Customer Reviews

Altec Lansing iMT620 inMotion Classic Portable iPod Dock with Rechargeable Battery and FM Tuner

5 star:		(152)
4 star:		(97)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(31)

 

 

When you have a product as strong as the Altec Lansing inMotion iM600 USB-Charging Portable Speaker System with FM Receiver for iPod (Black) you'll be forgiven, particularly in a niche market such as this, for leaving well enough alone and letting a good thing ride in the marketplace. Instead, Altec Lansing has clearly listened to those who bought the iM600, and re-engineered the product as the iMT620 addressing virtually all the concerns, while also raising the bar where there were few if any complaints.

Right out of the box, in contrast to the 600, the 620 is a sleeker unit. Gone is the high gloss black bezel that looked great but would forever show fingerprints around the buttons. While the 620 weighs in a scant 6 ounces heavier than the 600, it has a lower profile than its predecessor by nearly two inches. Portability is clearly one of the areas of improvement, as the 620 is now supported by its own full-width handle, a feature the 600 lacked, as it was supported on a hinge by the part of the device that served as the dock. Which is to say that when you plugged your iPod or iPhone into the 600, and sat it down on an uneven surface, the iPod could move and bump up against the front face of the 600. The dock in the 620 is set into a fixed recess, meaning once your iPod/iPhone is in place, it's secure. Another obvious change is the antenna -- the 620's extends nearly a foot higher and is of much sturdier construction, which translates (from my own experience) to much crisper, sharper, and clearer reception from local radio stations.

Much can be said about the audio quality, but subjectivity and a lack of a baseline make it difficult to be precise. As a starting point, I will say that the sound quality (given the small size of the device) is exceptional for both the 600 and the 620. That said, the 620 is audibly superior by a perceptible margin on a number of fronts. Deeper is the base, less tinny is the overall sound, more natural are the vocals. Again, however, it's important to note that these aren't slights towards the 600, but rather areas in which the 620 has improved upon what's already good in the previous model. You're not going to close your eyes and confuse the audio for something that would come out of a pair of Martin Logan speakers hooked up to a top-end tuner and amp; what you are going to get is sound quality that will very likely exceed your expectations based on the size of the unit. You just don't expect that depth and range of sound from such a small device. I set the 600 and the 620 side by side, and played different types of music through each in a direct comparison. Andrea Bocelli, Wu-Tang Clan, Nine Inch Nails, The Doors -- each (while offering very different 'needs' for play-back) performed well on the 600, but on the 620 sounded more 'natural,' for lack of a better word.

The remote, a feature largely ignored on my 600, may be one of the best improvements. No longer do you have to use the iPhone/iPod itself to find the song you want, the remote is complete with menu controls, and you can control the music storage device from a distance right on its own screen. Obviously this is a bigger deal for those devices (like the iPhone 3G/3Gs) that have larger screens, but it is highly convenient.

Depending on the volume, the internal lithium battery will hold a full charge for about 5 hours. While it will not charge your iPhone/iPod while running on batteries (this is simply a matter of voltage), you really wouldn't want it to anyway, as that would dramatically reduce the play life of the device off-power.

I have few complaints, and those that I do have are minor. First, there are little adapters that click into place on the port so that the slim body of an Apple iPod nano 8 GB Black (4th Generation) NEWEST MODEL (for example) will be as properly supported as a full-sized iPhone 3G/3Gs. Once that particular adapter clicks into place, it's not the easiest or quickest thing to remove. As my wife has a Nano, and I have a 3Gs, and we'll use each device in the 620 at different times, we're going to have to figure out the best way to handle that, one that doesn't involve prying it out with the tip of a knife. Perhaps we're just over-looking something obvious. Another wish is that you could pre-set radio stations, but that is the weakest of concerns, given how quick and easy I found it to hop back and forth between them.

Wrapping up, the iMT620 has greatly improved upon the iM600. Enough so, that for many it may well be worth the upgrade even if you already own the latter. For those interested in a docking/charging/external speaker/FM radio solution for the iPod/iPhone, I really don't know that you can do better at present. Light, attractive, convenient, feature-rich, outstanding depth and quality of sound given the size; it really is a nearly-ideal option, and one that I will be enthusiastically recommending to friends and family.

