Hi, i am seriously thinking on changing my BV7-40MKIII to the new 50" BV4 Plasma, i was at the dealer store today, sitting in the beoliving room and playing with the tv, and i must say i am very impressed.

I am having a lot of problems with my 7-40 and i have desided that its either the BV4 or no B&O at all.

 What are your comments to this new tv ?

The biggest plus i saw, was the ability to watch tv from any angle(i know it the plasma force) but is it a world of difference to the BV7-40. The other plus was how natural the colors was, don't get me wrong, the BV7-40 produces excelent pictures if the signal is good, but not so great if it is a bad signal, where the plasma is more forgiving.

 I will be connecting a PS3 and my mediapc via HDMI. I actually was a bit scared on how it would act as a PC monitor, but i took my pc to the store, and it looked great.

Any comments ?

P.S Escpecially if anyone with this setup ad SW 4.24 on the BS3 is excperiencing that the tv just turns off by it selv sometimes.

Weebyx:

Hi, i am seriously thinking on changing my BV7-40MKIII to the new 50" BV4 Plasma..

I've been looking at this for a few months now. The only two things that hold me back are:

1) You have to buy a separate BS3. It's not worth the asking price if you factor in the BV4-50+BS3. That's £11K for a screen. A screen!

2) You'd have to buy the old old old Beocenter 2 to watch DVDs and it has no HDMI, component etc. It's nearly £3K for a basic DVD player. Superb design, but aged technology.

So, to swap my BV7-40 MKIII+7.4 for a BV4-50, BL10, BS3, BC2, would cost over £15K. I could remove the BC2 from this and use the PS3 as my DVD player, I suppose.

Basically, even with a good trade-in, it would cost me an additional £6-7K.

Is the BV4-50 £7K better than the already decent BV7-40? In the current financial climate, can you justify that? For that reason, I've put my decision on hold.

BTW, I used to think the colours on the BV4-50 were better than the BV7-40, but my dealer has the BV9, BV4 and BV7-40 MKIII next to each other and we were watching a few HD pictures the other day. Both my dealer and myself decided that the BV7-40 was actually more 'natural' looking. Colours are better. The plasma showed reds more intensely.

I do agree the BV4-50 looks more CRT-like though. Some HD pics on the BV7-40 do look too 'pin sharp' at times.

Hello, I'm using BV4 50" + BS3 (SW4.24) with PS3, Apple TV & Cable Box. The picture on PS3 is just phenomenal! Every time i put a blueray in it just blows me away but now with Apple TV and the ease of surfing for movies, shows, music ect. It's just so easy with the Beo5 controlling it all. The cable box seems to re format sometimes but I suspect it's a setting in the box i must change. 

The issue with the unit shutting down is however rather frustrating! It only happens once in a blue moon but non the less shouldn't happen at all. At first i thought it was just with Apple TV but now have discovered it does it with all sources. Apparently it's something to do with a signal BS3 gets through HDMI but my cable box is connected with scart and still switches off with that source. It will power down with a standby light but you still must press standby again on he remote before you can boot it up again. Something i can live with short term but will eat away at me the more it happens, bring on SW4.25! The only time it doesn't shut down is with the built in receiver.

 

Weebyx:

Hi, i am seriously thinking on changing my BV7-40MKIII to the new 50" BV4 Plasma, i was at the dealer store today, sitting in the beoliving room and playing with the tv, and i must say i am very impressed.

I am having a lot of problems with my 7-40 and i have desided that its either the BV4 or no B&O at all.

 What are your comments to this new tv ?

The biggest plus i saw, was the ability to watch tv from any angle(i know it the plasma force) but is it a world of difference to the BV7-40. The other plus was how natural the colors was, don't get me wrong, the BV7-40 produces excelent pictures if the signal is good, but not so great if it is a bad signal, where the plasma is more forgiving.

 I will be connecting a PS3 and my mediapc via HDMI. I actually was a bit scared on how it would act as a PC monitor, but i took my pc to the store, and it looked great.

Any comments ?

P.S Escpecially if anyone with this setup ad SW 4.24 on the BS3 is excperiencing that the tv just turns off by it selv sometimes.

Well as you are aware its an expensive option but i think it is 'worth the price' where the BV7 probably is not.

At the present time with plasma you get far better SD and colour rendition whichever source and no motion problems or smearing- expense aside it is a superior solution. the 4.24 latest issues seem to relate to the BV7. I have had no issues with self switch off on mine.

My feeling would be to find a dealer with the previous square framed version and negotiate a price- in this market I would not pay 12K for it as that kind of money in less than 3 years will buy you an oled TV- which blows plasma and LCD away im afraid

2) You'd have to buy the old old old Beocenter 2 to watch DVDs and it has no HDMI, component etc. It's nearly £3K for a basic DVD player. Superb design, but aged technology.

