If you're in the market for a new home entertainment experience, you've most likely heard of the latest and greatest new technology televisions with new affordable price tags. However, prices are dropping drastically on media technology across the board, meaning that serious theater technology can now be purchased for around $2000, roughly the cost of a high-end television.

Just 3 or 4 years ago, consumers couldn't get a home theater projector and system components for less than $10,000. Today prices have dropped by about 80% while projector quality has increased. To get the highest quality at the most cost savings, purchase individual components rather than a complete prepackaged solution. Contrary to what many believe, putting together your own personal theater system requires only a few essential components that are now available at very reasonable prices:

- Home theater projector: between $1000 and $2000

- Projector Screen: $200 for pull down style or $600 for fixed wall style

- DVD Player: $100

- Surround sound system: between $300 and $500

- Cables: $200

- Professional installation of projector system: $500 for shelf mounting or $1000 for ceiling mounting

Before you buy your home theater projector, screen, or DVD, make sure you do your research on the components on the market today. Although the equipment is similar, you don't want to rush out and buy a $1500 projector only to learn later about another model that you wished you had found sooner.

Manufacture sites are good for getting product specifications, but when buying technology products, opinions from non partial independent reviewers and consumer users are invaluable. Home theater review sites offer pages of highly detailed information on just about every detail of the digital projector such as picture quality, lamp life, menu options, and a complete summary of pros and cons.

There are "home theater in a box" solutions that include everything you'll need to get up and running in one package. Optoma or Epson have projectors with built in sound, accompanied by a subwoofer and even have a built in DVD player. (These can be had for about $1000 with a screen and these all-in-one systems offer impressive, basic performance.) With so few components on your theater shopping list, you could still go the route of purchasing each component separately for a more customized result. This way you can pick and choose your own individual digital projector, screen, surround sound system, and DVD player to suit your needs. Also, most stand alone projectors offer higher resolution and performance.

Most people say that the main motivation for purchasing their big screen television is for a more exciting movie watching experience, not necessarily for daytime television and news programs. Unless you prefer to see Bill O'Reilly's face larger than life in your living room, you may want to consider the ultra fine quality of a home entertainment system for intense quality movie watching at a comparable price.

For movie enthusiasts, the huge array of choices and the reduction in cost of projectors is the best news since Peter Jackson announced he would be directing the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The cinematic quality afforded by home theater projectors is exponentially more dramatic than when viewed on even a plasma screen television. Today's digital projectors finally make it possible to bring the magic of the theater into your home at an affordable price.