I have both the 620 and its predecessor the 600. Let me start with what they both share:

-Sound quality is good. No popping or cracks with iPods or Aux attachments. Radio pickup is very good.
-The range of sound goes from very soft to very loud in good step increments. I was very pleased with the range.
-There are only 4 radio presets on both models
-All the typical navigation controls are there, except for a way to easily "jump to next album/artist". There is a fast forward, but its use for scanning to next FM station is touchy.
-They work great with the iPod classic, however, both have extreme difficulty with the iPod Touch (2nd Gen 8GB). They wouldn't always play, and if you switched source and came back, or if the Touch timed out and turned itself off, they weren't able to pick up playing again. If you try to manually do it with the Touch, it plays from the Touch speaker even though it's in the dock. The Touch also doesn't sit well on the dock due to its thin size.
-The cords are both are 6 feet.
-Neither has an AM tuner.

What I like about each compared to the other:

600 - Has the stronger remote. I can use it from 20ft away no problem. The 620's remote is very spotty even at 6ft range. The remotes, however, are compatible with both units.
620 - Has menu navigation on its remote so it is in theory easy to navigate artists, however you really need to see your iPod screen to do this, which if you're using the remote you'd think you'd be too far away to see (but since the 620 remote is awful you're probably right up close trying to get it to work anyway)
620 - Better antenna, it's got more range of motion, the 600's just sticks out the side. Can make a big difference for picking up weak stations, but for stronger radio signals no big deal.
600 - Stores the remote better, it slides behind two clasps locking it in place more securely than the 620's which just slides down. The 600's storage space is also covered when the unit is closed up, where as you'll probably lose the 620's remote if the unit is ever not upright in transit.
600 - Has a taller but less deep footprint than the 620. This is really a tossup unless you have a particular space in mind where yours will live.
600 - Better out-of-use battery life. I charged both units to full and then let them sit for two weeks. The 600 was at 80% and the 620 at about 60%.
620 - Less electrical interference. Having both units side by side, tuned to the same FM station, the 620 was still virtually clear, but the 600 was staticky.

Overall I prefer the 600, the lack of strength in the remote control for the 620 was the single most annoying problem. Plus given the drastically different prices of the two models and their equivalent sound quality and features, it's hard to justify buying the 620 unless the better electrical interference resistance is something you'll especially need.

Length:: 1:56 Mins

The iMT620 works perfectly with both my iPhone and my iPod. My video review runs through most of the details -- one thing I left out is that if you have your Bluetooth earpiece handy, it automatically pauses during a song and allows you to take the call. When you hang-up, the music kicks back in. A very nice feature!

Despite any misgivings, I bought this speaker system sight-unseen based on the great reviews here. This speaker system does what all the other great reviews out there say it does, so I won't go into the virtues of how great this speaker system sounds. Other reviewers did a great job doing that.

What I do want to get into is the MAJOR DESIGN flaw Altec Lansing has designed into this speaker system. As other users have noted, and as the user's manual states, when running on battery mode, the speaker is eqipped with an auto shut-off feature that will shut down the speakers if no audio is detected within 2-3 minutes. What this means for you is, you will be happily listening away to your Ipod on this system, and it will shut down in the middle of a song without warning. For whatever reason, when on battery mode, the system does not detect when my Ipod is docked, and the built-in auto shut off feature kicks in without warning. This really, really sucks because the selling features for me on this system were the great reviews on sound, and the fact that I could listen to this anywhere there wasn't power. (I planned on taking this on camping trips,etc.) Those were my two requirements in a portable sound system such as this.

There *is* a workaround if you are willing to give up the docking feature and most features on the remote while in battery mode. You can buy an auxillary cable and use the auxillary input plugin, and listen to your Ipod this way. I have tried this, and the annoying shut-down feature does not engage while in auxillary mode. The thing you give up, as mentioned, is the docking feature, and the remote will only control your volume at this point. You can't change tracks, etc. with the remote with the workaround.

I really wish Altec Lansing would have a way to turn off the auto-shut off feature, and if they did, this little unit would have earned a 5 star review from me. Until they fix this major design flaw, and either give me my money back or send me a new unit with a switch to tun off the auto shut off, this review will only get 1 star. I am reluctantly keeping this unit because it does still sound good and does everything as all reviewers promised while plugged into a power source. The workaround mentioned will still enable me to get great sound while on camping trips, but it's a total bummer that I have to carry an extra cord around with me now for this, my Ipod can't dock, and I give up almost every feature of the remote. This should not be the case because of a stupid design flaw!

