4d ago

What are some good "frugal" movie viewing setups? (Recommendations)

I don't have a spare room to make a soundproof "home theater" (and making such a room would require you to be like extremely rich to even fund that renovation) so what's the cheapest movie viewing experience you can conceivably get at home that's good enough? (I hate the idea of movie theaters, so please don't tell me to go to one lol, I hate being around people)

Preferrably no TVs because that would be very hard to take with me if I have to move in the future (its too fragile and too big and a huge hassle to deal with). So I'm thinking like some projectors or something like that.

Because my main viewing screen right now is just my phone and Christopher Nolan would be disappointed if he found out lol. (Don't judge lol, the last time I actually used an actual PC was like few years ago, I no longer have a functional computer right now, because I haven't found the need to replace the broken one, since phones do a lot nowadays)

I'm thinking like a budget of $1000 or less (the cheaper the better, but not like too low quality either).

(P.S. I don't actually have that budget to get that immediately, but I'm just planning for something to look forward to in the future.)

Edit: I mean $1000 in US Dollars

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If you're willing to go DIY, you can build some speakers yourself for pretty cheap. They're very light, so you can easily mount them into a drywall ceiling and save floor space. They also don't tend to oscillate the bass into the room above. Bass is a little light, but they're good for the value.
For the projector, if you're willing to put in some time and effort you can usually find them at auction for dirt cheap every couple months. (especially in an economic downturn...) Mounting is almost always the tricky part though. And the throw distance (how big the screen gets per foot of distance) is the biggest thing to worry about. Depending on the projector's intended use uh... you can too big real fast. Peruse the manual (find the part number for the projector).
You can get a TV the same way, but projectors are almost always cheaper at auction because they're niche and not in high demand. Just keep looking, they'll show up sooner or later.
Keep in mind, projectors are often high latency. You won't notice it playing movies, but if you're playing COD or especially DDR, oh my god that will suck. Most newer models have a gaming mode to reduce it, but most models don't focus on gaming. ALSO, get a spare bulb for the sucker before you actually need it. If you're buying it used you're already halfway through the bulb as is. (unless it's a laser)
White sheet will work fine for a back drop. Official screens will increase contrast but if you have a dark room, not as necessary.
Source: I am literally typing this on a projector. Have been using a PC on a giant projector screen for 7 years now. AMA
On a tight budget, definitely look used wherever you can. You can get some banger deals on used computers, monitors, projectors, speakers, etc.
I would reckon either a cheap laptop, mini pc, or used workstation would work as a device to play movies. Alternatively, if you happen to have a playstation, you could also use that as a dvd player.
For speakers, the Edifier speakers are pretty good value. The 1280DB is under $200 and you can always hunt for sales. Make sure to get an active speaker so then you don’t need to get a separate amplifier. If you don’t fuss about sound quality, the teeny tiny pebble speakers are decent and can be found for very cheap too.
For display, I would go for a used projector. For projectors, depending on how big your room is, try to look for short throw projectors (basically means big screen with a small distance).
Another route would be a cheap monitor, which although smaller than what a projector can output, is still quite a bit bigger than a phone screen. It would work better than a projector if you have lots of windows and tend to watch movies when there’s a lot of sunlight (if you watch movies at night and/or you don’t have many windows, projectors work fine)
- Came here to check if someone recommended used, that's what I would do.
I'm not frugal, just a cheapskate. I have an i5 NUC that I got for 225$ Canadian, so like 16$ USD... (I exaggerate.) I got an old 1080p projector from an Electronics Recycling in town for 125$ CAD, and a receiver at an auction. No remote and the HDMI in was busted, 40$. So I used a USB sound card with optical out. (Another 40$.) Speakers from goodwill. The wall I project to is already white. I have an Ikea Kallax with the receiver and the projector right behind my couch. Speaker wire is scrap cat5 cable from work. The subwoofer has an annoying buzz at the moment, but it was 20$ from Goodwill, so... Otherwise, it's big, bright, loud. I cobbled it together over a few months, but it's a great setup and very cheap.
Out of left field idea: have you considered a laptop? Find a used one from a few years ago with a big-enough screen size, set it up on a table a metre or so away from you, maybe get some decent external speakers... it'd be like a TV with all the movie gubbins built in.
- Speaking of laptops, many years ago, I saw a huge laptop. I thought 17” was big, but this one was just ridiculous. May have been something like 21” or something. Those things have been around for years, so finding a used one should be possible.
- That's how I do it too, and I'm happy with it! Second hand windows tablet, now running xubuntu. With large screen, shit cpu, 8gb ram. I prefer bluetooth earbuds over external speakers.
