Review update: Altec-Lansing inMotion Max
Altec-Lansing inMotion Max
As I mentioned before, I’ve been testing out one of Altec-Lansing’s newest iPod speaker systems, the inMotion Max. I was hoping to write up a full review of the inMotion Max this week, but I now plan to postpone it. The reason: The device has repeatedly had the same glitch I reported before, and I don’t think it’s fair to judge it on what might be a single faulty unit.
The glitch is pretty annoying. At seemingly random intervals, the inMotion Max will seize up, no longer responding when I press buttons on the remote control or the device itself. Instead, it repeatedly turns itself on and off until it’s unplugged and reset.
When I first experienced the glitch on the inMotion Max, I chalked it up to bad luck. But I’ve now experienced it four or five times, seemingly every time I spend a decent amount of time with the device.
Considering I’ve never had this problem with an iPod speaker system before, I’m guessing this is simply a defective unit. Hopefully I’ll have a better idea when I get a replacement one.
Setting the glitch aside, the inMotion Max is not bad, but also not great. It does produce nice sound. It includes an FM stereo tuner and a auxiliary port, which allow you to do more with it than simply play your iPod. And it includes rechargeable batteries, which allow you to take it out on your deck or somewhere where you don’t have an electrical outlet. (The inMotion Max’s case doesn’t appear to be that rugged, so you probably don’t want to take it to the beach.)
The device’s LED display tells you what song is playing when you’re using your iPod and also when you are tuning into some radio stations.
Those are all neat features.
But I really disliked the device’s buttons. The buttons don’t depress; instead, they are touch sensitive. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell sometimes how hard you have to press them to get them to work. And the lights behind them turn off after a while, meaning that if the room is dark, you have to fumble around sometimes trying to find the right place to push.
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Hopefully just a glitch because I intend to buy one after 2 years of miserable experience with Logitech’s main competitors, the mm50 and Pure-Fi Anywhere - both of which I own. These poroducts constantly and repeatedly cut out - stop dead - after about 2 minutes. The mm50 cut out when on battery power - bad enough - but the Pure-Fi Anywhere, instead of fixing it, also cuts out constantly on _mains_ power! Unbelievable. This is an absolutely huge problem as can be seen from the many threads on the Logitech Forum - this is just one example:
http://forums.logitech.com/logitech/board/message?board.id=ipod_general&thread.id=2867
Even with the glitch, it would be a huge pleasure to have a unit that allowed me to actually listen to music and does not constantly cut out - I could definitely tolerate a glitch 4 or 5 times.
I purchased Inmotion MAXat bestbuy on March 09 for my April’s 09 vacation to asia. When I try it, it’s perfect, I love it. So during my vacation, I noticed the glitch. When I was in hotel, 2 days it was working fine until after that, it starts getting annoying. I noticed it keeps blinking and says “reset” which i dont know how until now. Then, I put my ipod touch on it, it will pay for about 5 minutes then after that there’s this crazy sound and keep blinking again and I saw “reset” on the screen. So, I did’t practically used it the whole time.
When I arrived in USA, I called the support and they told me to returned it with explanation so I did and after 3 weeks, I got a new one. Although I don’t use this everyday, last two weeks again, my frustration starts. If I plug it, then leave it on, as AUX, it will charge for like 5 or 7 minutes then it starts blinking. I unplug and reset it, I can see when you turn it on, surprisingly the volume turns so freakin loud. Then Unplug again, plug again play, same thing. I gave up. I dont know what to do anymore. Same problem. I will call them again and ask. I went online if some people are having the same problem, I guess Im not the only one.
I just got the iMT702, and it’s exactly what I was looking for. The speakers sound great. The unit looks incredible sitting on the buffet in my dining room. The unit comes with a universal-style iPod dock, with five different adapters for the various iPods and iPhones. The unit is shielded, so that you don’t have to turn off your iPhone when it’s in the dock. The FM radio also sounds great. The remote has four presets for the radio!
Most of the available docking stations look like they belong in a teenager’s bedroom. Or you can overspend ($300+) for a Bose. This unit has both good looks and good sound, and it’s on sale at Best Buy.