I tested this unit out with an Itouch 3rd generation. If anyone else discovers some kind of workaround that would enable me to keep my Ipod docked, please, please let me know! I tested every scenario I could think of, and the results were always the same with the unit shutting off. Very, very, annoying!

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?

Like other reviewers have stated about this product the sound is excellent However there is a MAJOR design flaw. Altec decided to add a feature that you cannot turn off. what the feature does is automatically shut off the radio if no input is detected. which would be a great feature to have if it only worked right and you could switch it on or off. the Problem I had is like other reviewers I would have my iPod Touch hooked up and playing a song and part way through a song it will shut off. The speakers are plugged in and not running off the batteries so its not an issue with low power and same thing with the Ipod, Full battery and even shows the charging indicator. I read Altec trouble shooting for this and from what I read they know about this problem and there solution is for you to walk back over and turn the speakers back on. I know for me that this would be extremely embarrassing if I was entertaining guests or was going to use it at my wedding like we planned and the speakers just shut off mid way through a song. I purchased this unit at best buy yesterday and I'm bring it back tomorrow for a refund.

ASIN B002I636XM - I live, and sometimes work, speaking and surrounded by people speaking tech-speak. I get so tired of it that even here, where it might be suitable, I'm drawn to speak in normal English. I feel like I ought to apologize.

I love the iMT620, no doubt. That doesn't make it flawless. In the way of improvement over the Altec Lansing inMotion iM600 USB-Charging Portable Speaker System with FM Receiver for iPod (Black), the 620 is more bass-y / less tinny, a big plus to me, and it works with the iPhone, a big plus to others. The look is more in line with the old style "ghetto blaster" (though much smaller and lighter!), than the really now-overdone "sleek, rounded corners, shiny black (white/red/blue) plastic casing", which I find a pleasant change of direction. Not only does it have a sturdier appearance, but it shows small marks less easily - and if you really use it as a portable device, it's going to pick up those small marks.

In the negative column, there are four small things.
- I put in an adapter and had a heck of time getting it out. This is great, when you're using the adapter, to know that it will be secure, but it's a flaw overall. A small release catch would be nice.
- Along the same lines, this isn't quite the old "ghetto blaster". Anyone who remembers those can remember toting it around on your shoulder (blowing out your hearing...) or swinging it as you walked. You're not going to do that with this one, or you'll be kissing your iPod goodbye. Despite the tight hold this thing has on the adapters, it has next to no hold at all on the iPod which, if you tilt the 620, will fall out.
- The remote is teeny tiny itty bitty, cute as a button and not much bigger than one. This is highly portable, but tough on older eyes and it's really easy to hit more than one button at a time.
- The remote on the 600 and the 620 can be tucked into a slot on the back, a nice feature. The difference is that the leg of the 600 closed over the remote, securing it for those times when you're on the move. The 620, however, has no means of securing it. It slips in smoothly and is likely to slip out just as smoothly, without you noticing. This small upgrade isn't an improvement.

Overall, despite the small problems, I really like the iMT620. It's small and light, very portable, it's got great sound and surprising volume before it distorts. The radio function is nice to have for those baseball games and the utter laziness of a remote for an item that's this portable is just decadent enough.

- AnnaLovesBooks

I use this with an iPhone, so most of my complaints are iPhone specific. Ipod users probably would be fine.

Short Review:
If you want this to play music from your iPhones library on the deck great. If you want this as an all around speaker dock for the iPhone and its many features like, alarms, streaming radio, etc... don't get it.

The Goodness:
It looks awesome. It sounds decent. It's rechargeable. It's portable. The handle flips around to prop it up. It has a radio! It has an AUX input.

The Badness:
The remote slides into a little designated spot on the unit. It does not stay in this spot however. Every time I pick the unit up to move it the remote goes flying out.

The handle feels flimsy.

There is no Play/Pause Button on the unit itself. You have to use the iPhone/Ipod or the remote. Since my remote flies out I can rarely find it, so I don't use that. Since the iPhone is docked I would rather not press against the screen. When I do it flexes too much and makes me feel like the iPhone or the dock itself might snap.

