Gaming in the living room

[tking]

The gaming desktop (amd64-4600x2/1900xtATI) currently lives in a corner at a pretty traditional looking work station. I'm thinking about getting a Spectre Komodo 32" LCD tv (here) that seems to do a good job of playing games (1366x768 res).

If I"m moving a PC that does email/basic surfing but is mainly used for gaming to the living room, does anyone have any advice for peripherals that work? Wireless keyboard and mouse seem logical considering the environment, but I'm worried about responsiveness. How do games look in this environment? Does the lower resolution really hurt the appearance? I'm thinking the home theatre will do more justice to the sound than the 2.1 speakers it has been using.

The thought of getting into a good death match while sitting in the recliner has great appeal, if anyone has converted a PC to a behind the TV media center/gaming machine, I'd love to hear suggestions to make it work well.

[MadPistol]

An extension USB cable with a USB hub at the end of it is your best friend. My experience with wireless peripherals is once you're more than 4 feet from the reciever, you're asking for trouble.

Also, get the quietest set of fans for your case that you can find (and get lots of them). I've always found that it's irritating to hear any kind of whirring noise while you're watching a quiet part of a movie.

[tking]

I've got the noise covered, the case is a sonata II, it's incredibly quiet. I'd planned on putting it behind the wall mounted lcd tv, which should help too.

The only way to get satisfactory performance out of mouse and keyboard is to have a cord trailing across the middle of the room? That isn't a thrilling idea. Does a 2.4ghz wireless setup provide better response that the basic 27Mhz ones? Is bluetooth a better option?

[tasty danish]

i've converted my PC to HT in a big way. first of all, why settle for a 32" when for the same amount of money you can get a 100" projector?

it's up to you, same price, equal quality (if not in projectors favor) 32" versus 100.
don't be stupid, do the right thing.

and dude, all that smack talk on wireless is TOTAL bunk.

in 3.5 years i've had the same logitech cordless elite kb, an mx700 mouse, and currently a G7. 0 issues except batteries going dead. been using them from across the room, which has a monitor, projector, xbox, pc, receiver, home cordless phone, 2 cell phones, and 1000w 7.1 system. so don't even try to say anything about interference.

there is NO reason to stay wired given your situation. they even have a keyboard out there with a cover so you can slide in between your couch cusions. trick.

ps: games look SWEET. no you don't miss much with the resolution, and if you do, crank those AA levels. that helps way more anyhow.

[tking]

I agree with the AA, it does help way more than cranking up the res. Thanks for the opinion on wireless, I hadn't heard problems, but after hearing madpistol's angle, I was getting nervous. I should think a good 2.4ghz wireless setup should be good.

I'd go with the projector if the system was only for watching movies and gaming, but it'll also be for regular TV. Watching the news on a projector seems a bit much. I bring home a projector from work if I'm doing the movie thing in a big way, but the layout of the living room doesn't really work for it. I want hi-def, I want something light on juice that looks good, I think the 32" LCD is a right fit. Projectors do rock, just not in this application.

Maybe in the next house I'll have a true home theatre...