is, it's not 3 stories tall.

Home Theater Advantages:
1) Comfortable seating (I'm fat, this is important).
2) Movie pauses while you pee.
3) You can bring in any food and drink you like, even pizza.
4) Extended DVD versions of most movies.
5) Nobody except your girlfriend talks through the whole movie.

It's a bit of a toss-up, and it really matters on how much space you have and how you like to spend your time. If you watch a lot of TV or play a lot of video games, the home setup will have some more advantages for you. If you like to go out on the town, or hate being in your house, then you'll likely want to go to the movies.

And what about all the talk at work about how cool the latest Spider-man movie was? Wait for it on DVD, and you've missed the buzz.

What do you think? Which would you choose?