I Have A Dream

[flukeairwalker]

I'm currently stationed in Korea, and I have a large sum of money due to me soon. I'm on upgrading my rig to something most impressive. My shopping list for peripherals is the following:

A projector
A wireless keyboard and mouse
A decent set of speakers
A base station similar to Apple's Airport

The setup: Imagine, if you will a typical Army barracks room, one occupant, possibly no larger than your typical dorm room. I have two desks, one against one wall, and one in the center of the room. The laptop will be stationed on the desk against the wall. The projector will hang by the ceiling near this desk, projecting across the room. Two to four speakers plus a subwoofer will be scattered around the room. A desk with only a wireless keyboard and mouse will be in the center of the room facing the projection.

And of course, all this has to work with Ubuntu 8.10 (and future Ubuntu releases) and my Pangolin Performance laptop (Intel Dual Core 2.0 GHz, 3 GB RAM, nVidia 9300M). So I ask the community: How can I make this work? What hardware/software is recommended? Any tips on how I can make this more sleek or pimp it out even more? Your comments/suggestions are welcome!

Possible Purchases
Dell 4210X Projector (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Projectors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=224-5630) 1100 USD
Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 Speakers (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121006) 80 USD
Iguana Works USB IR Tranceiver (http://iguanaworks.net/product1.psp) 40 USD

[abn91c]

I'm currently stationed in Korea, and I have a large sum of money due to me soon. I'm on upgrading my rig to something most impressive. My shopping list for peripherals is the following:

A projector
A wireless keyboard and mouse
A decent set of speakers
An all-in-one hub similar to Apple's airport

The setup: Imagine, if you will a typical Army barracks room, one occupant, possibly no larger than your typical dorm room. I have two desks, one against one wall, and one in the center of the room. The laptop will be stationed on the desk against the wall. The projector will hang by the ceiling near this desk, projecting across the room. Two to four speakers plus a subwoofer will be scattered around the room. A desk with only a wireless keyboard and mouse will be in the center of the room facing the projection.

And of course, all this has to work with Ubuntu 8.10 (and future Ubuntu releases) and my Pangolin Performance laptop (Intel Dual Core 2.0 GHz, 3 GB RAM, nVidia 9300M). So I ask the community: How can I make this work? What hardware/software is recommended? Any tips on how I can make this more sleek or pimp it out even more? Your comments/suggestions are welcome!
Look at Dell, you can get discount on LCD projectors thru AAFES website/catalog
https://thor.aafes.com/ics/product.asp?dept_id=13309&pfid=2_DELL_PR&AskReturn=search&mscssid=JLXULCJ9VLS12K8Q00LHRK5SP3VBJ17Q

[flukeairwalker]

Look at Dell, you can get discount on LCD projectors thru AAFES website/catalog
https://thor.aafes.com/ics/product.asp?dept_id=13309&pfid=2_DELL_PR&AskReturn=search&mscssid=JLXULCJ9VLS12K8Q00LHRK5SP3VBJ17Q

I was actually at the PX this weekend looking at the Dell projectors. I figured since they have Linux computers, their other products are more likely compatible. It's actually what began this whole thought process!

[jdb]

I'm currently stationed in Korea, and I have a large sum of money due to me soon.

Re-up bonus??? :popcorn:
I bought a big sterio rig with mine a few years back.
I'm still using the speakers but haven't used the turntable or reel to reel tape deck in a while, LOL.

jdb

[thomasaaron]

Where are you at? I spent two years at Camp Humphreys.

[jdb]

Where are you at? I spent two years at Camp Humphreys.

Where is Camp Humphreys??
I spent a year at Osan, about 100 miles south of Seoul.

jdb

[thomasaaron]

Humphreys is 24 miles south of Osan. It's right up against Pyongtaek.

[abn91c]

121 Evac, Yongsan 1991-92 :-)

[flukeairwalker]

Wow, I didn't realize so many of you are/were in the military! The large sum of money is my enlistment bonus, and I'm stationed at Camp Humphreys, 501st MI BDE. I just got here a couple of weeks ago, and it turns out the barracks they moved me into are only a few years old. The wiring is good and Internet access is fast. They're remodeling this entire installation so that they can consolidate all other USFK Army installations here, so it's probably very different now from when you were here.

It feels great to know you all went through the same experience I'm having. That enlistment bonus is getting blown! (But I'm still going to be saving about 2/3 of it. I have a wife and son after all.)

[Lee_Machine]

WOW I wouldn't even guess so many people here were also in the Military! Especially Thomas Aaron:p

My orders to Osan got canceled, and they sent me to Okinawa :D

When I used to live in the dorms I had fellow dorm rats that would buy these 50'' TVs that would barely fit in the rooms. The smart ones would either buy a projector, or use a good size computer monitor; which is what I did.

My two cents is don't buy an expensive surround sound setup. A good 5.1 computer speaker setup will do just fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121006

For my setup I found this IR Dongle that works great! Plus support for Ubuntu with a driver in a .deb format!

http://iguanaworks.net/product1.psp

Works great with an Apple remote, Panasonic TV remote, and a Wiimote.

Boxee is a great Media Center UI, still in Alpha though, and only a 32bit flavor. Elisa is another great one.

Being in Korea you're going to need a US IP address to use sites such as Hulu, and instant Netflicks. Along with ABC, CBS, Comdey Central...you get the idea.

These are legal ways to stream videos and movies, there is always ninjavideo.net.

The way I do this in Japan is a VPN service called strongVPN. It is only $15 a month. There are free ones such as Anchor Free via WINE, but its too slow.

If you have other devices that need a US IP address such as a PS3 you will need either a proxy server set up with a connection to the VPN client, or a wireless router hacked and a flavor of Linux call DD-WRT on it. This way you can set up auto connect to the VPN service without the need of client software (which you cannot install on game consoles)

If you need any help with any of this this I will gladly help a fellow service member..I know how it is ;)


It's no wonder most of the movie, and music piracy happens outside the US. It's too hard to get it any other way.

[flukeairwalker]

Lee_Machine, this is exactly why I posted my dream setup on the forums. I'll always get better information from the community than if I searched for it myself.

I had already figured it wasn't worth buying an expensive sound system. Desktop speakers are of excellent quality, and have all the power and quality I need, especially for a small barracks room. I was eyeing a set of speakers in Pyeongtaek last weekend (LG brand I think) that was four speakers plus subwoofer, and it came out to about the same price as the one you listed here.

I'm the kind of guy that will get media however I can get it. But my wife likes watching shows through Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, so it'll be worth doing some research if we get command sponsorship to move her here.

IR dongle? You know, I had never even thought of that. And it works with a Wiimote you say? That's something I'm going to have to try out, especially since I'm going to be figuring out how to factor a Wii into all of this. I totally forgot I have one coming in the move. It seems that their main priority is Linux support, so I'm definitely going to have to support that. And it's nice that it comes with 64 bit support too.

I've seen a few barracks rats get 62" plasmas in their rooms to play XBox on, but the room was so small they were practically sitting in front of it. :o So you wound up going to Okinawa instead? I have a friend in the AF who had that happen to her too. Slated to PCS to Osan and got sent to Okinawa instead. But she tells me Okinawa is beautiful and the habu sake is a must try.

[Lee_Machine]

Yep, what's cool about boxee is that I can use my iPhone as a remote to control it via bluetooth...there is a program in the cydia repos. :popcorn:

Works great!

[flukeairwalker]

That sounds interesting, though I don't need anything that fancy. I'm looking for something I can just display really huge, not necessarily something really fancy. I want the bling to be in the hardware capability, not in the options.