SiliconBeat

Altec-Lansing inMotion Max

At long last, I wanted to write an updated review of the Altec-Lansing inMotion Max iPod speaker system.

As some readers may recall, I planned to test out then-new inMotion Max last spring. However, I soon abandoned the idea of writing a full review of the product, because I ran into a serious glitches.

At random intervals, the device would seize up, stop working and stay that way until I unplugged and reset it. At least one reader experienced a similar problem with the device, so it looks like the glitch might have been with a particular batch of the speaker systems.

But it doesn’t look like the problem was endemic with the device. Altec-Lansing ended up sending me a replacement unit to test out, and I played with that speaker system quite a bit over the next several months. The problem didn’t recur with the new unit. So I don’t feel I can fairly mark the device down for the problem. Just be aware that it can occur. Read the rest of this entry »

JBL On Stage 400P

I just swapped out the Altec-Lansing inMotion Max iPod speaker system I’ve been testing for JBL’s new On Stage 400P.

Like the inMotion Max, the 400P works with — and will charge — iPhones and iPods. But at the 400P has a different set of features than the inMotion Max.

Unlike the inMotion Max, the 400P doesn’t include and LCD display or an FM tuner (it does have an auxiliary port, though). It also doesn’t have a rechargeable battery pack, so unlike the Altec-Lansing device, it’s not portable. Nor does it have the inMotion’s “Expanded Sound Stage” technology, which is supposed to “fill a room with sound” (but which I found underwhelming in my tests).

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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.

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Altec-Lansing inMotion Max

As I forecast on Friday, I started testing out the Altec-Lansing inMotion Max iPod speaker system over the weekend. As might be expected, it was easy to set up.

I haven’t really put the device through its paces yet, but my initial impression is somewhat mixed. The sound quality seemed fine. Unlike many iPod speaker systems, it’s fully compatible with my iPhone, meaning that not only will it charge my iPhone, but it doesn’t prompt an annoying incompatibility message on the iPhone that asks whether I want to turn off the iPhone’s antennas everytime I plug my iPhone into it. So that’s nice.

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As I mentioned in a review that ran on Monday, I generally liked iHome’s iH15

iHome iH15

iPod speaker system. It offers nice sound for a relatively low price.

I’m getting ready to box up the iH15 and ship it back to iHome, but there is one thing I don’t like about it that I neglected to mention in my review. In order to turn up or down the volume on the iH15, you have to press the volume control buttons multiple times. You can’t just hold them down to raise or lower the volume.

I know that’s a nit, but I still found it annoying the more I used the device.