Accessory of the Week The first set of iPod speakers I ever bought was Altec Lansing’s inMotion iM3, a paperback-sized unit that could nonetheless produce a very respectable sound.
My iM3 has been around the world a couple of times since then and it’s getting a bit frayed around the edges now. However, I’ve never found a better set of travel speakers from any manufacturer, so it’s still the iM3 that accompanies me on any trip away from home.
The dock connector pops in and out for
Fittingly, though, it’s Altec Lansing that may have finally come up with a worthy successor: its new iMT630.
I had my doubts about its portability at first, as it measures about 135mm high and 310mm, which makes it about 50 per cent wider than the iM3. But it’s also slimmer, at just 35mm thick, and the overall weight is about the same, a mere 425g. Read the rest of this entry »
Review With most computers bulging at the seams with music and video files, the days of making do with even a cheap set of active Stereospeakers, let alone laptop offerings, are truly dead and buried. A decent 2.1 active speaker system will not only pay dividends when it comes to playing your music but can also provide bowel trembling bass when playing games or watching video.
PC palpitator: Altec Lansing’s Expressionist Plus FX3021
Recently, Edifier and Altec Lansing simultaneously released new 2.1 speaker sets that are in head-on competition. Both consist of a meaty downward firing subwoofer and a couple of satellites. Both have clearly spent some time and effort on styling as well as performance. And both are yours for under eighty quid.
Edifier describes the E3350 subwoofer as looking like an, ahem, ‘exotic pyramid’. Yes, quite. Fourth Dynasty envy aside the E3350 continues the restrained and minimalist styling we have come to expect from Edifier, of late. Even though everything is made of plastic, it’s a high-quality plastic with blemish-free matt black surfaces. Some rather nice design touches include the diffuse red halo LED that surrounds the touch sensitive on/off switch on top of the subwoofer and the satellites’ cloth speaker covers. Read the rest of this entry »
Review The world is not exactly short of portable iPod speaker systems, ranging from the merely adequate – such as Logitech’s Pure-Fi Anywhere – to the rather good – such as Intempo’s InSession. Generally, they sell for about £100, are about the size of a large house brick and produce a sound that while fine for the odd hour or two in a hotel room when you’re on the road, isn’t really what you’d choose for prolonged, serious – or loud – listening.
Altec Lansing’s inMotion Max: battery powered
Altec Lansing reckon it has spotted a gap in the market for device that while fully portable – and battery powered – is also large enough to hold its own in the sound quality stakes alongside larger, fixed-location systems. Read the rest of this entry »
