I wonder how a design like that will fare if held in between your head and your shoulder? I know that's far from ergonomic, but it's been known to happen (to me).

I like the design. I really do. I wish the base/speaker was square, though, and if this thing supports Voip (and Skype as a bonus), I might actually be buying this. Even with the round base, It would look good on my desk.

PhilLondon:

moxxey:

www.bang-olufsen.com/beocom5

I have noticed that some pages are only accessible from some countries... maybe that is the case.

Yeah, but the page isn't available at all, whether you go in to the American version of the site or even though an American proxy. Catalogue/magalogue is available in the States....but you can't get info from the B&O site (and the site is referenced in the catalogue).

BTW, can any of our American friends give us the specs? I'd also be keen to hear if it works with Skype or not. I bet it doesn't...

I'm sorry to seem out of step but it (in the picture, at least) just looks like a late 80's mobile - I see nothing inspirational nor contemporary, which means it's just another phone ..................for £600!

moxxey:

BTW, can any of our American friends give us the specs?

I'll post the specifications page from the catalog in a little bit when I swing by the office.  Probably should of done it originally knowing how ferocious this group is.

Specs!

Any photos of the table or wall charger?

It is a very boring black rectangle hidden by the hand set.

Not a bad looking phone. I do like the phone part better than the base. I expected it to look a little more stylized though.
However it seems to 'feel' right when handling which is important as well.

Will look good in an office environment but I feel it's design is a little too 'ordinary' for a home situation ( well for me anyways...).
I do prefer the designs that don't show the keypad when not in use ... even the beocom2 can be turned so to show it's wonderful metal back as a piece of art.

Would certainly consider one of these for my office though...

oops double post .. sorry folks

Some time ago there was talk on the forum about the materials used for the phone: back made of alu, front made of glas. This still true? It sounds more like the back is made of the now usual soft touch laquered plastic, but the front looks glossy in the pics... Glas or plastic? If glas the distance to the edge of the housing beside the wheel would be really thin.

Nevertheless I will stick to my 6000s. It may fit the hand well but I don´t like the concave shape of the housing. The big alu wheel looks unbalanced and out of proportion to me too. And the data sheet says the beoline2 is an enormous 52cm wide! What did the hide in there? A complete radio station?

b.

moxxey:

PhilLondon:

moxxey:

www.bang-olufsen.com/beocom5

I have noticed that some pages are only accessible from some countries... maybe that is the case.

Yeah, but the page isn't available at all, whether you go in to the American version of the site or even though an American proxy. Catalogue/magalogue is available in the States....but you can't get info from the B&O site (and the site is referenced in the catalogue).

It will now doubt be there when the product is officially released. The printed material is obviously, well, printed in advance.

Good news! According to the specs....it can handle internet telephony - ie. Skype and so on. Good move for the office. Very good move. My last quarterly phone bill was £300 and £150 of that was made up of international calls. I was just about to buy a regular Skype phone and I'll now wait for this Beocom 5.

But....does it require a Beoline 2? If so, how much will this be? I bet that doesn't come cheap.

I saw that also but I have a question.  Doesn't a Skype phone have to be connected to a PC?  I have been using Skype on my iPhone which only works with a WiFi connection but at least it works like a regular phone when at home.

linder:

I saw that also but I have a question.  Doesn't a Skype phone have to be connected to a PC?  I have been using Skype on my iPhone which only works with a WiFi connection but at least it works like a regular phone when at home.

There are hardware Skype phones as well, they don't need a computer. There are certainly a lot of "Skype phones" that are nothing more than a mic, an earphone and perhaps a keypad on a single USB connection; they rely on the PC to do all the actual work.

What I find odd is that the brochure doesn't specify at all what kind of Internet telephony is supported. The thing to understand is that VoIP doesn't mean Skype and vice versa - Skype is just one proprietary system for telephone calls over the Internet, all of it controlled by that company. There are also old and tried, open standards for VoIP, like SIP. Then you can select your service provider, or even have several at the same time, or a private VoIP telephone exhange at home. I sincerely hope this phone will include standard SIP support. Why not Skype as well as there are plenty of users now, but personally I think it is a dead end - it will disappear the moment the company goes under or is sold to someone that wants to charge for the traffic.

I don't see why the VOIP/Skype thing is an issue for people.  Any number of inexpensive devices have alowed you to use B&O phones with Skype for years.  There's usually a short code to dial to go out over the skype line, but my phonebook just has a standard and skype entry for my contacts for the odd occasion Skype doesn't work.

All BeoCom 2 and 6000s here, and the charge for calls last quarter on my landline was £3.23

beoberlin:

the data sheet says the beoline2 is an enormous 52cm wide!

That is curious as I was told that it was supposed to be smaller than the original Beoline.  Maybe 52mm and integrated into the wall mount?

beoberlin:

the data sheet says the beoline2 is an enormous 52cm wide!

Maybe it has a PC built in to it?

Looking the the specs....isn't it 52" (inches) or 132cm?! That can't be right? That would be absolutely crazy?

moxxey:

beoberlin:

the data sheet says the beoline2 is an enormous 52cm wide!

Maybe it has a PC built in to it?

Looking the the specs....isn't it 52" (inches) or 132cm?! That can't be right? That would be absolutely crazy?

I think that with the BeoMaster 5 moving to a slimmer form factor we have to do something with the unused cases!

rednik:

Any number of inexpensive devices have alowed you to use B&O phones with Skype

I am interested... could you post a link to this device.

Who on earth is going to buy this? I'm sorry, but i can not see it.

Boring. Not a typical B&O design.

Is this the future? Have they finally cracked under all of the critisism that they are a 'form over function company'?

Dave:

Who on earth is going to buy this? I'm sorry, but i can not see it.

Yeah, but each to their own. Whereas I like the design of he Beocom 5, I can't stand the look of the BeoTime. Others love it. I think it's awful!

Mind you, if this Beocom 5 needs a 'BeoLine' which is nearly a metre wide, they can forget it. What's the point of that? Even cordless phones in 80s shipped with a smaller base.

moxxey:

Beocom 5 needs a 'BeoLine' which is nearly a metre wide

We can safely assume this is a typo!

52 centremetres lol

Oh each to their own, absolutely i agree. I just don't see this as anything different than what's already on the market for a tenth of the price. Are you going to buy one moxxey?

PhilLondon:

moxxey:

Beocom 5 needs a 'BeoLine' which is nearly a metre wide

We can safely assume this is a typo!

What's a typo? Are you referring to the width of the BeoLine 2?

I can't figure from their specs if it's 52cm or 52" - they refer to both in the same document ;) Irrespective of that, 52cm is still way too big.