For audio, take to a local thrift store or Facebook marketplace or whatever platform is the most used locally and mix and match your own receiver + speaker set. A decent receiver can be found around €50, speakers can be even cheaper. Most modern speakers of some size are decent enough, bought some second hand Jamo tower speakers for 50 for the set(2) as well. Smaller bookcase speakers with minimum 4 inch (if you don't go for a seperate subwoofer) speakers can be found for €20. You need some oomph in the lower end to get some extra cinema points. Stereo sets are fine, 5.1 is fun but I'd rather have amazing stereo then ok 5.1 , you know?
For beamers, I'd look for a secondhand beamer that was used in business setting.
A clean white wall is cheap en convenient beaming surface, but a good screen will help increase brightness which can often be the most tricky part about beaming at home. But harder to do secondhand.
Sidenote, I almost never save the boxes of stuff I buy, but the tv box gets special treatment in the attic, because in the box it's very transportable, but without it, I agree, it's a big hassle.
GL!
- I'd be wary with old business projectors, their blacks usually suck ass. Specifically I'd heavily prefer Epson EH-TW and Optoma Home theater projectors to Epson EB projectors. The difference in color is night and day.
  The audio advice is solid though.
TV's are dirt cheap these days. Just sell and rebuy if you don't want to move it
Ditto on used flatscreen (not-smart tv) from thrift shops; they’re light enough that you can take it with you when you move.
$500-$1000 is a good budget so you can buy new (non-smart tv) at the big box stores.
Yes, you should consider a good projector and a white bed sheet from the same thrift shop and iron it (I speak from experience). If the acoustics in your room is good then you may not need to spend a lot of money on speakers/headphones.
My friend couldn’t find black bed sheets so she bought the ugly stained ones and dyed them black and put them behind the curtains. We were able to do this setup in her backyard for the kids, too.
I also used a pre-primed canvas with my easel and worked just fine as soon as I got the angle right. Both came from JoAnn Fabric when they were closing the stores (maybe $35?). However, my Bose speakers and Sennheiser headphones were not cheap. Living in concrete and 2 different types of insulated walls are probably the reason why the acoustics suck.
That setup was so portable and worked really well that when my friend borrowed it she told me I wasn’t getting it back. You need to decide what you want to spend top dollar on: VR headset, projector, TV, etc. I’m actually curious how you end up with your entertainment setup. Good luck.
EDIT: I gave my old Harman Kardon speakers and subwoofer (from my old PC) to my friend and it still sounded good.
I have a TV, a projector and a VR headset, which essentially are your options, so let me run through each of them giving you pros/cons for each.
VR headset was a cool solution that someone mentioned here. It is an interesting approach, and the cheapest way to feel at the movie theater by yourself, it also allows you to play VR games which can be very immersive and it's an experience. However it's the worst visual quality of the 3 and you can't bring anyone over for movie night.
Projectors can be really bad, but since you have a good budget a little research should get you a relatively decent projector with at least 1080p native resolution. If you're looking for screen size, or have limited space for a TV, this is the way. However, even great projectors will struggle with daylight, your room needs to be as dark as possible, which might mean blackout curtains completely closed if watching during daytime. Also audio can be relatively bad, especially because some projectors are somewhat loud, but you should be able to get a quiet decent one for that budget, but you might want to consider speakers or a sound bar.
TVs are cheap and give you the best visual quality per price. They're a pain in the ass to move (but not as much as you might think), but they don't have any of the drawbacks of any of the other forms, but they're also not great, however for 1k you can get an excellent TV and a very good sound bar that will allow you to view content in 4K HDR during daytime.
I have been using a cheap 1080p LCD projector with a pull down Projection Screen for a while now and it works great. I have blackout curtains so that it's bright enough. If there's too much natural light then it's pretty dim. A decent set of speakers helps a lot. Total cost of everything is less than $500. Main downside is the light thing and the fact that you need to have the projector in the right position so that the image can be centered but it's the cheapest way to get an 80in screen in your bedroom.
You use parentheses a lot 😉
How much do you really move? Moving is a pain as it is, and a modern (not CRT) TV isn't really what makes it so. Projectors are a fun novelty, but if you don't have that basement home theater room they're honestly not that great, especially in daylight.
Honestly, I would just get a decent used TV and call it a day. If you really move a lot, like every year, get a new one and leave the box in a closet. Even a relatively small one will be a huge step up from a phone screen.
That's said, speakers are treated as a mandatory afterthought on TVs these days. Rule of thumb I just made up: if it doesn't have many ports, it's expecting your step t receiver or similar to do the heavy lifting. Older TVs may actually be ok and generally have a lot of ports, but may not be full HD. Bottom line: be prepared to at least buy a sound bar or hell, even some computer speakers from a thrift store. Preferably something with a small subwoofer.
Make sure you don't get scammed on a projector, always make sure to look at the native resolution, not the "supported" one. Also make sure to verify the lumens, all the listings with 10.000 lumens are using a different kind of lumens than those with 800 - 3000.
Last but not least, I wouldn't get anything used with over 2000 lamp hours.
- How do you "verify" the brightness? Is there like a "thermomether", but for brightness?
  
