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Friday, February 22, 2013

Home Away from Home Theater: Luxury Hotels with Screening Rooms

The Scotsman Hotel Scrrening room in Edinburgh, Scotland

For many of us, life on the road away from our home theaters means that we have to put up with tiny laptop screens, tube TV’s that are chained to the walls or (gasp!) the book version of our favorite flick! Fortunately, if you can add a little more to your hotel budget (OK, a lot more!), then you can stay at one of these fancy resorts with their very own screening rooms. The Wall Street Journal and HotelChatter.com have already written about their favorites, so here are three more from posh destination spots from around the world:

The Crosby Street Hotel – This hotel is located in the heart of New York City’s Soho District.  Along with the 5 star accommodations and service, guests can take in a movie in their 100-seat screening room. Bright orange leather chairs contrast nicely against dark purple walls, and the 30 foot screen boasts high-end AV components and 3D capability. The theater’s technical specs are truly impressive! The room is available for private screenings, or open to the public for their “Sunday Night Film Club”.

Hotel Rival – Located in Stockholm, Sweden, the Hotel Rival features everything from a gourmet bistro to posh lounges. The Rival Theater is more of an auditorium than an intimate screening room, but it packs the hardware to rival any movie palace. The theater was designed and refurbished by ABBA’s Benny Andersson, who owns the hotel. Though used for large events and conferences, the theater is often host to theater and film events.

The Scotsman – This luxury resort is located in Edinburgh, Scotland inside the former home of The Scotsman newspaper. Their screening room is called The Scotsman Cinema and it boasts a capacity of 46 patrons in plush leather armchairs. The system is state of the art and they have regular screenings of classic and contemporary movies. Guests are treated to complimentary ice cream, popcorn and even mince pies during the holiday season.

If you don’t have the kind of cash that it takes to stay at one of these luxury hotels, don’t despair. Many of them offer screenings to the general public, so you can still enjoy the 5-star cinema treatment without the 5-star hotel bill.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Big President's Day Sale this Weekend at TheaterSeatStore.com


President's Day Sales and furniture kind of go hand-in-hand, and there is no exception in the online world. That is why we are offering a 6% discount on almost everything on TheaterSeatStore.com! Along with this discount, we are also adding free shipping and no taxes in most areas as well as one year of stain protection. If you were thinking of buying new home theater seats, but holding off due to cost, this sale is a great excuse to take the plunge and order your new home theater furniture today.

Call 888-602-7328 to speak with one of our Sales Professionals. They can walk you through the savings and answer any questions that you may have. For the 6% discount, you don't even need to call for the 6% discount, just add the code PREZTSS to the Coupon Code field on the online Checkout page.

Click this link for more details about the President's Day Sales Event.

Friday, February 8, 2013

OUYA: A Game System for the Masses – Coming Soon to Your Home Theater

The Tiny OUYA Game Console with Big PotentialUnless you are a hardcore gamer, or up on the latest home theater gadgets, you may have never heard of the OUYA. This tiny game console is no larger than a coffee mug, yet powerful enough to play games and stream video at full HD (1080i). The OUYA is slated to be in stores by April 2013 with an equally small price tag - $99.99. 

The tiny OUYA is the brainchild of Julie Uhrman, a game industry veteran who noted that many gamers were leaving TV-based consoles behind for games on mobile platforms. Part of the reason was cost, many mobile games are free or only cost a few dollars, while the latest releases for current consoles can be as much as $60. Another reason was the wide diversity of games available. Independent game developers are essentially shut out of the TV console market, so they have turned their talents toward mobile games, which have much smaller development costs. Many of which, such as Angry Birds by Finnish software developer Rovio Entertainment, became huge successes. Uhrman was inspired to bring the same open development model to TV gaming and got to work.

Soon, with the help of a great team and a very successful Kickstarter campaign, Uhrman raised 8.6 million dollars to develop the OUYA. It’s powerful hardware and features are able to carry a small price tag for three big reasons:

    The OUYA Game Controller Designed with Gamer Input
  • Hardware – The PC board is tiny, but made with cutting edge hardware from NVIDIA, who make high-end video cards for gamers. The small circuit board carries a Tegra 3 Quad-core CPU, 1GB RAM, 8GB of Flash Storage and built-in WiFi, Ethernet and Bluetooth. The Operating System is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. This powerful combination of hardware and software give the OUYA full HD capability and 5.1 Surround Sound. The OUYA can also stream video and music with apps from iHeartRadio and Plex.
  • Games – All of the games being developed for the OUYA have one mandate – they either need to be free or offer free trials. This allows gamers to “try before they buy”. Also, because OUYA uses the Android operating system, prices are expected to be low for games as they are for mobile devices. Game developers can also make games with very little upfront capital as seen in the next section.
  • Versatility - Every OUYA can also be used to develop new games, so aspiring game designers can build their own games and share them with the OUYA community. Hardware modders can even open up the OUYA console itself and tinker with the insides. This behavior is not only tolerated but encouraged by the developers.
If you want to get in on the next chapter of gaming for your home theater, you can pre-order your console now from the OUYA website or mainstream outlets like Amazon.

Friday, February 1, 2013

How to Get to Super Bowl XLVII on a Budget

How do you get to the Super Bowl™, or if you prefer The Big Game™? (Yup, both of those phrases are trademarked). One way is through hard work, a dedication to your sport and determination to take your team all the way. The other way is money, lots of it. Right now, a quick check on StubHub shows ticket prices ranging from $1,625 for a ticket in the nosebleeds to $323,538 for a luxury suite. Want to get as close to the action as you can? That will set you back $5 – 6,000 per ticket*. Oddly enough, many of these prices are down $100 from Saturday, according to SB Nation. So, what are some other ways an enterprising and thrifty football fan gets one of these Golden Tickets?

CraigsList – If you’re willing to take a risk, sellers on CraigsList in New Orleans are selling Super Bowl tickets at prices from $1,000 on up. Of course, it’s important to check further into these deals before you start giving out your credit card or Paypal info, or agree to meet a stranger in a dark alley with a wad of cash in your pocket.

Know Somebody – The NFL distributes a large percentage of Super Bowl tickets to the competing teams. These are used for employees, family members, corporate sponsors, charities and other fans affiliated with the teams. According to Ryan Guiana in CashMoneyLife.com, this percentage is about 75% total. If you happen to know someone who works for one of the competing teams (or any NFL team, they all get some of the tickets) – and this person owes you a HUGE favor – It might just be your ticket in. Of course, odds of that happening are like winning the lottery. Speaking of lottery…

NFL Ticket Lottery – Every year, the NFL holds a lottery of Super Bowl tickets that are given out to fans. It’s too late to get in on the action for this Super Bowl, but you can throw your hat in the ring for Super Bowl 2014. More details can be found on this About.com article.

Get a Job at the Stadium – The Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, LA is currently looking for part time Field Crew members. You can send in an application, and hope that you can get hired, trained and on the field in the next couple of days. All of the stadium job details are found here.

*Of course, for the same amount of money you can put together a nice home theater system that puts you right in the thick of the action. Add some high quality home theater seats and you have the location for an awesome Super Bowl party! The best part? You can enjoy your home theater year round!