 "Excellent player, but one big flaw" | 2009-11-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: ANE6UCIHMBOD9 |
This is an excellent player, but there is one big flaw: when the battery is charging and the ipod is playing with a low volume, the circuitry shuts down automatically after a few minutes. It's very annoying if you put music to fall asleep: the shut-off will hit you in the night (I was sometimes woken up by the sudden stop) or in the morning (you won't hear the alarm because the unit is off).
At first I thought it was a defective item, but the new one I got after the first had the exact same problem. Although, if you don't use music to fall asleep, it's a GREAT product (right now I'm solving the problem by charging the ipod at night but not playing it). |
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 "The best choice for the two available portables" | 2009-11-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2FMK0SLCHHCW3 |
| I wanted a portable iPod speaker with rechargeable batteries and a remote. There are really only two in my price range, this one and the Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2. I checked both of them out, and decided the Altec-Lansing looked a little cheap and plasticy. I bought the Logitech without testing it first, and when I got it home I actually liked it okay, until I compared it to my 4-year old JBL OnStage, which has a nice range of tone without too much bass. The Logitech sounded a little muffled to me then, so I went back and bought the Altec-Lansing (the subject of this review) and compared it with the JBL OnStage and the Logitech all on the counter at the same time. To my slightly jaded ear (after all, we've given up a lot of sound quality for the convenience of iPod, right?) the tone of both the Logitech and the Altec-Lansing were pretty close; they both compared well with the JBL OnStage (which also puts out a great sound for its size and price). They're both about the same price; the Altec-Lansing has the added advantages of an FM radio and a carrying handle/kickstand, so that is the one I kept. Bottom line is, I would be happy with the tone of either one, but the Altec-Lansing seems a bit clearer at high volume (which is fairly decent) and the FM and the handle made it a little sweeter deal. |
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| "Great sound, magnetically shielded for iPhone use, doesn't work with streaming audio" | 2009-11-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2W44TG6Y2SZBQ |
I got this to replace my iM600 since it causes interference when used with the iPhone. The sound quality of the inMotion Classic is better than the iM600 and overall functionality with the full feature remote is better. We use it as a portable device to listen to Audio Books from Audible and it's easy to carry around the house and catch missed NPR shows "on demand" using the NRP App. However, our biggest issue with this is the fact that when it's running on battery, and we use the iPhone on its dock, it does not recognize the device as an iPhone or iPod and so it shuts off in 1 minute or so. This has been it's worst feature. You can't listen to Pandora, direct iTunes podcasts, or any other streaming App like NPR (even if it plays with Quick Time) without shutting down automatically in a minute while on battery power. We got around it by leaving the iPhone on the dock, by connecting a short audio cable to plug into the Auxiliary input back and setting it on "Aux" instead of "iPod." This is not an elegant solution and I'm disappointed at having to McGiver a solution on what is supposed to be an innovative product specifically designed for the iPhone.
Sound quality is good. Treble and mid-range is a bit high and it sounds best when you are directly in front of it. It's not meant to replace your home-theater speakers and comes nowhere close to the Bose alternative (but neither does the price).
Even though Amazon at first mistakenly shipped us the Altec Lansing Expressionist Bass speakers instead of the inMotion Classic (and we had to call them 3 weeks later since Amazon did not acknowledge or refund that purchase), they were nice enough to credit $10 for expedited shipping and I reordered immediately. Mistakes happen and I'll hope Amazon simply won't "delete" this review...
While we really like the sound quality and the portability, it looks like Altec Lansing added the auto shut-off feature that makes the device take 2 steps forward and 5 backwards. At least, the iM600 works fine with the iPhone in airplane mode and doesn't insist on turning off in a minute while on battery power. The value is excellent compared to other options for the same sound quality. We paid $96.87 for it. If all your music is on iTunes and you care about sound quality and portability, this is the speaker for you. If you like "elegant solutions" and listen to streaming media on your iPhone, you will be disappointed. |
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| "Supports Pandora App on iPhone 3g" | 2009-11-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2CLMB8BKELRO9 |
| FYI for those unsure, Pandora app works just fine from within the iPhone 3g with this dock (plays through the dock speakers). I suppose that implies the dock is wholly compatible with the audio line-out pins from the iphone dock connector. |
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| "Pandora App + iPhone 3g + Dock in battery mode = Fail" | 2009-11-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2CLMB8BKELRO9 |
The manual states "During battery-only operation, the speaker system automatically shuts down if no audio is detected for a few minutes. This is to conserve battery power." What it doesn't specify is that if you're not playing music from your iPhone library (such as streaming via Pandora app), that counts as no audio being detected.
When using Pandora App on an iPhone 3g docked on the inMotion Classic in battery mode, the dock will automatically power off after a couple minutes due to what it interprets as device inactivity.
This is a pretty major flaw considering my intended purpose for the device was to stream music on Pandora with the dock in battery mode. I suspect the only workaround would be if I buy a short male->male cord and run it from the headphone jack on the iPhone to the AUX input of the device. Perhaps the automatic power-off is bypassed when using AUX mode? |
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 "by FAR, the best speakers for IPOD" | 2009-11-01 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3CNBAW54CT8QH |
| Having owned Altec Lansing IPOD speakers in the past (which were stolen), I was looking forward to this model with the new design. For it's size, the sound is almost as dynamic as if you were actually at the recording session itself. I have taken OFF the headphones (unless I must, like on airplanes), and the sound from this device, especially when placed near a corner, is simply amazing, with superior clarity, strong bass, no distortion at high volumes, and simply begs to be played. I hear things in music with this device that I cannot perceive with quality headphones. Spacial orientation is a price one must pay for a device of this size, but it seems not to matter considering the overall sound quality. Don't waste your money on the Bose system. This is IT!! [...] |
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Expedited Available
