The LCD has left the floor....

Ok, so not decorated yet - but who cares - the LCD has finally made it onto the wall!

For those that are interested I have Audio LR Out, Audio In Dig, Audio Out Dig, HDMI, Aerial, Power, DVI and Component In all plumbed through wall, kitchen, lounge floor etc.

Also have centre and FR B&W 805s and HTM4s wiring under the floor. PV1 and M&K K4s not in picture.

Denise and Ethan
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

...and she's spotted me!
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Extension finished just in time for Xmas lunch with the family. Anthony, my mum Margaret, Denise's mum Rita, Larry, Daniel, Andy (Becky in crib out of sight!) Ethan and Denise's Dad Wayne. (Denise is still running around kitchen)
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Lounge reclaimation project

Terry came over to help Bill reclaim the lounge...thanks
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Cupboards going in

begininig to have faith that it will be done for Christmas
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

On the throne

New toilets in
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

New sink

hmmm think it's leaking though
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Well plastered

During the weekend we had to abandon home (plus some time this week) the plasterers came to visit
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Transformations

The old kitchen begins to turn into rooms...hmmm not sure how safe that light is though
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Here's our new room

can't move for tripping up over work men!
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Gutting the old kitchen

It's all got to go
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Tools everywhere

Even the new kitchen's not escaped
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Lounge is full again!

It's all everywhere
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

The day from Hell

Works really picked up a pace, they've taken over the whole house...came home to 10 builders on site, plumes of dust coming out of the front door and the news we have to move out for the weekend as they'll be no heating!
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Magic Corner!

Magic corner - back drawer slides to right as you open front!
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Hey Daddy can I sleep in here?

Ethan likes the new kitchen drawers. He's eyeing up this one for his new den!
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

New Kitchen

One more cooker to be fitted. The fridge and freezer are in the units below.
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Big sink!

Sink is huge! Starting to get an idea of what it will be like when finished now
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

New Kitchen - no granite yet

Kitchen units are in, granite worksurfaces will have to wait until patio door goes (breakfast bar granite slab won't fit otherwise)
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

No way out

No more old kitchen door! Bricked up now
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Half the tiling's done

Tiles on the roof
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Roofs on

Now have a roof on new extension
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Maria, Laura

(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Darren and Amanda

(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Dave and Bee Bee

(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Michelle, Jools

(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

and the Mrs

Denise
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Up town without the kiddies

Rick, looking very serious
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

The man himself

Bill
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Arrrrrrrgghhhh

Where's my Lounge gone? yup the kitchen units have arrived and they had to go somewhere!
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Wiring in the new kitchen

Wiring in new kitchen
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Walls going up

The walls are going up on the new extension.
Note the big (almost) square hole in the foreground is the 'wine cellar' or 'gimp hole'. So if Ethan misbehaves we'll be putting him in there (only joking grand parents!). Actually I wouldn't trust him with all that wine...

Note its only a square hole - no steps leading down to secret bunker! Just enough room for two racks of wine with a trap door above.
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

New kitchen door

New kitchen door (through to hall way)
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Stud wall and LCD wiring

This is the stud wall in the new kitchen.

Notice the large bundle of wires going through a hole in it!

Thanks for Dave's help in getting these through (a hole in the 1935 brick work below).

Also put in a 'noggin' to support the LCD at the right height.

For those that are interested the cables are:
2x1 Digital Coax.
1x2 Analogue Stereo Audio.
1x3 Progressive Component Video.
1 Aerial,
1 DVI,
1 HDMI.

Notice I forgot the mains cable which caused me some bother later...
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Current hallway

This wall will have to be knocked through to allow access to new kitchen from hall
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Old Kitchen

This is the old kitchen - back door will be bricked up and new cloakroom installed plus utility room area with storage and washing machine/tumble dryer
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

New plan

This is the plan for the new layout and extension
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

This is the existing floor plan

Existing floor plan
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

New LCD and AV Equip

Here's the new Philips 37PF9830 (on the motorised stand it comes with).

Still not on the wall yet (the new stud wall behind needs plastering first).

Also shown:

Denon AVC A11XV A/V amp (bottom),
Denon TU-1800DAB tuner,
Sony RDR HXD910 Freeview/HDD/DVD writer.

You can also see my old (Gale) speakers. I'm hoping to replace these with a pair of B&W 805s


But I've also just seen the B&W XT Series - so maybe I should look at XT4?



(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Temporary set-up before it goes on the wall
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Lots of wires vanishing down hole

AVC-A11XV wiring (going underneath the floor)
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Back to the LCD wiring
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Ambilight on the Philips 37PF9830
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Garden is looking nice...

Wow, the builders found our long lost path when they were digging the foundations for our new extension! Maybe it was a bit extreme to not do any gardening for the past 3 years because we kept thinking 'what's the point? we're going to have an extension built soon.....'
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004

Philips 37PF9830 better than Pioneer PDP-436XDE

Looking at some of the latest reviews I think the Philips 37PF9830 is the way to go (rather than the new Pioneer PDP-436XDE)
Here's some of the blurb:

LCD True HD display, 1920x1080p
HD ready for the highest quality display of HDTV signals
Pixel Plus 2 HD improves details in standard TV and HDTV
2-channel active Ambilight enhances the viewing experience

2 integrated NXT™ Monolith speakers with amazing performance
Matching design stand with motorised swivel included

Perfect picture quality from your digital photos
USB and Memory-Card slot for instantly playing multimedia
Advanced connection to your audio/video products
Most modern and highest quality HDMI and DVI-I connectivity

For the detailed specs look at Philips Cineos data sheet

One thing to note - though the panel is a true 1920x1080 pixels in resolution (and it even says '1080P' for progressive support) it won't actually accept a 1080P signal - or at least no-one who has one already has been able to get it to do this - the reasoning is that a) the electronics to deal with that input bandwidth would be much more expensive
b) it will de-interlace 1080i signals to true 1080 (which is nice)
c) the only device that will output 1080P is the PS3 which won't be available for a while anyway

This seems to be the case for other 1920x1080 panels (such as the Sharp Aquos)

Anyway - lots more about those issues on the AVForum thread!


(c) Bill Pinnell 2004

Annular Solar Eclipse

Here's the best shot (I think). I've corrected the orientation so it looks like it would to the 'naked' eye [obviously not a good idea to try that!]
(c) Bill Pinnell 2004

Tree trimming for improved solar viewing...

Had to trim the tree a bit as it was in the way to begin with - hope Denise doesn't mind too much....
(c) Ethan Pinnell 2004