 

You would just use the PS3 for DVD's. 

Jez:

2) You'd have to buy the old old old Beocenter 2 to watch DVDs and it has no HDMI, component etc. It's nearly £3K for a basic DVD player. Superb design, but aged technology.

 

You would just use the PS3 for DVD's. 

Im going to defend B&O a bit here!

 

we must not make the mistake of believing that HDMI is higher quality- it is a copy protection system and  a rather nasty one at that!

In the case of the BC2 with scart, i have to say the results match any high quality upscaling dvd I have yet tried- including the Pioneers and denons.

355f:

Weebyx:

Hi, i am seriously thinking on changing my BV7-40MKIII to the new 50" BV4 Plasma, i was at the dealer store today, sitting in the beoliving room and playing with the tv, and i must say i am very impressed.

I am having a lot of problems with my 7-40 and i have desided that its either the BV4 or no B&O at all.

 What are your comments to this new tv ?

The biggest plus i saw, was the ability to watch tv from any angle(i know it the plasma force) but is it a world of difference to the BV7-40. The other plus was how natural the colors was, don't get me wrong, the BV7-40 produces excelent pictures if the signal is good, but not so great if it is a bad signal, where the plasma is more forgiving.

 I will be connecting a PS3 and my mediapc via HDMI. I actually was a bit scared on how it would act as a PC monitor, but i took my pc to the store, and it looked great.

Any comments ?

P.S Escpecially if anyone with this setup ad SW 4.24 on the BS3 is excperiencing that the tv just turns off by it selv sometimes.

Well as you are aware its an expensive option but i think it is 'worth the price' where the BV7 probably is not.

At the present time with plasma you get far better SD and colour rendition whichever source and no motion problems or smearing- expense aside it is a superior solution. the 4.24 latest issues seem to relate to the BV7. I have had no issues with self switch off on mine.

My feeling would be to find a dealer with the previous square framed version and negotiate a price- in this market I would not pay 12K for it as that kind of money in less than 3 years will buy you an oled TV- which blows plasma and LCD away im afraid

I must say, if i am going to trade to the BV4, i will be getting the new version, i am not a big fan of the old "Sony" style, however i don't know why they have made the frame on the new version bigger than the picture, there is a black border around the screen itself, so the picture is not going to the edge of the frame.

 You may be right about the "money worth" issue, but i am looking at a tradein of aprox. 4500pounds.  Which is quite a good deal.

 I am aware of the OLED technology and other fast evolving technologies, and i must say that is why i am also looking in to skipping B&O as a whole, since the products(tv's especially) is outdated within 3-4 years, and i am not sure if i will be getting anywhere near the price i had paid for a BV4 today, in 3-4 years, when OLED is becomming "standard".

/Weebyx

Weebyx:

355f:

Weebyx:

Hi, i am seriously thinking on changing my BV7-40MKIII to the new 50" BV4 Plasma, i was at the dealer store today, sitting in the beoliving room and playing with the tv, and i must say i am very impressed.

I am having a lot of problems with my 7-40 and i have desided that its either the BV4 or no B&O at all.

 What are your comments to this new tv ?

The biggest plus i saw, was the ability to watch tv from any angle(i know it the plasma force) but is it a world of difference to the BV7-40. The other plus was how natural the colors was, don't get me wrong, the BV7-40 produces excelent pictures if the signal is good, but not so great if it is a bad signal, where the plasma is more forgiving.

 I will be connecting a PS3 and my mediapc via HDMI. I actually was a bit scared on how it would act as a PC monitor, but i took my pc to the store, and it looked great.

Any comments ?

P.S Escpecially if anyone with this setup ad SW 4.24 on the BS3 is excperiencing that the tv just turns off by it selv sometimes.

Well as you are aware its an expensive option but i think it is 'worth the price' where the BV7 probably is not.

At the present time with plasma you get far better SD and colour rendition whichever source and no motion problems or smearing- expense aside it is a superior solution. the 4.24 latest issues seem to relate to the BV7. I have had no issues with self switch off on mine.

My feeling would be to find a dealer with the previous square framed version and negotiate a price- in this market I would not pay 12K for it as that kind of money in less than 3 years will buy you an oled TV- which blows plasma and LCD away im afraid

I must say, if i am going to trade to the BV4, i will be getting the new version, i am not a big fan of the old "Sony" style, however i don't know why they have made the frame on the new version bigger than the picture, there is a black border around the screen itself, so the picture is not going to the edge of the frame.

 You may be right about the "money worth" issue, but i am looking at a tradein of aprox. 4500pounds.  Which is quite a good deal.

 I am aware of the OLED technology and other fast evolving technologies, and i must say that is why i am also looking in to skipping B&O as a whole, since the products(tv's especially) is outdated within 3-4 years, and i am not sure if i will be getting anywhere near the price i had paid for a BV4 today, in 3-4 years, when OLED is becomming "standard".

