Any one gone through adding blue ray post-purchase ? Any pit falls (apart from price!)  from the experience...

I'm trying for a 'no attached boxes' around the TV  - so its an internal upgrade or external blu-ray but attached via wireless HDMI options at the mo. All experiences gratefully received.

I would't do it, the sound is a lot better from an external player. I use PS3, works perfect. But if you don't care about noise, price and sound, only looks, than it's an ok purchase. PS3 is noisy to, but I have moved it to a closet behind the TV. I'm waiting for them to make a better blurayplayer.

ToeKneeAus:

Any one gone through adding blue ray post-purchase ? Any pit falls (apart from price!)  from the experience...

Slower start up and more noise compared to the DVD are inherent to BD-Drives.

BD retrofit kit is working fine - but the following limitations - compared to a factory fitted BD Mk4/5 exist:

- no BD Live function (no RJ45)

- no upgrade to an internal HD DVB-T/C/S2 module possible
  (existing powersupply not sufficient to power both modules simultaneously)

Upgrade must be made by a QUALIFIED service technician - following the upgrade and SW update procedures meticulously ...      

 

Yes - all as per Vienna.

The dealer (Reading B&O) lent me a replacement 7-40. Outstanding service. My TV was away for a day or so. Its a fairly lengthy piece of work.

Startup time is longer. Not too much of a pain, but long enough to notice. I don't hear so much extra noise, except for the first 3-4 seconds as the unit resets itself.

I did have a few problems when my TV was returned due to the displacement of the fan rubber grommets that the technician must have missed. He came back out and promptly fixed the issue. Couple this with the 7.02 upgrade and the fan problem multiplied. Now on firmware 8.0x and all is good.

I'm very happy with the upgrade. Less happy with Blu-Ray, since I often have menu selection issues. For example Harry Potter 6 will select the Director overdub. Or more recently, Toy Story 3 will select Screen Saver. I'm not sure if these are issues with the B&O/Samsung unit, old firmware or just the "bag of hurt" that Blu-Ray has been alleged to be. I will say that sound is fantastic (big improvement) and the picture is only 1-2 points better. However, these 2 movies have been the only ones to surface issues I've seen. You'll soon see how good the original DVD unit was at upscaling content.

What is most annoying is the Beo4 functions require you to press Yellow ahead of most instructions.

However, like you, I prefer the highly integrated route and the benefit just about surpasses the negatives. Hope that gives you a balanced viewpoint.

 

mawheele:

What is most annoying is the Beo4 functions require you to press Yellow ahead of most instructions.

Perhaps you need to also budget for an upgrade to Beo5 (or 6) which makes on screen navigation much easier.

Opman

 

Opman:

Perhaps you need to also budget for an upgrade to Beo5 (or 6) which makes on screen navigation much easier.

I did have a Beo5 - 2 in fact. Sold it. Really disappointing product in my view.

I'll buy the next B&O remote to offer:

- Ease of user configuration on PC and Mac with a simple elegant interface. B&O, please pick up the phone to your old friends at Samsung or maybe Logitech and do something with their core under pinnings. Then build a configuration system in Adobe AIR for cross-platform compatibility.

- A less bulky unit, shaped so that its steady when sat around in the lounge. Look at what they pack into mobile phones today. A remote should be easy to hold and just 'leave.' My first Beo5 was dented within a week and then took the repair team 2 weeks to fix and even then it came back broken. Hence the 2nd unit.  Beo4's last forever and I don't worry about it.

- A unit that requires only infrequent visits to a charging base. B&O could soon use the lithium battery to add weight and sturdiness.

 

What's about the new Beo4 with the navigation button? I have heard you can start a blueray by pressing the new PLAY-Button without the yellow button.

/Räuber

Hi

I have a BV7-55 with BR, and I think I would go for an external BR player instead of the build in if I should choose again.
First, the internal is slow and quite noisy. But now you get a B&O logo during startup :)
Second, with a external BR controlled by PUC you won't have to think of using yellow button on your Beo4. My wife hate that!
Third, the price is lower
Forth, if you could get an external BR player which can decode in HD audio and send this to BS3 in LPCM, then the sound quality would be even better. The internal BR player and BS3 does not support DTS-MA which I think is a shame.

Just my experience. If you go for an external, make sure it is a quality player.

I too are in thought's of upgrading my BV7 mk3 with an internal BlueRay player, but have been told to reconsider an external solution.
But I'd like to have my setup as B&O only as possible.

Vienna:

- no BD Live function (no RJ45)

That I can live without, or can I? I honestly haven't tried it on obvious reasons.

Vienna:

- no upgrade to an internal HD DVB-T/C/S2 module possible
  (existing powersupply not sufficient to power both modules simultaneously)

That's a bummer since I'm hoping of an internal HD-DVB module with internal  HDD.
But then again, I haven't heard anything of such a module and I might be waiting for nothing...

northswede:

... I'm hoping of an internal HD-DVB module with internal  HDD. But then again, 
 haven't heard anything of such a module and I might be waiting for nothing...

I think, the developers know, that any HD-recording solution must also include a HD-twin-receiver.
So it's quite uncertain, that a new module + a Harddisc will be less power-consuming then the recent
HD T/C/S2 module.  

To reduce the "boxes" I'd go for an iternal BD and an external PUC controlled twin HD-PVR receiver
like the Technisat HDS2+   

 

I would prefer both internal: A BD-Player AND a HD-Twin-module with harddisk.

Does anyone know when a HD-Twin-module with harddisc will be available from B&O??

/Räuber

Raeuber:

I would prefer both internal: A BD-Player AND a HD-Twin-module with harddisk.

Me too ... but power-supply limitations exist only in MK3 models, not recent Mk5s ...

 

I thought the whole point of the bv7 was the sysytem integration and the built in dvd / blu ray. Why on earth bno keeep putting el cheapo drives in their tv's is beyond me.

Defeats the purpose entirely doesn't it if you have to add a 3rd party drive just to get half decent performance?

It's not like the 7/55 is exactly cheap !