Customer Reviews

Altec Lansing IM4 Portable Audio System

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A very good audio system, but sounds exactly the same as the previous IM2 which you can have for half the price.
I have been all my life in HI-FI, and honestly believe I can easily distinguish the characteristic sound of any of these kind of systems. Nevertheless, to me, IM2 and IM4 really sound exactly the same. So, before buying an IM4, give a try to IM2s or (if you believe me) just look for IM2s'offers at Amzon or elsewhere (they are still very popular systems).

As said above, you will find IM2s for HALF the price of IM4s.

I spend a lot of time on planes and in hotel rooms, and my Zen Micro is a lifesaver. I wanted music in the hotel room, however, and bought these after some study.

Sound quality is excellent, with good bass. Physical design is also very convenient: folds into a flat package, fits into a soft cloth bag, takes up very little room in my suitcase. When open for business, the non-slip plastic on the top of the center unit is an excellent place to set your music player. The plug-in is a short cord that retracts into the main unit when not in use.

The external power adapater is an especially clever design, with 'snap in' plug adapters for US, UK & other AC plug types.

May also be powered by 4 AA batteries, but in this regard I've had less luck: left the unit 'on' by accident when I unplugged it, and when I returned to my hotel room, the batteries were exhausted.

If a person has a non Ipod MP3 player i.e. Creative, Dell, or Iriver and does wants to hear music out in the open the choices are pretty limited. The sound of these portable speakers are more extended than the Creative Travelmate in the bass and treble but still are a bit on the thin side sonically but what can you expect for $70 to $80? Dell is asking $100 for this product which is too much. The specs say that the bass goes down to 60 hz which I find hard to believe. Probably 100 hz is more realisitic. For listening to music while traveling or for casual listening in out of the way rooms of your home this is worth the money otherwise buy a real stereo.

I'm not an expert audiophile, but this sounds great when paired with a laptop or PDA (Axim X30 in my case).

With a laptop and wireless connection, you can have a good little sound system in any room in the house. I listened to the Metropolitan Opera broadcast this past Saturday, courtesy of the audio stream provided by WHRO. This gave better sound quality than I get when listening to the local FM radio through my home audio system.

Some thoughtful features provided by the manufacturer: mains power adaptor comes with 5 interchangeable plugs to fit US, UK, European wall fixtures, plus some others I don't recognize; there is a built-in retractable input jack, presumably compatible with standard headphone outputs from MP3 players and the like (I only used it, satisfactorily, with the Axim X30); a separate detached input line is provided, I suppose standard, which worked with my ThinkPad.

Overall I am quite happy with this device and consider it good value for money at the price offered by Amazon.

Some areas for possible improvement: again, I am no expert, but is it possible for someone to build a device like this which gets both its power and input signal from a single USB conection? The interchangeable mains plugs are a great feature, but they would be much more useful if they were interfaced to a USB power adaptor that could recharge PDAs. Also the mechanics of the retractable input line look a bit flimsy, and I have seen complaints in this forum about the durability of such fixtures in similar systems made by this manufacturer.

Still for $70 I think it a good deal, a system that greatly expands the entertainment value of laptops and PDAs.

This is a good quality speaker for 1 room performance. The sound reproduction across the range is very good for a small compact unit. It folds neatly, has it's own transport bag and external 115 volt AC to DC adapter. It also uses AA batteries.
Overall the unit is sturdy and folds out easy on rotation which is stable. A good unit for the money. One does not expect deep bass from 2 1/2 "speakers. Overall I recommend it to take with you.

Dr. Dan Johnson
Chapmanville, WV

I am using this with my non-iPod mp3 player. I have to say, these are the best portable speakers I have heard. Don't let the size fool you, they provide a rich full sound with nice bass pick-up. I recently took these to my parent's house for the holidays and everyone remarked on how great they sounded.

Pluses: slim design, foreign plug attachments, long battery life, light-weight, rich sound.

Minuses: I couldn't think of any, maybe the on light is a little too bright - not so great when you want to fall asleep listening to music. Maybe could use an auto-off when sound signal not received after a set time.

I think there are only two portable speaker systems on the market worth purchasing, and this is one of them. Most are sorely lacking in bass sound. The Maxx bass technology is pretty amazing. This set of speakers is small, light (between 22 - 28 oz.) folds flat, has great battery life, uses easily replaceable batteries (4 AA's will play for 6 to 18 hrs depending upon volume), and these speakers work with any portable music device. You can actually connect two devices at the same time. My husband and I like the retractable cable and the fact that they easily pack into a backpack or kayak. Very simple and practical solution for portable music. Great design and great sound. I would highly recommend this product to anyone looking for something very portable for use in the outdoors or even for playing in a hotel room when traveling.

This device is perfect for playing my MP3 player at work and can be easily packed to use on trips. I am especially impressed with the set of international power plugs as I travel overseas.

These speakers deliver quality sound for a pretty good price- Altec Lansing is a great audio system company, and these speakers have been perfect for me. They can be plugged into an outlet and be used, or they can run off 4 AA batteries for about 4.5 hours. They're very portable, and even come in their own carrying bag. There are also some charger adapters that will work in other countries.

I wanted the ability to move my mp3 player(Archos 504) around the house and I first considered the Archos speakers but the salesman told me that those speakers aren't that loud. After reading the reviews on the Altec Lansing speakers, I decided to go with them. Also, I have always chosen Alstec Lansings for my PC speakers.

My verdict--they are much smaller and lighter than I expected. However, the sound quality is very good, not muffled or garbled. Bass response is true, you don't get that thumping like you get with inferior speakers. When I turn the volume all the way up on the MP3 player and the speakers, the volume is adequate; I would like it to be louder. I listen to various kinds of music from jazz, classical, vocalists like Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington and dance music like Junior Vasquez. The dance music can definitely be louder.

I plan to add the Boosteroo like one of the other reviewers suggested. But I can't complain. I am only giving them 4 stars because of the volume. In all other aspects, these speakers shine.