  Verifying yourself wasn't what I meant, sorry that was a bit unclear. I meant make sure you don't fall for marketing bs, and maybe try to use the same good source of info for comparison. I usually compare projector specs on https://www.projectorcentral.com/, they have specs on the vast majority of projectors out there.
  
  There is tools like Lux meters that measures that.
  In that case I think the other commenter was suggesting that a lot of marketing bullshit can be misleading. So dont trust the marketing stuff and go for trusted reviewers.
  The brightness is an important value for a VP.
Have you checked the local thrift stores?
You can get a good older model TV that works fine at a low cost. Many folks get rid of perfectly usable sets because they want the newest model.
Movie theaters control sound reverberations. A simple sound bar worth a sub will improve audio quite a bit over any output but even a pair of Bluetooth speakers can help, if you want stereo look at the Anker Soundcore series with "TWS." I use a pair of Soundcore Motion Boom's for when I am doing stuff and they area amazing, I upgraded from a a pair of Soundcore 2's that fell off the roof and few times and were not really holding a charge like they should.
To give you the sound you will want to make some sound deadening panels. Basically get some 1X2 furring strips and build some simple squares, cover them with fabric(something with a soft texture is best) , and insert some cheap convoluted foam then hang them around your viewing space. As time goes by you can add more if you feel the need. Also carpet the room, but at the very least get some throw rugs. You could also hang something like the rugs on the wall, it's ghetto but as I said the experience is about controlling sound reverberations.
But being on a phone screen and needing portability honestly I would go buy a tablet (I suggest the Samsung A9+) and a pair of noise canceling earbuds I have a set of Soundcore Space A40's that I use to listen to music while mowing, in a quieter environment like a store I hear next to nothing. My other half uses the A9+ and she had had no issues I suggest that over the super cheapo ones as they tend to only be decent for a year or two. We bought a pair of them in 2021 and both are nearly worthless for anything outside of a wall tablet for home assistant after 3 years and they are still barely working for that. My stepson's was swapped for my even older Tab S4 which was an upgrade over the newer cheapo.
https://amzn.to/47zXmKL Space A40's are running 45.00 right now https://amzn.to/4mmJ0SH A9+ is 210.00
That makes your setup a ton better for less than 300 and it will easily last you for a while.
I personally have been using a BenQ W1070 for about 10 years. I couldn't go without it. It's constantly connected to my PC with a long HDMI cable and I just project on a clean white wall.
I went through 5 lamps changing most of them myself so it's rather not expensive if you just change the lamp without casing.
I hear a lot of people say that you need a proper screen but I think it's mostly bullshit at least for basic 1080p projector.
Use online calculators for VPs to check the throw distance and everything is good and as long as the wall is white and smooth IMHO it's fine for an already good viewing experience.
The biggest mistake IMO for VP owner is to set it up on its own separate to their PC.
My VP is just an extra screen I switch on when I need to watch something but it's never complicated. I switch it on and move YT or VLC to that screen.
A VP of good quality is really not that expensive if you change the lamp yourself and it provides a really comfortable way to watch content. Highly recommend them.
For sound I went for a fairly common Logitech Z906 for 5.1 support.
