Garden cinema - I'm technically challenged - what do I need

[WalkingFred]

Hello wise mumsnetters, I'm hoping someone here can help me as I really am hopeless at anything tekky

It's DS birthday soon and I'd like to set up a garden cinema glamping thing for him and some mates as a birthday celebration thing

But I am totally hopeless and clueless on anything tekki - has any one here successfully managed to set up something similar in their garden?

Can you give me an equipment list and rough idea of costs involved please?

I could rent but I think I'd rather buy so that I can get lots of use.

Thanks.

I seen this on escape to the château, have a look in their website

Get a portable projector from BenQ. Around £300-500 ish. They've got built in speakers but probably also has bluetooth to connect to other speakers. They can connect to Amazon, netflix, Disney etc. Runs off batteries. Then all you'll need is a white sheet to project onto.

Garden cinemas are totally anti social. Are all your neighbours expected to listen to your movies on a regular basis?

@ManifestDestinee

Garden cinemas are totally anti social. Are all your neighbours expected to listen to your movies on a regular basis?

Exactly. Why would you do that unless you live on a field or ensure everyone has headphones, which is a whole new set of problems? Or don’t you care?

Is it just a one off for a party?
If not it’s pretty anti social.

@ManifestDestinee

Garden cinemas are totally anti social. Are all your neighbours expected to listen to your movies on a regular basis?

This

You'll need headphones. Probably wireless ones, for comfort.

There was a thread about this on here recently - although I think the lady decided to rent in the end as the costs were pretty high.

You absolutely must get Bluetooth headphones for everyone unless you have no neighbours within a quarter of a mile

Will it be very dark when they watch the film? If not you will need a very good projector to be able to see the picture at all, a cheap one will be no good. People play music or listen to the radio in their garden all the time, I don't see how watching the odd film every now and then is any more antisocial unless you have it booming out after 11pm.

@ManifestDestinee

Garden cinemas are totally anti social. Are all your neighbours expected to listen to your movies on a regular basis?

Yes they are anti social. It's incredibly selfish to do something like this.

I knew i'd get some great advice here!Thank you to those who have pointed me in the right direction👍.

My garden is pretty secluded.

Wireless headphones are a great idea - thankyou for the suggestion 😃.

We bought this and a large screen. It’s been great. We use it with a fire stick.

People play music or listen to the radio in their garden all the time, I don't see how watching the odd film every now and then is any more antisocial unless you have it booming out after 11pm.

Because it goes on for about two hours continuously, because it might contain spoilers, because it can be noisy and bright.

My rule is if you wouldn’t do it on a commuter train, don’t do it in the garden.

If you're going to stream to it (i.e. use a firestick/Netflix etc, you need to make sure you have a good enough wifi signal in the garden.

You could check by taking your phone to the location and running a speed test (google speed test and use Google's).

No idea what your budget is but you can hire all the equipment - www.thecanvasco.co.uk/outdoor-cinema-hire

My rule is if you wouldn’t do it on a commuter train, don’t do it in the garden.
That's a pretty low bar. I've seen all sorts on a train!!