/Weebyx

 

Each to his own but i find the new frame large and ungainly for a wall mounted product- it makes it  avery big beast- and that will look dated quickly when panles available in 3 years will be 3 mm thick with no surround to the picture.

Be wary of very generous PX allowances- what is relevant is the real worth of what you px for! and with panel changes from panasonic almost twice a year - draw your own conclusions as to what that will do for resale of a BV4

Quite honestly you should have  alook at the 8/9 generation pioneers- Ive had one side by side to my bv4 and in some respects its  abetter product for 1/4 of the price

Im pleased with mine- but I would not make the same purchasing decision again- B&O need to capsize the pricing on flatscreen

I strongly disagree. Any manufacturer can make a rectangle, B&o have done the best anyone could do with a rectangle, and the new thicker frame looks SO much nicer - and in proportion to the screen as a whole. Time will tell who is right, but B&O (or David Lewis) has a history for designing things ahead of the times.

Long live the new shiny frame! They just need to work on the pricing of these products. The new flat panel TV's are unfairly priced now.

Dave:

I strongly disagree. Any manufacturer can make a rectangle, B&o have done the best anyone could do with a rectangle, and the new thicker frame looks SO much nicer - and in proportion to the screen as a whole. Time will tell who is right, but B&O (or David Lewis) has a history for designing things ahead of the times.

Long live the new shiny frame! They just need to work on the pricing of these products. The new flat panel TV's are unfairly priced now.

 

well looks is such a personal thing. Actually i like the piano black of the pioneer elite better than any B&O offerings- the alu frame round it draws attention to it

Personally I think the BeoVision 4 and 9s are the best looking plasmas on the market in terms of design.

As far as picture goes, I'd say they're pretty much head and shoulders above the rest. The Pioneer displays are excellent, as are some of the other displays which use Pioneer plasmas, but the BV4 + BS3 combo really is streets ahead in terms of picture and sound...

Alex:

Personally I think the BeoVision 4 and 9s are the best looking plasmas on the market in terms of design.

As far as picture goes, I'd say they're pretty much head and shoulders above the rest. The Pioneer displays are excellent, as are some of the other displays which use Pioneer plasmas, but the BV4 + BS3 combo really is streets ahead in terms of picture and sound...

 

well sound yes as the pioneer is just a screen as is the BV4. So the issue is video only.

All i can say is,comparing side to side the 8/9 generation pioneer to the BV4 I would never say it was streets ahead- its a close match with the pioneer just ahead.

But we have to look at the price the BV4 is 4 times more expensive.

Fact is the crazy flatscreen piricng will have to end for B&O

It's not the panel which makes the huge difference (other than the Contrast Panel, which is not cheap in itself), it's the BeoSystem 3, which is frankly a jaw-droppingly good processor...

Alex:

It's not the panel which makes the huge difference (other than the Contrast Panel, which is not cheap in itself), it's the BeoSystem 3, which is frankly a jaw-droppingly good processor...

I agree its is  a reasonable processor although for the money of course there are vastly superior ones out there.

The pioeer panel has superb processing built in- hence the results one gets with out the need for an external one

I thonk the problem is not so much how good the BV4 is v another but the PRICE! they will never be able to maintain these levels- wait till October and see what happens to pioneer prices . The other issue is that when a new panel vairiant comes out the small differences that the BV4 might excel in are lost.

B&O should maintain their pricing on the BS3 but bring the panel down by half- they will still make a profit.

Alex:

the BV4 + BS3 combo really is streets ahead in terms of picture and sound...

True, no-one is denying that. However, realistically you need BV4-50, BS3, BL10 to make this combo happen. With the recent price increases, this is approx £13K in the UK. That's £13K for a plasma and mono centre speaker.

However 'streets ahead' it might be, whether this 'streets ahead' justifies the £13K price tag is open for discussion. I can't believe it's *that* much better than a Kuro, for example, yet that's <£3K.

The day I can spend another £10K and not worry about it, is the day I've got a huge property portfolio..

Jez:

You would just use the PS3 for DVD's. 

Of course you can. However, what I was trying to imply was that if you wanted a B&O DVD player for your setup, you have to spend thousands more.

355f - I disagree with you slightly. Although you're right that upscaled SD-DVDs are very good these days, the colours you get in a Blu-ray are much enhanced compared to the SD-DVD equivalent. This applies to a downloaded 720p movie or one shown through Sky HD. Colours are a bit more vibrant.

Pioneer plasma is much better than BV4 or BV9

Yes it is... hmmm probably not in terms of performance and definitely not in design. Nope! However it IS better than B&o when you look at what you get for the money. It's around 15000 pounds here... for a telly, that's excessive i think - but hey if you're the owner of a cigarette company, WHY NOT EH?

moxxey:

Alex:

the BV4 + BS3 combo really is streets ahead in terms of picture and sound...

