While in town this lunch time I noticed that there are now quite a few reasonably priced "all in one" home cinema solutions, I have allow thought that home cinema systems where quite expensive in the past but I noticed some as cheap as £100.

This got me thinking as I would like to add surround sound to my set up. Are these all in one systems worth the money, as a beginner system. Some of the ones I was looking at have all the speakers, An upscaling DVD player with HDMI, radio, DivX play back and even playback from USB drives on some of them.

So, any ideas for a good beginner home cinema system for around £200 (I could stretch to £300 but would like to get all cables included at that price). I want to also connect external devices to it to get the surround sound out of them (Sky+, PC and possibly a PS3/360 in the future).

I am pretty clueless about Home Cinema so any help to get me started would be very welcome.

Thanks

All in ones are usually good if you are on a budget, seperates (AV receiver and speakers) are usually better as you can upgrade in the future without throwing the whole system out.

If an all in one is what you want then these get good write ups from What Hi Fi:

Sony DAV-DZ210D (£280)
Samsung HT-XQ100 (£330)

I'd also recommend scouring ebay to find some bargains on names liek Denon etc.

I went for the Yamaha AV61 package (£220ish) which gave me an AV receiver, speakers and a sub, no DVD player but if you are getting a 360 or PS3 then any upscaler would be pointless anyway.

I say go for seperates as you get more connections and a better upgrade potential and generally speaking a better sound quality experience.

Personally I wouldn't recommend an all in one system, especially if you are wanting to connect other external devices to it at a later date. Basically these budget systems come with limited connections making it impossible to connect equipment like games consoles, CD player, STB's etc. Not only are they difficult to connect to, they rarely have digital inputs, again, making it impossible to replay DD5.1 from sources like Sky+ or Sky+ HD.

I would be tempted to look at a system made up of separates. You will benefit from a vast array of connections, analogue and digital. Connections aside, you will probably find the build/sound quality will be more pleasing to.

Richer Sounds have some great deals and is the perfect place to start IMO.

You good go for something like......

Yamaha RXV361 Receiver

Yamaha NSP110 Speaker Package

Tannoy FX5.1 Speaker package

Or go for one of their special deals...

DVD Player - AV Receiver - Speakers

Any questions just fire away....

I am not necessarily after an all in one system, it was just one of these that got me onto the whole idea of affordable surround sound. From the sounds of things a system made up of separates would be the better solution for my position as I mainly want to use it for connecting other devices to.

I will browse that site later, The Yamaha looks a nice receiver but I would like to find black speakers if possible (Just to fit in with everything else, but thats not essential) and the floor standing type that I have seen with the all in one systems I was looking at would be easier for me to place in the room, are these more expensive when getting them as separates?

I do know the Tannoy FX5.1 package is available in black from Richer Sounds but they are asking £20 more. Dedicated stands are also available for this package. Some online stores were giving a pair away with the package not so long back, might be worth investigating.

The company below are doing an offer on the stands, RRP £40, but only £20 when you purchase the updated 5.1 speaker package, the Tannoy EFX5.1 - Also available in black.

http://www.hifisuppliers.co.uk/websi...oy-efx-5-1.htm

If you find the offer on the internet, Richer sounds will match it. I bought a set of EFX 5.1 speakers from Richer sound and they gave me the stands free as I was able to show an offer on the internet that offered this.