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
Dear members,
I wonder, why the Beo5/6 remote seems so unpopular. I know, some like them, but most seem not to be so favorable towards those remotes. Any ideas why that is? I mean, in theory they are great devices but hardly worth anything today on the second hand market (at least the Beo5).
Cheers,
Kai
I think the main reason was that they had to be programmed by the dealer. Secondly copying a third party remote was done only via the lintronik appliance. Then it is also the fact that if wifi was enabled the battery wouldn't last enough time. Last but by no means least the batteries need a visit to the dealer to be changed
I own a beo6 and I am very happy with it but it took me another 200 euros (lintronik) and a month to figure out what it can do.
Tassos: I think the main reason was that they had to be programmed by the dealer. Secondly copying a third party remote was done only via the lintronik appliance. Then it is also the fact that if wifi was enabled the battery wouldn't last enough time. Last but by no means least the batteries need a visit to the dealer to be changed I own a beo6 and I am very happy with it but it took me another 200 euros (lintronik) and a month to figure out what it can do.
I think you hit the nail on the head. The batteries were too small to provide enough life between charges, the programming was too expensive, batteries died permanently too often. I have now got three Beo5s, none of them work, all need battery replacements which are hard to find and I've not taken time to do it.
Logitech can manage to create a very flexible, easy to program remote in the Harmony series, done by your computer. Why B&O couldn't manage it is more a matter of philosophy rather than technology. B&O just didn't want us poor plebeians to program our own remotes. If Logitech provided the guts and B&O did the external design you could have a great, sexy remote that worked. So, I still use my Harmony for my video setup and my Beo4 for my audio setup.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Beo4 navi with LinTronic rules.
Yes,I almost gave up 5 years ago,fiddling to understand programming LinTronic.Once done,it is bullet proof solution. Since then,I control all my audio and video,including no-name chinese ceiling light.LinTronic updates coming with newsletters.Never needed to reboot.Highly recommended for all Beo4 fans.
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.
Having sold both of them, they basically had everything working against them.
There was never a cohesive set of best practices for button layout. Text color, upper & lower case, same button in different places on different pages, made it feel more poorly designed than it was. Most B&O employees weren't programmers and it showed.
The programming tool was proprietary and linked to the internal corporate web portal via credentialing. It was difficult even for a trained sales person to use let alone a client. So any change no matter how minor was a headache and since the program could not be extracted it made it necessary for a copy of the program to exist on a computer before things like dropbox were widely available.
It was fragile. Any slight impact would deform the aluminum ball and clamp down on the button pad making the wheel difficult or impossible to turn. The glass would chip and delaminate.
The wifi on the Beo6 was basically non-functional for its intended purpose.
And ultimately it wasn't easy to use and hold in a world where control apps on the iPhone were coming online at the same point in time.
I have one on my desk as a little totem, but it was and is a truly terrible remote.
Can't agree more on everything said above.
As a Beo6 Newcomer and having the expectation for it to be the universal remote B&O should have done, I've found out, when allowed to play with one, that it is complicated, not so universal, and even more, if perfectly programed, not as convenient as a beo4 (as an example).
Maybe I did miss something, but the concept of zones and zone depending controlled devices dont make the sense you imagine in todays world where devices are designated by ID's.
I keep mine, after having secured it from its common flaws thanks to the help of people from this forum, in the hope that maybe one day I will discover any functionality that would make it useful. But as for today, Its just an item in my collection.
Jeff: Tassos: I think the main reason was that they had to be programmed by the dealer. Secondly copying a third party remote was done only via the lintronik appliance. Then it is also the fact that if wifi was enabled the battery wouldn't last enough time. Last but by no means least the batteries need a visit to the dealer to be changed I own a beo6 and I am very happy with it but it took me another 200 euros (lintronik) and a month to figure out what it can do. I think you hit the nail on the head. The batteries were too small to provide enough life between charges, the programming was too expensive, batteries died permanently too often. I have now got three Beo5s, none of them work, all need battery replacements which are hard to find and I've not taken time to do it. Logitech can manage to create a very flexible, easy to program remote in the Harmony series, done by your computer. Why B&O couldn't manage it is more a matter of philosophy rather than technology. B&O just didn't want us poor plebeians to program our own remotes. If Logitech provided the guts and B&O did the external design you could have a great, sexy remote that worked. So, I still use my Harmony for my video setup and my Beo4 for my audio setup.
IF B&O had a sense of good spirit, it would release the codes for ALL of the old kit, so that quirky but functioning products don't end up in a bin. Steve could reproduce the bespoke cables and a real smart computer person might take time off from hacking and update the software to 21st century hardware. Maybe even develop a cottage industry in Denmark for replicating critical parts for the top old products? And Oasis will reunite and do a reunion tour! Never mind.
I hear Atlantis is rising from the ocean floor too...
I only ever held one of these remotes once, at a dealership. I took an immediate dislike to it compared with a Beo4. It felt like a golf ball with a square screen sticking out from it. Not comfortable or natural to hold.
Maybe the admittedly nice colour display should have been integrated with a new Beo4 instead to replace those ever failing pixelated screens.
Graham
I quite liked the Beo 5 remote, I only stopped using mine as the buttons tend to bubble after a while of use and I didn't want to have to replace the button pad. The programming part is a huge problem though, I think thats its main downfall. Also the fact the B&O won't release the program but then again the software only works on certain versions of Windows etc. Great pity.