True, no-one is denying that. However, realistically you need BV4-50, BS3, BL10 to make this combo happen. With the recent price increases, this is approx £13K in the UK. That's £13K for a plasma and mono centre speaker.

However 'streets ahead' it might be, whether this 'streets ahead' justifies the £13K price tag is open for discussion. I can't believe it's *that* much better than a Kuro, for example, yet that's <£3K.

The day I can spend another £10K and not worry about it, is the day I've got a huge property portfolio..

By the time a technology is in its 3rd or 4th generation generally its up to the marketing people generate the enthusiasm for the newer model- in fact the real world differences are very small incrementaly. Recently I had a chance to see the last 4 generations of pioneer plasma side by side- yes there is  avery small difference- but nothing its street ahead in this market!

4 years ago I purchased a BS2 and BV4- that was 'street ahead'- (the same argumnets were being used then) and withn 6 months the pioneer panel was better, the BV4 cost 11K and px for 3K- ok formats had changed - but I could have bought a new pioneer every year for the next 4 years and still had change.

Same goes for the present set up.

 

I agree with Alex here. B&O's current range of plasmas are truly fantastic. BV4 is a stunning picture with thanks to BeoSystem 3. Even on a poorer quality source the BeoSystem 3 greatly improves the picture. BV4 50" HD is currently selling new for a steep £12,000 including BeoSystem 3, but I believe it would be a good investment for the future. I can't see BV4 with BS3 being discontinued as soon as BeoVision 5 was.

The link picture (DVD down RF) on a BeoVision 9 is better than the upscaled picture I've seen on a lot of other brands' Plasmas with upscaled DVDs.

Stars:

..but I believe it would be a good investment for the future.

How on earth can it be classed as an investment? An investment, by nature, is a commodity that generally rises in value or you believe the risk taken will result in a possible rise - thus you'd make money from your investment. Think fine wine, gold and so on.

Also, by definition of the future, you're almost implying that the TV will prove to be hardware updatable for future standards? We've already had the discussion about lack of HDMI 1.3 support, possible lack of some support for HD audio and so on. Why would you consider it an investment, even at £12,000?

Factor in the BL10 - or similar centre speaker - and you're then talking over £14,000.

Bear in mind if you mean 'investment' as in it may not drop in price too quickly and you'd be able to trade-in in the future. I was told by my dealer recently that B&O UK are not encouraging trade-ins at the moment and we don't know what will happen in the future. What happens if there's a big price re-structure in 2009, as some have hinted at?

First I am think "here we go again". Too tempted to ignore and not to chime in. Again.

 I don't think the BVs namely the 4 and 9 range are for people who care about money. If you reach a certain level of income, it doesn't matter to you anymore if you pay 14K or 4k for a home theater installation. It just doesn't matter to some. They may not have to worry about buying the screen form one and having to look for somebody to schlepp it up the stair and install it. They may value the service that the dealer provides so much. They may also value the design and luxury brand image.

I think that market is so small though that B&O may realize that they pushed too far. The BV8 is good, that they incorporated complaints namely too few HDMi and Surround into the 40" which was rumored here shows that they take the lower price segment serious.

If you can effort 14K, why not. It has a nice picture. Is it worth the difference in price to a Kuro or a 400$ Sony that depends on your own preferences.

 

It's a very nice TV, picture quality aside if I could swing it I had one on my Wall. 65". BL7 underneath on a bench. just like Beoliving Room.

As I can't, I adire my BV8 which is for me a very very nice compromise.

Cheers

JK 

jk1002:

First I am think "here we go again". Too tempted to ignore and not to chime in. Again.

 I don't think the BVs namely the 4 and 9 range are for people who care about money.

Disagree. People who have this money aren't stupid. They understand about 'investments'. My landlords are classic examples. They now own 10 properties in Bath and sold two recently giving them nearly £400,000 in spare cash - they've used this for jewellry and other similar investments, but completely ignore B&O. They are existing B&O customers. However, the reason they've done so well and have so many properties is due to their wisdom of that they regard as perceived value.

If you don't care about your money, then you won't have much money in the future..

There's a store called Mallory's of Bath. They send all the high-end brand watches.  I went in last Saturday, at the end of the day, and they'd not sold a single watch during the entire day. They were worried. It simply doesn't happen. You'd always have people with silly money wanting to buy a IWC, Rolex, Panerai or similar; particularly on a Saturday.

If you really believe your (UK) dealer is selling a lot of BV4's or BV9's, then you really need to look in to the market more closely.

 

BTW, absolutely no-one - myself included - are disagreeing with the fact that the BV4 has an excellent image. I've even stated this myself above and to my dealer.