Customer Reviews

Altec Lansing inMotion iM3C Portable Audio System for iPod

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

These are the best iPod accessory I have. The sound is rich and loud for the size. Sure they won't sound like an expensive stereo system, but they are totally portable and suitable for listening in a large room. By controlling the equalizer on the iPod, I've been pleased with the sound on everything from Jazz to HipHop to Classical. True audiophiles may find fault, but I love them. I suggest bringing your iPod to an Apple store and trying out all of the different speaker systems with your music to see which suit your needs.


These speakers are small, compact and the aesthetics match the iPod . Most of my guests have complimented both the look and the sound.

While the Bose and JBL OnStage speakers have more robust sound (and price tags), they are simply not portable. With these speakers, I can:
1. Pop in some batteries (4 AA last for a long time) and use outside like an iPod boombox.
2. Fold up and drop in my suitcase for business trips (carrying case included).
3. With the included power adapters, I've used these for ad-hoc hotel room parties in Spain, France, Thailand and Malaysia.
4. Leave my power cord/adapter at home and use the speakers to charge the iPod when traveling.
5. Easily move my iPod and music from room to room in my house

The one issue I have is with the included remote control. It is not very responsive and has some lag between button pushes and responses on the iPod. Aside from that, I love these.

Let's start with - This is not what I expected. Seriously, I was expecting much less from this thing. I ordered this because I was tired of using my iTrip with my current radio in my room. I like to just leave my iTrip in my car, and the iTrip doesn't have the good quality I would like in my bedroom at home.

When I got this in, I looked at it thinking it would be small sound, small everything really. But I was pleasantly suprised. The sound is quite full for the size of the unit. Now it is no Bose Sounddock, so don't expect lots of bass...actually there is NO bass in this little thing - I tried some current r&b and rap tunes and kind of laughed. But I still appreciate the value of these speakers because of the tiny amount of space it takes up, the good quality sound, the ease of use, and the portability factor. The sound is room filling, but no more than that. Don't expect to hear this thing jamming from across the house, but I'm not worried about that. I live in an apartment with a roommate, so I don't mind the smaller sound, she doesn't either.

Get these if you can't shell out $300 for the Bose Sounddock...you won't be disappointed

This system worked great for my 40 GB iPod. The carrying case and interchangable plug-ins are nifty for international travellers. A word of warning -- the 60 GB iPod Photo does not fit in the docking station. Altrec insisted that it does at the time I purchased it in July 2005. Be sure to order the "Altec IM3 for iPod and iPod Photo" that is now available if you have the Photo iPod.

After evaluating quite a few portable IPod options including the JBL OnStage, the Logitech MM22s, and the Creative Lab TravelSound, I came to purchase this unit.

The packaging for this unit is superb and like no other. The unit, in its folded state, is flat and about the thickness of a deck of cards. It measures 8" wide and 5.5" up and down. To unfold the unit, you tug the top and buttom away from each other and the bottom portioin becomes the base, the connections behind the base, and the speakers become vertical with a slight tilt upwards toward the listener.

Firstly I have to say for a speaker this size, the quality of sound is astounding. No it won't touch a larger bookshelf speaker system but its still excellent. Treble energy is on the bright side and, to my ears, there is a slight hump in the mid-high range characteristic of higher priced chain-store speakers. There is no low-bass or mid-bass to speak of but there is a surprising amount of low-mid end sound, however thin it is. For most people, this will give a pretty good illusion of some semblence of bass in this tiny package. There is just enough power to fill a medium size room, however, its ability to image and soundstage more than a near-field listening role is greatly diminized as expected for something this small. All in all, though I prefer the flatter response that high-end speakers are tuned for, this is much more than satisfactory for a portable foldable system. Its not hard to tune a speaker for a flatter response, but generally speaking, most consumer branded speakers edge towards higher treble energy.

There is a caveat, however. The best sounding system of all the units I listed is definately the JBL with a much flatter, neutral response. That means it will sound more "full" to your ears, more "natural" sounding. It also has more power than the IM3s giving better ability to image in a bigger room. The problem with the JBL's is that 1) it is not as portable as the Altec IM3's and 2) there is not nearly as many features.

And so we get to the reason why this system can be justified at such a price. If the sound is not the best but the price is the highest of the portable IPod systems, then why pay it? The answer is the features. The IM3 comes with adapters for the IPod Mini, the 30/40gb, the 10/15/20gb, and the older non-dockable Ipods via a stereo input connector. As do all the other systems beside the JBL, it can also run quite along time on 4 AA batteries. When running on batteries, the system will automatically go into standby mode after 2 minutes of non-use. This is a great idea to conserve battery life. It also acts a dock, with a standard IPod dock cable in the rear. The power adapter comes with 4 different tips that work in different countries. This is fantastic for us who travel overseas. Also included is a soft, thick carrying back that is just big enough to carry the IM3 and the power transformer. There is rather asinine design flaw to the bag, however. It closes up via 4 fairly strong permanent magnets. Put this thing near your IPod or laptop hard drive and there are no garentees how badly your mp3s or data would be corrupted. This is a pretty bad oversight. The absolutely coolest feature, in my opinion, has to be the little remote that comes with the IM3. It slides neatly into the back of the unit so you won't lose it if you somehow drop it out of your tote bag. The IR receiver is on the front of the base after it folds out. With the remote you have IM3 on/off, Ipod on/off, play/pause, prev/backward, and next/forward. With a little bit of testing, the maximum range is roughly 6 feet. Looking back at this paragraph, its pretty amazing the amount of features packed into the IM3!

