Looks kinda similar to the Beo5. I've always loved the latest iPod Nanos, and the BeoSound 2. They're just such unique designs and very elegant in different ways.

Any movies which aren't widescreen will definitely not be shot on good enough film to make upscaling to HD really worth it. Hence I would say, not the 1080 panel will if anything make things a bit worse when it comes to showing older 4:3 films as it'll just reveal flaws in the picture you would rather not see...

As usual, I'm disappointed that so many people make such strong reservations about products before they've even seen them! From the pictures I've seen, it doesn't look that great, but as I said, they're only pictures. BeoLab 5s aren't that special until you hear them, the BeoVision 9 isn't that special until you see it, the

Mine was £30, and to my ears it sounds fine! I've only ever used it to connect to my Rotel receiver though, maybe a better DAC would reveal any faults.

Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy I love the whole of 'Dizzy Up The Girl'. One of my desert island discs.

koning: In the folder they say 'you can place them everywhere'. Big house small house,much furniture or less,it's make no difference! you can place them in a corner if you want too! To a degree. It's not perfect, there is no way they can do it perfectly. However you can place them with much more freedom than other speakers...

Mono on a BeoLab 5 is better than stereo on anything else though

Yes, I see no reason why not. Do you have the correct adapter for the MacBook? The digital output is hidden in the standard headphones connection and you need an adapter to enable it.

I would have thought closer furnishings would simply absorb a higher percentage of the sound, as it isn't as spread out when closer to the speaker. A better bet to simulate a small room would just be to face the speaker into a corner and calibrate it...

128 kbps LAME encoded MP3 actually doesn't sound that bad. I'd imagine on a BS3 speaker it's fantastic (never tried LAME on a BS3/BS2).