Re: I wish B&O would get it right from the beginning!

soundproof — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:43:05 GMT

The Beonic Man:
I do a lot more than that when I am spending that kind of money, believe me!

I don't doubt that for a second.

I'm not quite certain I understand your post, though. The lack of reviews for the BV5 has you doubting its qualities? Or B&O should load its products with features to make them review-proof?

For better or worse (usually better, actually) B&O practises deselection. It looks at the palette of what's possible and necessary, and makes choices. Some of these I find ingenious, some make me wonder (why can't BeoSound 4 be a BeoCentre and play DVDs? Why can't all their TVs have the opening curtain as a brand hallmark?) Almost by default, any B&O product that reaches market will be behind the technological curve if you consider the exceptions out there, but the features it contains will do what you should reasonably expect from it, and do it well.

Consider 355f and his opinion of B&O. He's a critical and knowledgeable insider, but he's still where he finds BeoVision 4 together with BeoSystem 3 outperforms other plasma screens on the market, in spite of using a screen judged slightly inferior to the present market leader. (Panasonic/Pioneer). A reviewer will look at B&O and state outright that BV4 doesn't have the top screen, and will very likely have absolutely no idea what BeoSystem 3 can do with sound and image -- and if the reviewer isn't Beo4 savvy, then this will remain a mystery.

But to B&O insiders it won't - with the exception of the user manual for BeoMedia, which will forever remain an encrypted document understandable to a very few.

Why does Porsche have the engine in the back? Why can't they get it right from the beginning? Well, it's Porsche's way of doing things.

I consider Full-HD nonsense for screens and great for projection -- pretty soon you can't sell a 20" television unless it's Full-HD. Does that mean not having Full-HD in everything is getting it wrong from the beginning? There were very few HD-Ready sources when BV5 first came, and my cable provider still doesn't send out anything better than 576i RGB. I'd say that B&O got it right, and the reviewers were pushing for something we didn't need, and still don't need in many instances.

Occasionally I'll run a 1080i source from my computer through to the HD-ready screen I have. Looks great, but so do my upscaled DVDs. B&O had to abandon the best CRT-image on the planet, to follow its customers' desire for flatscreens. Years later, flatscreens are finally delivering images that rival what a good Avant or BeoVision 3 was capable of from the start.
If getting it right from the beginning means clobbering every alternative out there, then that's never going to happen. If it means delivering what's required, then that's another matter.

(This is a comment on the image quality. Connections and integration with computers is another matter. But my BV8 connects wonderfully to my MacBook Pro in my study, no complaints there. I've even found out that I prefer routing the sound directly from the Mac, instead of having a DD multi-channel processor in the TV.)

Re: I wish B&O would get it right from the beginning!

The Beonic Man — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 20:36:23 GMT

I do a lot more than that when I am spending that kind of money, believe me!

Re: I wish B&O would get it right from the beginning!

Alex — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 19:00:58 GMT

I see what you're saying, but if I was spending anything over £300/400 on a TV, I wouldn't even look at reviews, but actually get out there and see the thing for myself...

I wish B&O would get it right from the beginning!

The Beonic Man — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 14:30:12 GMT

Its just dawned on me that my 'beloved' BeoVision 5 was only reviewed twice by known and reputable AV magazines. Because it wasn't HD compatable at the time, the only reviews we have are for the older sets. What help is that to anyone who considered buying an HD BeoVision 5? It had a newer panel type and was HD ready. It may well have scored much higher in tests than its predecessor did, which was a poor 3/5 overall accross the two reviews. The two reviews I am basing my comments on took place when HD was quite established and included on many if not all other brand TVs at the time.

Simon.

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I wish B&O would get it right from the beginning!