Following on from the TOP 10 designed Bang & Olufsen products ever thread it would be interesting to go the other way.

I haven't formulated mine yet but the Serenata would probably be up near the top of the list.

If I was a gambling man I would put money that the majority of the products will be from the last few years.

hm ... this is interesting ...

1. Beocenter 2002 ( from Japan )

2. Serena, Serenata ( whatever )

3. Beocom 9000 ( mobile phone )

4. Beosound 5

5. Beovision 7 ( sorry to say but ... )

Don't forget the beocom 2!

sorry to say, beocom 2 is 7th place on my list on other thread

nmartin771:

sorry to say, beocom 2 is 7th place on my list on other thread

 

My apologies Niko! I didn't study you're list obviously.

i "don't" like beosound 1,and beovision 8,

I would also add to this list:

6. Beowatch - Wristwatch

7. Beomaster Terminal Remote Controller

8. Beocom 5000 Cordless Telephone

9. Beosystem 10 Portable Radio/Cassette Player

10. Beosound Century (not sure) 

Oh are you sure about the Beowatch?  They are awesome!  I have one and it is incredibly retro-cool.  A remote on a watch?  Actually looks pretty classy in person IMHO!

In no particular order as they are all have equally bad failings....

1. A1 CD storage cube - nothing special at all, looks like a rebadged IKEA flat pack.

2. Beocenter 2002 - Japanese c**p AND ugly.

3. Beosystem 10 - More of the above & doesn't even remotely try to look like B&O other than a nailed on brushed alumimium handle as an after thought.

4. Beocom 2. Beautiful but about as user friendly as a chocolate teapot.

5. A9 keyring - gimmicky & pretty but a bit sad.

6. Form 2 headphones. Not proper headphones nor proper portable ones either - fall short in both areas & aren't at all comfortable.

7. The curly red/black Beovox RL speaker cables. I cannot believe anyone would want these trailing arond their floors/walls ruining the lines of their B&O. To my mind a total design conflict for B&O.

8. ALL of the mobile phones from the 9*00 GSM series right up to the Serenata. Why bother??????

9. Beosound MP6. A very expensive 2nd rate (compared to iPod) Samsung device in a shiny case. Who were they trying to kid with this one?

10. Beo5 remote control.

Just thought I would add, as far as colors go, anything in green is kind of... well... just plain terrible. The yellow on the Beovision 3 is also just too pale to work. Anyone read the story "The Yellow Wall Paper"?

evman140:

Just thought I would add, as far as colors go, anything in green is kind of... well... just plain terrible.

+1

Don't agree with BeoCom 2, BeoVision 7, or BeoSound 5, but to each their own. Here's mine in no particular order:

1. AV7000 - useless

2. BeoSystem 1 - barely useful, huge

3. BeoVision 8 - ugsly

4. BeoVision 10's Hinge Wall Bracket - wtf

5. BeoVision 9 - worst sequel

6. BeoCom 5 - most likely to become a verb (Boy, they really BeoCom 5'd it!)

7. Serene - never worked, launched right before iPhone

8. BeoPlayer - need I say more

9. BeoSound 3 - no aux input? seriously?

10. BeoSound 6 - too little, too late.

The Beo1 remote.

Martin

Beomaster 8000 (controversial! ) I include the 6000 in this as well - the huge heat sink was necessary but always put me off. It did however show B&O why powered speakers were the way forward so that the heat sinks no longer interfered with the design.

bm8000 ? have you been drinking ?? :)

that's one of the most amazing dsigns of all time ever !!!

personally i'd cite the completely awful bv8 and it's dust trap design as the worst bno ever , utter disaster in every way , looks cheap as anything too..eeeurgh

Are we forgetting the BeoMedia 1? No wifi and 10 times the price of an Apple TV!!

evman140:

Don't forget the beocom 2!

Oi!

Flappo The Grate:

bm8000 ? have you been drinking ?? :)

that's one of the most amazing dsigns of all time ever !!!

Got to agree with you Flappo! Whenever people visit my flat, all they want to do is touch the BM8000 and ask if they can see it working. This is from non-design/non-AV people too. There's something about the whole system set out in a line, as the designers intended, that is just awesome

Bluddy hell look at you lot!

these are all just opinions and they clearly all differ.

I love the serenata design, BV8 design, BV9 design, beo1 design, BV3 yellow colour, green beolabs, bm8000, only things i would concur  with are the beo 5 and the beosound 5 (but the BS5 just because it's a piece of shi* to setup.

I's also nominate the DVD1 HDR1 etc etc boring black boxes ..

Can't believe none of you have said the Beotalk 1100/1200. Not a bad looking product at all IMO. However, it really is the only B&O product I have ownwed. Where I had to use the instruction manual nearly all of the time.

Craig

I agree - a stinker! And no internal battery so any loss of power and the time resets! A thorough pain!

I though the 8000 would wind you up! However I stick to my thoughts. Remove the heat sinks and put the power amplifier out of sight, and I agree about the aluminium and perspex design. Had one for years but prefer other systems. It is also far too big!

Peter :

I agree - a stinker!

Thought you would agree Peter. It was not until I had one that I realized just how bad they are. Good news is it sold on Ebay last night and has gone in the post this morning. Never to be seen again.

Craig

I love my BeoTalk 1200! It looks ultra-schmick on my white wall, all cables concealed. A power loss does require a time reset, but this is about a 30 second task. I always know who is calling just by listening anywhere in my (admittedly small) house, to the name announced. And I never have to talk to anyone I choose not to. I never have to do anything to it - it clears its own memory to ensure sufficient space. I was apprehensive reading about its reputation here, but I've found it (perhaps peversely) to be simplicity itself! Have I been a little strenuous in my defence?!

The BeoCom 2 also seems a maligned object - I find mine terrific to use. It's easy to navigate to the phone book, the finish and weight feel perfect, and what other phone elevates the task of a phone call out of the mundane in the same way? I feel like I'm on the set of Space Odyssey 2001 each time I use it.

Finally, to me, the BV10 bracket is a gorgeous exercise in engineering minimalism - it uses only the material necessary to perform its task (which, having installed a BV10 is to cantilever a considerable weight off the wall), is razor-thin, discreet and beautifully made. Superfluous (and dare I say decadent) motorisation not needed. The location of the power socket on the BV10 is a real clanger however...so close to the edge of the frame and almost inaccessible, even to smallish hands like mine.

The upshot of course is that these objects are all imbued with values directly related to the disparate expectations and experiences of their users. Why else would responses to the same products vary so?

Stuart

I guess I'm a kool-aid drinking true believer...  I love my BS5, Beo5 and Beosound 3s (I have 2).  I also like the looks of the BV8, and don't mind BeoPlayer that much... still use my BeoSound 2... (also a closet BeoLab4 and BeoWireless happy owner - these last 3 haven't been mentioned, but they will be).

Ok, I don't like everything.  I don't like the BeoCom 2, BeoCom 5, BeoTime or BeoSound6.  I always thought the BV7 was too "in your face" - although, I find myself weirdly attracted to the big one - perhaps I think "in your face" looks better on a TV that actually is "in your face".

Stan