When I saw the first pictures of Beo5, I was horrified by the design, which I find particularly ugly & non-B&O.

Then I downloaded the user guide here, hoping maybe the remote would be revolutionary enough to make me forget this weird design, but I was even more frustrated by its use as well:

- First of all, this customization made by the dealer for a remote control is far from being ideal: if you live in a place with no dealer, what will you do? Ship the remote by courier whenever you want to change something?

Besides, the problem of tailor-made products is that you can't use them when the measurements change..will you have to take Beo5 to the dealer whenever you decide to swap your setup and put the TV in the bedroom & the audio system in the living room? What if your bedroom becomes a guest room? Will you have to rename everything?

As Keith says, I'm almost certain  B&O dealers will at some stage charge you for reprogramming Beo5, and what I fear is that if your shop is closed or too busy, you'll be stuck with a non-working Beo5 for days, or maybe weeks...not to speak of the dealers who will have less experience than others in programming it.

 - second, the absence of numbered keys might be good to keep the design simple, but it reminds me of a Beo1 that was a complete flop, because of that absence..access to numbers is made by an extra pressure on the "+" button (so the painful "list" key on Beo4 now has a twin sister on Beo5 - I know I'm being very negative...).

- the sensi-touch panel is another nice-looking thing , that reminds me of BeoLink 7000; however, most BL7000 users will tell you that sensitive keys meant having your eyes on the remote control's screen all the time, rather than on the TV programme you're watching. I find Beo4 much more intuitive to use, I can use it in complete darkness without any problem, and don't need to look at anything on it while navigating.

- Beo5 has 2 sets of arrows, why? All other BeoLink remotes had only one set, and this might add confusion in the user's mind.

- same for the center button, that was always used to act as "play" and "go", and now only works for "go", while another "play" key has been implemented (is this supposed to make my life easier?).

-  last but not least, I already found the design quite ugly, with this combination of a hand grenade and a black screen (probably the only shape I like on this remote), but now you also have to do with a pyramid! The charger is indeed pyramid-shaped, so you look at a rectangle on top of a bowl, on top of a triangle: is David Lewis once again trying to teach us geometry??

All in all, this thing will cost more than a BeoLink 5000.......without 2-way communication.[:'(] 

There is a lot of emphasis on the BEO5, what about the cheaper one? nothing (I think) has been mentioned as yet apart from it being cheaper and having a limited functionality.

Will this remote resemble the Beo1?  in terms of function? and made from cheaper materials?

Could this remote be a "gem" in disguise?

Any sneak shots??? 

>>Could this remote be a "gem" in disguise?<<

The thought of those hotel versions of Beo4 springs to mind. You know, with most of the buttons blanked off.
Perhaps a return of Beolink 1000, robust,simple and cheap.

Andy T.

Nice LINK Philippe. Good to see other websites quoting Beoworld

Andy T.

jk1002:

I am hoping that the "other" remote is something simple, aluminium or that rubber that they have on the bL3, something nice to touch with few backlighted keys

It will have a numeric keypad. Further, I think it will come without Screen. Made with rubber like BV8. Production costs 10 Eur.

Rubber back with alu front? or rubber all over?

 

I don't think anyone has a clue how it could look. The screen though would not be required. If they have back lighted keys, they could use the light to indicate what "mode" is selected, just use a different color or intensity or something. The Beo 5 has in my opinion to many frills that I wouldn't use. I think selecting the mode for TV,Radio, CD and so on plus navigation cross and volume is probably all one needs. At least that is what I keep using on my Beo 4. Everything else is untouched, and honestly I may not even know what it does.

I have seen it.Its nearly unbreakable and all rubber made. Look.

http://i.pricerunner.com/prod/1_4_4_8_i189719831s/product.jpeg

Brilliant mate!

Andy T.

LOL

As far as I know none.. but you have more speciale remote.

Was at a dealer yesterday and he was browsing the Beo5 launch package.

I could read that the Beo5 should be the only remote on display in store.

The launch date is... july... so they are a bit late...

In the FAQ it insists on the fact that the user can only hide buttons, but that the configuration MUST be done in store.

I really want this remote, but will only buy it if I can get the config software. I change my config too often.

 p.

The idea behind letting the dealers control the setup of the Beo5 is perhaps good, but I guess that dealers will be on strike after helping out the 57th Beo5 customer for the 3rd time in one week. They have better things to do, so I would expect the dealers to push for a download from www.bang-olufsen.com after just a month or two. 

Actually, I see no point in a delay of the release of the setup program - and I do hope that Struer will listen to their dealers prior to the launch.

Roger

It is easy for me to go to a shop because I am in London, but for my parents... it is 150 km as they are in a remote village in France.

 Imagine the dealer forget something and you have to come back to the store... not good.

 p.

 

Does it work on Beocenter 9000?

I suppose it but I'm not secure...

 

ciao ciao

 

Yes. Any system that the BeoLink 1000 or Beo4 works with, will also work with the Beo5.

When it was presented to the goup in Struer, some tried it on a BC9000 that was in the restaurant and it worked fine.

p.

Amazing news...

Me and my son will write to Santa Klaus ...

 

wtlc2zpx:

When it was presented to the goup in Struer, some tried it on a BC9000 that was in the restaurant and it worked fine.

p.

Actualy it was a BC8500, and yes it worked without any problems. I was able to rewind a tape, changing source etc.

Lots of pix of the Beo5 on the Dutch forum

http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/2/37132/ShowThread.aspx#37132

 

Also looks like someone got hold of it.

 p.