moxxey wrote:

Michael wrote:

It only has 802.11B/G 2.4GHz! No 802.11N compability or 5GHz. 

That is strange. I spent some time a year ago making sure everything on my network worked with 802.11N, primarily to stop potential slowdown (it can happen when one device only works with 801.11B as the whole network can slow as a result).

Yes, same here. I try to eliminate all old equipment so the wifi stays fast and fresh. Don't like the look of the playmaker but it is supposed to be discrete. I hope it is wall mountable as well so it can be stuck to a bookshelf or something. I can't understand how they managed to not get 802.11n into it. Is those chips still available? It only sends me one message : cheap production.

moxxey wrote:

Michael wrote:

It only has 802.11B/G 2.4GHz! No 802.11N compability or 5GHz. 

That is strange. I spent some time a year ago making sure everything on my network worked with 802.11N, primarily to stop potential slowdown (it can happen when one device only works with 801.11B as the whole network can slow as a result).

Yes, same here. I try to eliminate all old equipment so the wifi stays fast and fresh. Don't like the look of the playmaker but it is supposed to be discrete. I hope it is wall mountable as well so it can be stuck to a bookshelf or something. I can't understand how they managed to not get 802.11n into it. Is those chips still available? It only sends me one message : cheap production.

beojeff wrote:

Paul W wrote:

But didn't BANG&OLUFSEN once pride itself on beautiful design using the highest quality materials for a premium price?

Exactly, Paul! It seems that B&O took a great idea and put it in a horribly ugly container. Looking at the audio products lined up together on the B&O site, the Playmaster just looks grossly out of place. It seems B&O should have taken the extra effort to make it look nice and harmonious with the style of other B&O products. Perhaps something along the lines of the BeoCenter 2, with brushed aluminum and a similar volume control, but smaller.

Paul W wrote:

It's hardly sexy design is it? Will the young Apple buyers be wanting this? Hardly! No design thought! They'd of been better approaching students at a design college to come up with some ideas rather than this piece of unsexy plastic.

Reminds me of a cheap freeview box crossed with a smoke detector - no excuse for bad design with so many great International designers out there!

While I agree B&O has that reputation and does produce (yes, still) beautiful pieces of design, there were always utility component pieces.

On the past I had a black box mounted on my skirting boards for the MCL 82; today I have a Beoline and a Beoport.  I was always disappointed in the BeoPort's "design" = total non-existent. but then these days it is now hidden in a cupboard with a headless MacMini.

And then there are the predecessors of this that I have, the BeoLink Wireless 1s - yes, they have some elements of design, and come in two colours, but they had to have the IR eye/puck to complete their installation, more wires and no volume control.

So this unit has pluses, and compared to the Nest, some minuses. 

However I am going to suspend judgement until I see it in situ, and until I have tested its tactile interface for ease of use.

I am more concerned over its wireless standards being a longer term limitation .......

Actually the Sonos system gives you alot fewer options, and no flexibility.

Sonos cannot support Airplay or DLNA, you need their app. to play music, so local stored music you cannot play, unless you add an Airport Express with low sound quality

moxxey wrote:

Well, Apple managed it for long enough with their metal iMacs, MBPs etc. They simply turned the casing in to an extension of the antena.

The antenna in MBP is in the plastic hinge, in the iMac, it is in the black surrounding of the screen.

Plastic is a good choice, but I guess, as it has an interface they should have made it a bit nicer. Will have to see it in the flesh.

Well it hasn't been designed to be a pearl in your livingroom. This is more like a prompter in a theater. So think the speakers as the artist, and the Playmaker as the prompter, telling the artist what to say. So you can hide away the Playmaker if you don't need the nearby operation. But i would prefer to have it positioned in my bookshelf, just to be in reach to lower or higher the music. Think about your phone is ringing, and that is the one also playing music, then you need an option 2 as control. So a Beo remote or on the product operation.

I prefer that B&O has launched these functionalities now, rather than waiting for a designer to come up with a specific design look, making the price go up.

Thorngaard wrote:

 

Well it hasn't been designed to be a pearl in your livingroom. This is more like a prompter in a theater. So think the speakers as the artist, and the Playmaker as the prompter, telling the artist what to say. So you can hide away the Playmaker if you don't need the nearby operation. But i would prefer to have it positioned in my bookshelf, just to be in reach to lower or higher the music. Think about your phone is ringing, and that is the one also playing music, then you need an option 2 as control. So a Beo remote or on the product operation.

I prefer that B&O has launched these functionalities now, rather than waiting for a designer to come up with a specific design look, making the price go up.

 

no excuse at all ! this "thing" would get at engadget the titel "crap (looking) gadget" of month ,without effort

at just under £300 pounds (UK) with some Beolab 4000's, it could be the next best thing to ML I suppose

Thorngaard wrote:

Actually the Sonos system gives you alot fewer options, and no flexibility.

Sonos cannot support Airplay or DLNA, you need their app. to play music, so local stored music you cannot play, unless you add an Airport Express with low sound quality

Well, I speak for myself, but I guess for most households it’s the same. The music I have on my iPad and iPhone is also on my NAS that Sonos can access. The only (rare) time I can think of is that Airplay is only useful, when guests have music on their iPhone. 

I guess I'll reserve judgement until I've seen it in the flesh, but I do think the pictures are ugly.  Also, you cannot hide it away since you need to touch it or use a remote.  I hope that the lack of wireless N support is a misprint.  

To correct someone above (and this seems to be a fairly common misperception that I've seen in print as well) , 5GHz generally has less range than 2.4 GHz G, and it also doesn't go through walls and doors as well.  I know I've seen many articles where they attribute "greater range" to N, but perhaps this is 2.4 GHz N.  (