With summer galloping towards us with unjustifiable confidence, the thoughts of young men an women turn towards kit that will work alfresco. With this in mind, today I'm taking a shufti at travel speakers.
The key ingredients here are size, weight and price - or rather the the lack thereof in all three instances - an internal …
I've got the Altec Lansing iMT237 Orbit (or maybe an earlier version - had it for 1 1/2 years now) and it is absolutely brilliant. Highly recommended.
Excellent sound definition across the spectrum, and you can turn it up loud without it distorting. It's not got a volume control, which IMHO is a good thing, your music player should control that. Works great with my mp3 player and is my preferred laptop speaker. AAA battery powered, you can pick those up anywhere and have a reserve pack.
The build quality is superb, it's solid and compact - I think if it fell out of a 2nd story window it'd probably be OK. It's also really small, so excellent for those ryanair flights where space is everything or you have to fork out for a suitcase. Perfect for holidays and watching films on your laptop in the hotel on business trips.
Get the Altec Lansing, works great in muddy fields. Standard 3.5mm jack, AAA batteries, very small and compact, great sound.
I got mine from Tottenham court road a few years back and tried about 6 or 7 different speaker systems that work from batteries and have a 3.5mm jack. The Altec Lansing was by far the best option.
...and was surprised (pleasantly) to see it reviewed here, as it's been around for a year or two - ISTR I got mine in 2008.
The On Tour is a little pricier than some of the other offerings here, but I think it's worth the extra outlay. It feels well put-together, offers clear sound (with more bass than you'd expect from its appearance), doesn't chew through batteries too quickly, and fits nicely in a bag with all my netbook accessories. (On the last point: the On Tour makes a good match with my Eee 701, offering far better sound than the Eee's tinny speakers.)
Thanks for a balanced review, and for all the others too - interesting to read about what's now out there.
expandable subwoofer. 3 AAA batteries. piccie/review here http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1872261,00.asp
I got one years ago in HK and never saw it marketed over here, which is a shame as I quite like it for the functionality as well as the form! Gets used every night in the kids room for the discman to lull them to sleep.
I have got two of these and a home made splitter - very good and the NXT speakers have a lot more bass than most similar speakers but don't eat batteries.
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Ten Essential... Travel Speakers
With summer galloping towards us with unjustifiable confidence, the thoughts of young men an women turn towards kit that will work alfresco. With this in mind, today I'm taking a shufti at travel speakers. The key ingredients here are size, weight and price - or rather the the lack thereof in all three instances - an internal …
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Posted Monday 28th June 2010 10:42 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Hang on, so they're *all* essential? #
Sheesh, I'm gonna have no room in my suitcase for clothes.
Posted Monday 28th June 2010 10:44 GMT
zenkaon
The Altec Lansing is awesome #
I've got the Altec Lansing iMT237 Orbit (or maybe an earlier version - had it for 1 1/2 years now) and it is absolutely brilliant. Highly recommended.
Excellent sound definition across the spectrum, and you can turn it up loud without it distorting. It's not got a volume control, which IMHO is a good thing, your music player should control that. Works great with my mp3 player and is my preferred laptop speaker. AAA battery powered, you can pick those up anywhere and have a reserve pack.
The build quality is superb, it's solid and compact - I think if it fell out of a 2nd story window it'd probably be OK. It's also really small, so excellent for those ryanair flights where space is everything or you have to fork out for a suitcase. Perfect for holidays and watching films on your laptop in the hotel on business trips.
Posted Monday 28th June 2010 10:44 GMT
Bruce MacDonald
Gonna need a big travel case #
You clowns have done it again!
If I've got my ten essential sets of travel speakers, I'll hardly have room for my laptop.
Surely you can see that the ten essential travel accessories, one of which is speakers, one of which is an external HDD etc makes more sense?
Posted Monday 28th June 2010 12:00 GMT
Wize
What I look for in travel speakers #
I suppose everyone is different.
I want something that takes disposable batteries (no recharge point in the middle of a muddy field).
Small for sticking in a small corner of my rucksack and work off all mp3 players (not everyone has/uses iPods).
Mine is a Nokia similar size to No6 in your line up.
Posted Monday 28th June 2010 14:48 GMT
zenkaon
@wize #
Get the Altec Lansing, works great in muddy fields. Standard 3.5mm jack, AAA batteries, very small and compact, great sound.
I got mine from Tottenham court road a few years back and tried about 6 or 7 different speaker systems that work from batteries and have a 3.5mm jack. The Altec Lansing was by far the best option.
Posted Monday 28th June 2010 22:30 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Verbatim Bluetooth - 700mm cube #
a 700mm square cube - now that's gonna deliver some _serious_ bass. not sure it would last long on 4 aa batteries (4 car batteries more like)
Posted Tuesday 29th June 2010 11:05 GMT
AndyS
letters and/or digits. #
I don't have any. Am I inadequate as a person? Or did you mean "desirable?"
Posted Tuesday 29th June 2010 11:05 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Altec Lansing - Editor's Choice.... #
Going for £14.99 on Play.com.
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/9565140/Altec-Lansing-iMT237-Orbit-M-Portable-Speaker-For-iPod-MP3-And-Other-Portable-Music-Players/Product.html
Just bought myself one for my hols.
Thanks for the review. Very handy.
Posted Tuesday 29th June 2010 15:57 GMT
wrong
Speakers on each side of a cube, huh? #
Does the Verbatim really have six speakers?
Posted Tuesday 29th June 2010 16:07 GMT
Tony Smith, Editor, Reg Hardware
Re: Speakers on each side of a cube, huh? #
Yes, there are speakers on each side. But there aren't speakers on the top, bottom, front and back. As you can see from the pic.
So no, there isn't a speaker on each *face* of the cube.
Posted Tuesday 29th June 2010 16:07 GMT
Steve X
Oh, that sort of speaker #
When I saw the title I assumed this would be a list of Michael Palin, John Simpson, Alan Whicker, etc....
Posted Wednesday 30th June 2010 12:01 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Um #
Is it just me or is the editors choice look very much like a mono speaker?
I've tried out a few kinds of speaker and I've settled for a (stereo) "Music Angel" which cost me a whopping great £9.99 and is a delight.
Posted Thursday 1st July 2010 10:06 GMT
Tim Walker
I own the JBL On Tour... #
...and was surprised (pleasantly) to see it reviewed here, as it's been around for a year or two - ISTR I got mine in 2008.
The On Tour is a little pricier than some of the other offerings here, but I think it's worth the extra outlay. It feels well put-together, offers clear sound (with more bass than you'd expect from its appearance), doesn't chew through batteries too quickly, and fits nicely in a bag with all my netbook accessories. (On the last point: the On Tour makes a good match with my Eee 701, offering far better sound than the Eee's tinny speakers.)
Thanks for a balanced review, and for all the others too - interesting to read about what's now out there.
Posted Friday 2nd July 2010 12:53 GMT
OrientalHero
Saitek A200? #
expandable subwoofer. 3 AAA batteries. piccie/review here http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1872261,00.asp
I got one years ago in HK and never saw it marketed over here, which is a shame as I quite like it for the functionality as well as the form! Gets used every night in the kids room for the discman to lull them to sleep.
Posted Saturday 3rd July 2010 17:47 GMT
B Johnson
real value #
I have got two of these and a home made splitter - very good and the NXT speakers have a lot more bass than most similar speakers but don't eat batteries.
http://www.svp.co.uk/technology/consumables/tdk-12-disc-outloud-blue-carry-case-with-built-in-speaker-tdk031_12-disc-case-with-speaker.html
Have had them for >5 years and they are still going strong.
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