Honestly it's a great setup I bought 10 years ago and I never regretted it.
PS : Also highly recommend one of these wireless Logitech media keyboard. The one I have from Logitech has the same age as my old VP and it works still perfectly. I change the batteries every few years and it let's me comfortably control my PC when I'm on the couch watching something on the projector. Only regret is not taking a wireless keyboard with backlighting because with a VP you tend to often be in the dark :)
Hey, this isn't what you're looking for, like, at all, but I just built the coziest movie set up by buying a $50 15in CRT, a $20 VCR player, and 50 VHS' for $10. Put it all next to my bed with retro consoles to boot, and the best part is not only are all the ads nostalgic and crammed into the beginning of the movie, but no live service is going to make my tapes move to a new subscription service.
Just... Curl up in bed and put in a movie that you own. Oops, forgot to rewind. Lemme play a round of starfox while I wait.
- 1998 in one picture.
If you are speaking about soundproofing I'm assuming you live in an apartment and have neighbours, I will be making my recommendations based in that assumption.
Also, note that I value audio quality more than video, so if I have a limited budget to setup a home cinema most of it will go to the audio.
For home cinema surround systems are usually the standard, however in my personal and subjective opinion surround adds much to the cost without really proving much value to the experience.
Cheap surround systems like those trendy soundbars will sound like shit comparable to a stereo system for the same price. Yes, they come with a subwoofer so they have bass and provide that wow factor, but you may notice it to be unbalanced the middle or upper frequencies to lack clarity.
If you have a small room and plan on watching films just yourself (and maybe an occasional friend)I recommend a setup similar to mine, a small LCD TV (32" or a bit bigger) and a pair of 8" studio monitors.
From my understanding cheap projectors have quite a substandard image quality and brightness, I understand that you prefer a projector for easier transport, but a small TV is also easy to carry it, you can literally carry it in the backsit of a small car. And will look much better than a cheap projector.
So with your given budget you can get a quality TV for about 500 dollars and a quality pair of near field speakers for another 500 dollars.
This is the perfect setup for a single person intimate setup, however fails short when you put multiple people in the room.
However if you have a big room with many people on it then you will need to compromise on quality, a bigger screen, maybe a projector and maybe a pair of loud used pair of HiFi speakers, since studio monitors aren't really meant to fill the room and 32" TV will look tiny from a sofa.
I have a 50ft HDMI cable that I snake from a laptop near my couch to a ~32in(?) TV and use as a second monitor.
For audio I have a pair of noise canceling Bluetooth headphones.
The Hook Up YouTube channel has a ton of awesome non sponsored reviews of tech that you might be interested in. Projectors, sound equipment, etc. I've honestly never seen better consumer review content.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2gyzKcHbYfqoXA5xbyGXtQ
Personally I don't care for home theater so often I skip videos about projectors, but there's a ton of stuff there that might help you make some decisions - at the very least you'll walk away better educated about what makes a quality piece of kit.
i picked up a free protector that's only 720 resolution and works perfectly for watching movies. just find an affordable one used and you'll do fine. Don't forget to check thrift stores.

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