When the unit is set down and propped up with handle it sits at an angle. The iPhone dock is angled to counter this. This means that the phone sits perfectly straight when the unit is using the handle to prop itself up. This means also that when you flip the handle up to carry it, the iPhone leans forward precariously. You can't really ever use the unit with handle up in classic boombox fashion. Maybe you wouldn't ever want to, but you still would maybe like to carry the unit from one room to another without worrying about the phone falling out.

The Play/Pause issue complicates other things as well. Why wouldn't they add a Play Pause button you might ask? When you dock the iPhone/iPod it begins to play automatically. Awesome! Not so much. What if you want to listen to Pandora? Last.fm? Well.... if you are playing any audio that is NOT coming from the Ipod app on the iPhone the inmotion iMT620 promptly stops that audio and begins playing music from your library. Now I am forced to open the IPOD app, pause the music... keep in mind this is while docked so I run the chance of snapping something...then I continue to navigate to Pandora and begin playing. This unit seems to be made to only work well when playing songs from the iPod.

This is related to the Play Pause stuff as well but I haven't been able to really know the why or how yet but..... when I go to bed I turn the unit on and plop my phone in. It starts playing music. I pause it. My goal in this scenario is to charge the phone and use the speakers as SPEAKERS for my morning alarm. So far the results have varied. Sometimes the alarm plays through the speakers, sometimes it doesn't... it may be a software problem where the alarm conflicts with Pandora or the iPod but either way it is not possible to use this dock as a reliable "alarm" friendly dock.

My TV remote cause the unit to play and pause with EVERY button I hit. If I turn the volume up on my TV via remote....unit plays...if I change the channel the unit stops. It seems to toggle play and pause with every key press on my TV remote.

If your phone dies while using the unit on battery power the phone doesn't charge. In my opinion as long as there is enough juice to power speakers it should be charging the phone. What good is the iMT620 if you have a dead iPhone? Why not allow the phone to charge while docked and running on battery power? The unit is USELESS if your phone dies, so charge the F'ing phone iMT620! I would much rather have the unit play for a shorter amount of time from giving juice to the phone than not at all.

Thats pretty much it. I like it and am keeping it because it sounds nice, looks nice, and is cheaper than the unit I should have gotten instead, the Bose dock. A friend of mine has it and it is awesome. All of the same features minus the radio and retro styling.

I dock the iPhone into the iMT620 when I use it on the porch or in the bathroom for showers but next to my bed I dock the iphone in the apple provided cradle and use the AUX connection.

I recently was given the opportunity to test out and try this Altec Lansing iMT620 inMotion Classic Portable iPod Dock with Rechargeable Battery and FM Tuner and jumped at the chance. As my kids get older and we start doing more things outside so mobility is becoming more and more important. Music lovers want to share their sounds with friends and family on the go. If your anything like us you don't want to drain the batteries during travel, you don't want to lose their remote, and we want an easy way to carry the dock.

Just like most Ipod docks in the market, the inMotion620 Classic is suited for iPhones and iPods. It promises to provide high-end bass and treble that should really make music sound great. The iMT620 inMotion Classic also comes with a FM radio and measures just about 11" long. It is a lightweight dock that should be great to carry around so that you can share stored audio with your friends and peers.

So we decided to put this item to the test to see if it would deliver.
So far I'm impressed with the look of the iMT620. It feels like it's well made and the first thing I noticed was how portable it was. The lightweight InMotion Classic has a multi-function handle that can be swing up for grab-and-go transport, swing back as a kickstand, and swing under to stow away and turn off the battery. Inside the device is a 5 hour rechargeable battery as well as a remote cubby for storing the fully featured remote that allows you to control all your iPod's or iPhone's features from a far. It also has a small and somewhat useless LCD that displays song info, an aux input and digital FM radio.

I love the simplicity of this unit. There are 6 buttons across the top of the unit: power, source, volume up and down, and next/previous track. Forward and back serve as seek/scan buttons when the FM radio is selected; press repeadetly to seek, press and hold to scan. Information is relayed from a small amber 7-character monochrome LCD display on the top right of the face of the dock and has a battery charge indicator. Track information scrolls across the display when the iPod is selected as a source.