The Beo 5 was and is a great remote control in my personal opinion. It does stuff I couldn't do with my Logitech Harmony: Mix different manufacture codes on one "configuration page" and buttons. For example: Volume wheel of the Beo 5 controls Beosystem while "next, back, Go" etc. controls the Sony Blu-Ray player and the coloured buttons switch the Philips Hue lights - all without switching between devices on the remote itself. That's like the old Philips Pronto remote systems or the magic stuff from Crestron and RTI etc.Beware of the last version of the configuration tool: This functionality was removed!
But Bang & Olufsen failed in marketing the remote and its capabilities and the software is still not the best / most intuitive piece of kit. To be fair: Crestron programming isn't something intuitive either. Some talented members here in the forum showed the great possibilities with the Beo 5 remote!Let's see with what Bang & Olufsen is coming up next. The Beoremote one is a downgrade in terms of physical ergonomics and haptics compared to the Beo 4.
Cos you couldn't program it yourself.
At the time, I had a Philips Pronto Pro which you could customise heavily even down to buttons and macros and you could do it yourself.
I love, and most people loved the design of the Beo5 and then it got 2 way action (always a good thing) in the Beo6, but having to go to the dealer and then have things programmed when newer products such as Harmony became easier to program put the nail in the coffin i think
Well, I absolutely loved my Beo5 and I wish I still had it.
Sadly, it was knocked off the table by a visitor which rendered the volume control stiff and barely usable and our B&O dealer had absolutely zero interest in helping us get it repaired. In the end I gave up and sold it for spares/repair.
The Beo 5 was and is a great remote control in my personal opinion. It does stuff I couldn't do with my Logitech Harmony: Mix different manufacture codes on one "configuration page" and buttons.
Not sure which Harmony you had, but I can do this on my Harmony One. You can assign any command from any of the devices you've loaded into it to any button, soft button or hard, and you can have several pages of soft keys. I find the remote brilliantly designed as far as programming, OK to hold, but wish they had a high end option, one made of metal instead of plastic. I guess they figure there wouldn't be enough buyers.
vikinger:I only ever held one of these remotes once, at a dealership. I took an immediate dislike to it compared with a Beo4. It felt like a golf ball with a square screen sticking out from it. Not comfortable or natural to hold. Maybe the admittedly nice colour display should have been integrated with a new Beo4 instead to replace those ever failing pixelated screens. Graham
I have tried to like the Beo5/6 remotes for years but cant handle them..
Charging, battery issues, programming, awkward hold, delicate screen/body are issues..
When idle for weeks/months they get too flat that they cant start up again, Then requiring a tech or a fiddly pull apart and give the unit a jump start.
Even this week i received 2 and only 1 powers up
Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.
Never liked it - and technology has moved on. We need proper voice control - I told them this at Struer when Lee and I were there and they said it couldn't work. One reason I use Alexa now for almost all of my listening needs. Beolink 1000 still great as indestructible and versatile - Beo4 a close second!
Beolink 7000 was wonderful though - still regret selling mine!
Peter
Actually, I'm quite surprised how much attention this thread has received. Maybe a couple of own thoughts when it comes to remotes.
The Beolink 7000 is fantastic and has that wow-factor no other remote has to a similar extent. But given the way technology has evolved, it is, unfortunately, pretty much useless now. It was the perfect remote for an integrated multi-channel audio-video system, but with the demise of analog, two-way Beovisions are now gone and audio systems much less useable (radio). You can still have a 7000 or 9500 system as a stand alone and use the Beolink with that, but the integration part where the Beolink 7000 really excelled at is now lost. It is still an icon, but simply no longer of much practical merit, I am afraid. That being said, I still own four. Will be selling some, though. The same applies to the Beolink 5000 - no, I don't own four of those as well .
I never liked the Beo4 that much. It is a clever remote for everyday use, but limited. No backlight, complicated navigation with list, and still lacking functionality for some integrated AV setups. It is also missing that wow factor the Beolink 7000 has. Beolink 1000 for most uses is the simpler and better remote once you are used to it. Beo 1 and Beoremote 1 are no good B&O remotes.
From this you can see why I tend to like the Beo5/6 as those remotes do not suffer from these weaknesses.
Voice control - I never liked that idea. Probably, it is the future but like Sonos, streaming, file-based audio, etc. not for me. It is like autonomous driving. Something we can do and are likely to see in the future, but simply nothing I appreciate or would be prepared to get into.
Actually, I'm surprised at the love the Harmony gets. Good concept and remote, no question. But it is an entirely different ballpark as compared to B&O remotes from my point of view. No disrespect, but I'd prefer a Beo5/6 over a Harmony any day. But then again, technologywise I was very much convinced of many things B&O did in the past.
Interestingly I could get information about what was playing on my Beocenter 2 on my Beolink 7000. It was using an ML to MCL link and the link fed source and track info to the 7000 in my bedroom. Not as good as the 7000 system had been but more than I expected!
The problem with voice control is that things that work reasonably well, Siri, Cortana, Alexa, all do not do the processing locally. They send the audio to large, more powerful servers in the "cloud" which decipher the voice commands and send back commands to the device to implement. Knowing B&O the' d pick a server provider that would immediately go out of business or dump B&O over a button label or something leaving the customer with a bad taste, so better to eschew it I think.
When I first saw a photo of the Beo 5 remote I thought it was a design concept that appear every now and then on the internet, much like the Beolab 22. I couldn't believe this was an official product. The design is just so messy with the wheel, buttons and screen. It's a far cry from the clean designs of the Beolink 1000, Beolink 5000, Beolink 7000, Beo4 and Beoremote one. I like all of those, despite their shortcomings.
Vähintään yhdeksänkymmentä prosenttia suomalainen!
Designwise, I can perfectly see where David Lewis was coming from trying to create a remote with buttons and a touch screen without making it look conventional or even like a calculator. I pretty much like what they came up with. Greetings