TV sets that are worth the extra expense (Bang & Olufsen Beovision MX)

Member Name: SimonMackay

Product:	Bang & Olufsen Beovision MX
Date:	30/09/01 (2919 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent picture and sound, Comfortable viewing, Very few controls = less temptation for toddlers to play with the set

Disadvantages: Expensive, Works best with B&O equipment

In 1994, the people whom I live with decided to take the plunge for a decent-sized "main-room" TV set after watching TV for many years on a portable set.

They are into B&O equipment and the local dealership was running a sale which they took advantage of. This meant that they bought a Beovision MX4000 "off the floor" at a cheaper price. This set was provided to us in a "plug and play" fashion -- already tuned and ready to go. Once we took it home, it was certainly a pleasure to watch.

The set is designed to be controlled only by the remote control. This can be a boon at times whenever there are small children around who like to play with the buttons on a TV all the time and ruin the set. On the other hand, you can get stuck if you don't know where the remote control is.

This remote control is a slender object that feels comfortably heavy and is meant to last. Everything is arranged in an order with the sources up top, the "navigate" arrow keys on the next level, a numeric keypad then buttons for adjusting the sound or picture and finally the "off" key and the "mute" key (used for muting out the ads) on the bottom row. There are extra keys for use if the TV is connected to a B&O audio system, and the same controller can be used to control recent-model B&O audio equipment. It can also control newer B&O video recorders. This is a way of allowing you to have the TV at its potential if you use any B&O "piece of art" as peripheral equipment.

The picture and sound are really worth the expense. If there is pure white in the image, such as images of Internet pages shown as part of a news report, white paintwork on the set of a show, or white clothing worn by actors, the white doesn't glare. The set also caters for any viewing environment, whether it's daytime viewing on a sunny day; evening viewing in a room with lights that are switched on or nighttime viewi
ng by making sure the image can be seen optimumly in all scenarios. This also leads to a less harsh picture which is easy on the eyes. The sound is a treat for the ears -- Hi-Fi sound rather than limited sound. This is because the sets are designed by a company who has had a long-standing hi-fi pedigree, especially wih loudspeaker design.

These sets are worth spending the extra money on; and may lead you on to heading towards the B&O path.

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