New home cinema system on blank canvas.help!!!newbie

[colbags]

Hi all,
I am about to set up my home cinema system and putting cables in the walls,tv on the wall etc. I also plan to have sky+ tv installed as soon as possible. I know very little about the cables that i'll need and require sum assistance on this matter.
I'll start off with my set up.
PS42Q97HD - 42" plasma TV - 720p,Sony STR DG820 AV receiver,Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray disc player,popcorn hour,wii,sky+.
I would also like to use my pc as a tv and link this to the popcorn hour from my conservatory which is buing built.

Its a fair project so please help me out with as much info as possible. ta

How much should I pay for hdmi cables?
Will I need signal boosters for tv's as running more than 1?
I need to move my aerial socket,which socket should I be getting to get signal to pc?

loads more questions but I think this is enough for starters.cheers

[RowdenCO]

Short HDMI cables, you dont have to pay much at all. As long as theyre gold connections they'll be fine, as its such a great connections whatever. £15-£30. I find Catalogue kenable for HDMI Optical TOS Network Ethernet RJ45 Scart Audio Phono Jack USB Firewire 800 ADSL Cable Leads good and very reliable if your on a budget but want quality.

Which version of the Popcorn Hour were you planning on getting?
Where are you planning on installing the PC base unit? with the main TV?



Your 3rd Question I dont understand. Is this for a TV tuner built into the TV?

[RowdenCO]

I've looked at the spec for the TV and it can be used as a TV monitor as it has a VGA port specifially for PC input.

With Computer VGA cables you wanna keep em as short as possible, most places sell em 1m, 2m, 3m, 5m, 10m etc. The longer you get the more the signal degrades and picture can distort. Upto 5m will be fine.

[colbags]

Can you name a decent brand for the hdmi cables and is it really worth paying over £10 for 1. I think I'll need 1 hdmi cable of 2m to feed the plasma tv.

[RowdenCO]

I can name plenty of big name brands, but it wouldnt be truth, cus I'd never buy em. I just use the basics and they do me fine, I cant tell the difference.

Sometimes what your paying more for is build quality over picture quality, cus picture quality they're all the same. If your planning on pulling em out often or permanently putting them in the wall, get decent ones and they shouldnt break. If your gonna set it up and leave it and only fiddle every now and then normal ones will do fine. I've not yet broken a HDMI lead.

That weblink I provided earlier is where I get all mine. No I dont work there, but the more people that shop there the prices can only get better and the turnaround for delivery is blindingly fast.

[colbags]

about the P.C. I have a usb freeveiw tv adaptor for it and want to know if I could somehow send a sky tv signal to the pc instead. It will only be a few meters away in the conservatory but the other half could then go away and watch what she wants on the pc monitor and leave me to watch match of the day in peace. can this be done?

[colbags]

Will I need to run audio cables of some kind to the tv from the amp as well as the hdmi cables or do the hdmi cable do all the sounds as well?

[mr starface]

HDMI does sound as well mate and you will run the cables from your equipment (PCH/BR-Player/Sky) straight to the Amp and then the Amp can send the video signals to the TV and sound to seperate speakers or TV.

Didnt know you had bought all this gear lately, must be all the cash from the overtime

If you send a sky signal to the PC you will just get the same thing that the OH is watching on Sky as it will be the same signal.