If you want more fine-tuned control, the IR remote provides full menu navigation for the docked iPod/iPhone. You can use it to browse artists, folders, and playlists in addition to standard play/pause/next track controls. There are four preset buttons on the remote that switch between FM presets in radio mode and switch between playlists in dock mode. The remote itself slides into place securely into a slot on the back of the unit. Again the simplicity of this unit is perfect.

Sound is pretty solid for a dock of this size and in this price range; that is to say, it won't blow you out of the room , but the audio is nicely balanced and clear and doesn't disappoint compared to Altec's previous inMotion models. It's ideal for a cubicle or home office, bedroom, kitchen, or garage--its lightness, portability, and small footprint make it a versatile player.

There are 2 things you need to know about the remote and the iphone. First, you need to swipe and unlock your docked phone in order to actually see the navigation--there's no "unlock" button on the remote. Second, you'll also need to manually select "iPod" on your Home screen in order to see the navigation, as there's no button on the remote to switch to iPod from the iPhone's Home screen (although navigation does still work).

Other than that....this is a solid unit!

I'm giving this product the full 5 stars because it does its job really well. I have found a few minor issues, but nothing big enough to merit the loss of a star. I'll mention those issues below.

So let's start with the good stuff! First of all, the build quality is excellent. No creaking or flexing in the plastic. The hinge that allows the handle to turn into a stand has a smooth motion and good positive feedback for the preset stopping points.

The LCD display works pretty well, though in most cases you won't need it for anything. In iPod mode, it will show you the song and artist information -- the same information available on the iPod itself, a couple of inches to the left, on a bigger screen. The LCD also shows the FM station, mode, and volume level when it's being changed.

The FM tuner and antenna are nice. Reception is surprisingly good and the quality is clear. You are given four radio presets, accessible on the remote. Pressing and holding one of the 4 preset buttons sets the station, and a single press brings it up.

There is also an auxiliary input that accepts a 1/8-inch jack.

The sound quality is fantastic. Certainly better than I had hoped for in a unit so small. It also has a good volume range and distortion is very well controlled at higher volume levels.

Initial charging of the battery was fast. While I didn't time it, I can say this: After taking it out of the box, I plugged it in and sat down to eat some food that I had brought home with me. I checked the unit again about a half hour later, and the battery level indicator was at full. It will charge your iPod/iPhone while it is plugged in, but not when it is running on battery power (which is to be expected).

The remote, while not perfect, is pretty cool. It's really thin and slides into a slot in the back of the main unit when not in use. When in that slot, you can't even tell there's anything there. It runs on a button-cell battery, keeping the profile as small as possible. You can control your iPod/iPhone menus from the remote, change volume, select FM presets, skip tracks, pause, etc.

As a whole, I love this thing. High quality in just about every way. Of course, nothing is perfect. Here are the relatively minor issues I have found:

While the iPod/iPhone connection seems pretty strong, the "basin" that it rests in is bigger than the base of an iPod Classic or Touch, and bigger than the base of an iPhone 3G, even with my case attached. It's good news that you can fit an iPhone with a case in there. But I'm not a huge fan of the fact that since this "basin" is so big, when placing one of these above mentioned products onto the unit, the actual port that plugs into the iPod/iPhone is the only real point of contact. The iPod/iPhone does not rest against the unit, so I'd be a little worried about accidentally bending that port if someone were to push the iPod back towards the base or pull it forward towards them. There are plastic adapters to get a snug fit for the smaller members of the iPod family, but nothing specific to the full-size line.

Because of the small profile of the remote, I always feel like I'm going to break it. And the unit doesn't always respond quickly to the remote commands. Also, when you first put an iPod or iPhone on the system, it immediately starts playing some random song. I wish it would just do nothing until I tell it to play something.

Lastly, if you plan on using this with your iPhone, you'll have to deal with your screen lock settings. Personally, I have my iPhone set to auto-lock the screen after a minute of not being touched. This happens while it is on the dock playing music. It's fine if you're just letting it go, but once it locks, you can't use the remote to navigate through the menus because the remote can't unlock the iPhone. So you have to get up anyway, to unlock it before selecting your new song. This is not an issue with the iPod line, and if you want I guess you can turn off the screen lock on your phone before using it.

Even with a couple of minor irritations, I love this thing. Certainly worth the money, and every one of the 5 stars I gave it.