ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Well I've had a Serene since it came out and it seems that 2017 has finally broken it! It said Sunday 2nd January on the front screen and I thought, "hmm," looked in the date settings and it seems that it's reset back to years ago. Clearly the programmers only used a 4 bit number store, assuming there was no need to design it to last more than 10 years. At least my Century will be ticking along as planned for years to come! Luckily in a turn of events, this has luckily happened while I wait on an iphone I bought myself as a Christmas treat.
I had a Serene for 2 months - it went back to B&O twice as the motor kept not switching off and eventually the dealer just gave me my money back. Looks and feels great but was an appalling phone - the camera position is simply bizarre and the controls slow and non intuitive - the iPhone, although ubiquitous, is just superior in every possible way, even in the original form. Keep the Serene as an interesting ornament!
Peter
From reading things over the years, I think the build quality on them was questionable, a lot of people seem to have had ones that broke but mine has been great all this time.
As for not having a smartphone all this time, I have admittedly had a separate ipod for years - I always liked how the battery on the Serene lasted days and how listening to books/podcasts for several hours per day didn't mean my phone was dead by 4pm
I will also agree that the design (especially these days) is mad but in all honesty, I found it was something that was 2nd nature after a few months. Then as things changed, I was happy to have something that was different and a conversation piece, especially given the battery (mentioned above) and the fact that I had all the other smartphone stuff in my pocket too on the ipod.
I liked the Serene and had one, but only for a few months for the reasons mentioned above. It wasn't reliable, the motor was temperamental and the left side hinge pin was loose and always falling out. To be honest, I only bought it for the unique way it opened and closed. Otherwise, it didn't offer much at all as a useable phone. I also had the Serenata and didn't find that appealing for long either.
I do wish B&O would work on another landline telephone. The BeoCom 5 didn't really seem to hit the mark for people. I never bought one after reading many negative reviews but I do think they could bring out another classic like many of the phones previously, as they have good experience and success in this particular field. I am currently in the market for new phones and its such a shame there is nothing interesting on the market at the moment by any manufacturer. We need another little design gem like the BeoCom 2 but taking full advantage of current technology, for example supplied with an app to allow you to make and receive calls and access your answerphone messages from anywhere in the world. I do hope B&O have something in the pipeline as there is a real gap in the market currently in my opinion. I ended up buying a Panasonic landline but its clumsy, not very loud, hasn't been updated since 2013 when released and it's not B&O!
Simon.
B&O products are V1-32, BS2, H95, E8 and an Essence remote.11-46 now replaced with Sony A90J 65”, Sony HT-A9, Sony UBP-X800M2 and Sony SRS-NS7.
Beolab 50, Beolab 8000 x 2, Beolab 4000 x 2, BeoSound Core, BeoSound 9000, BeoSound Century, BeoLit 15, BeoPlay A1, BeoPlay P2, BeoPlay H9 3rd Gen, BeoPlay H6, EarSet 3i, BeoVision Eclipse Gen 2 55", BeoPlay V1-40, BeoCom 6000 and so much else :)
BAND'OH!: I do wish B&O would work on another landline telephone. The BeoCom 5 didn't really seem to hit the mark for people. I never bought one after reading many negative reviews
I do wish B&O would work on another landline telephone. The BeoCom 5 didn't really seem to hit the mark for people. I never bought one after reading many negative reviews
I have a couple in the office and they are poor. One often doesn't ring, one rings for seconds after you pick up the other, they regularly can't find the base and, worse than all of these, whilst on the phone they lose contact with the base, in the same room, giving the caller a load of white noise in their ear....on a business call!
My dealer upgraded both phones to the latest software, made little difference, not been a BeoCom 5 update for years. We were left with problematic phones, which just look good.
Serene is great machine.Yesterday,using display calendar on the date 03.jan.2006 I set an alarm to ring 04.jan.2006. at 14:25 , and guess,alarm sounded today! It's amazing how Serene is holding back the years.
P.S. As of today,Serene is handed over to the First Lady
Beogram 6500 MMC2,Beosound Ouverture,2xBeolab 8000,2xBelolab 4000,Beolab 2,Beolab 7.2,Beo4 navi, 2xBeocom2,Serene,Beosystem 3 mk3,H6 2nd gen,Earphones E8,A8,A9 keyring,Beoplay A1,Bottle opener,Beoplay A2 active(thanks Botty)Wine Set(thanks Botty),4Ktv Samsung 55'',Beolab 7.1 with 42''Panasonic plasma,,Oppo udp-203, LinTronic.
Not relevant to the Serene, but I had three B&O Beocom 1400 series land line phones. Gorgeous, had the best sound of any phone I've owned, all three failed in the same way. I lost my enchantment with Beocoms after that.
My big nightmare is that one day I'm driving down the road with a Samsung Galaxy 7, the phone catches fire, causing me to have a wreck, and then I discover I have Tata airbags.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
You maybe thankful if you have Tata airbags as they just might work. I'd be worried if they were Takata airbags lol.
My Serene has the same problem with the calendar and endet with the year 2016.
Only my Serenata goes up to the year 2030.
Stoobietoo: You maybe thankful if you have Tata airbags as they just might work. I'd be worried if they were Takata airbags lol.
You got me! I meant to say Takata. I checked my Acura on the website, and thankfully it's not on the recall list.
Beozip: My Serene has the same problem with the calendar and endet with the year 2016. Only my Serenata goes up to the year 2030.
It would be interesting to contact B&O via Beocare to see what they think about this. Perhaps a firmware update that extends the calendar is available.
Regards,
Jean