In conclusion (for those of you skipping all the wordy stuff up there!), you get the best audio quality except for the JBL OnStage's which don't totally qualify as a portable due to its lack of a battery compartment. What you do get is very good treble, acceptable midrange and a system which sounds better than the other small battery power portables. It is featured pack with the ability to be powered in almost any country and comes with a very slick remote. The only thing that prevents me from giving it 5 stars is its price. Even with all those features, it still is a bit overpriced in my humble opinion. But if that laundry list of features is appealiang to you as it was to me, there isn't any choice.

I was looking for a good sounding, compact, portable speaker system to compliment my iPod. The pressing need was to find something to bring to the hospital for background music during our baby's delivery. At the same time, I need a practical traveling companion that can perform home duty when not on the road. The Altec Lansing iM3 fills all of these needs.

While we await the baby's arrival, the iM3 has been called on to replace an aging Sony Dreamstation CD alarm clock. It took only seconds to unpack and connect to my 20GB 3G iPod. Moments after removing it from the box my wife and I were preparing for bed to our Diana Krall collection. A few spins of the iPod's click-wheel and I had my alarm set to wake me up to my 'Rock' playlist the next morning. Needless to say, it worked like a champ. My wife was able to lower the volume from her side of the bed using the iM3's furnished remote control.

We travel a lot and expect to continue after the baby arrives. The iPod goes with us. What will be great is now, not only will we be able to listen to the iPod in the car (along with XM), we'll also be able to listen to it in our hotel room. Because the iM3 collapses to the size of a small paperback novel it will fit comfortably in our luggage with it's included padded case. Even better, we'll be able to take it on international trips thanks to Altec Lansing having the forsight to provide interface changers for the packaged AC adapter.

As for the sound, the iM3 is no Bose SoundDock. But the audio is quite extraordinary for such a diminutive system. We first sampled some remastered Beatle's upon unpacking the unit but found the sound to be on the tinny side. What we forgot to remember was the Beatle's music was recorded on analog gear over forty years ago. Even with the best digital re-sampling, it's going to sound tinny. We then played some more recent recordings (Diana Krall) and heard a full, rich, quality that was lacking with the Beatle's tunes. Solid bass response, even mids, and clear high notes.

Having sampled the Bose SoundDock and JBL OnStage before purchasing the iM3, I'm extremely satisfied with my purchase. If I were purchasing a Bookshelf system that would live a sedintary life in my office or den, the SoundDock is the way to go (the JBL OnStage has a very thin sound). I selected the iM3 over the SoundDock for the value it offers (padded case, international AC adapter, and remote) but more so for what the SoundDock can't do... fit in a suitcase.

These are great speakers however after about 6-months the power saver kept kicking in causing the unit to shut off every minute or so...even when plugged in. I replaced them and so far so good. Sound quality is pretty good and the compactness allows you to easily take them on the road.

+ Great sound quality
+ Powerfull enough to fill my living room (though probably not with 25 people in party mode) with a small footprint.
- The remote requires you to point it somewhat accuretly at the speakers and is not as responsive as a remote for a tv. (Probably because the remote is tiny and only has a watch-like battery, so not enough power).

Overall, very good quality for a reasonable price.

I bought these speakers several months ago, specifically for travel. If played at low volume (enough to fill a hotel room, but not loud enough to disturb someone in the next room), they do a very nice job. I use them with my iPod and with a small FM radio (to listen to NPR). They are light, easy to pack, and the sound only distorts at higher volumes. Bringing them along also saves me from packing the iPod charger...so I save a little space. Note: I have the Bose for cranking up the sound at home!

I purchased the Altec iM3 after lots of research on which of the portable speaker systems would best meet my needs. After ruling out the Bose and JBL based solely on portability and convenience, which were my main goals, I feel completely confident that the iM3 is the way to go.
-Size matters. It may be small but it is powerful.
-I noticed that some songs, probably downloaded at better quality, played louder & sounded better, but I think that would be true of any system.
-The style and design are way cool. You won't believe how small and light it is.
- I am not a sound-guru, I just like to be able to hear the music and feel like it's loud enough without buzzing or interference. It gets the job done effortlessly.
-It was loud enough to hear all over the 4 bedroom condo we rented for our vacation and quiet enough to use on the deck or in the bedroom at night and not intrude on the neighbors.

One problem I ran into was that the AC cord stopped working after just a few days, which is pathetic. *BUT Amazon.com is replacing it overnight so I am satisfied. When I called Altec to get a new AC cord, they said it is on back order for 3-4 weeks and said I'D have to call back at that time to order one. How's that for customer service? My biggest concern is WHY are they having so many problems with the AC cord that they can't keep them in stock? (Time will tell) The "case" could be a little better too...think of it as more like a sleeve, not a case, but it's still nice to have something to hold it in. The remote is about the size of a stick of gum, and could maybe use a lanyard to attach it to, (like the iPod Shuffle) but it is defintely nice to have a remote included with the system.

In summary, I love this product and would highly recommend it from Amazon. If the AC cord weren't defective on my unit it would have earned 5 stars. Will update this review if the AC cord problem is chronic.


UPDATE: Still using this speaker dock 6 years later and have never had another problem with it. I have gotten a LOT of use out of it and have taken it on several trips each year, so it has been well-traveled. Enjoy!

My 40gb iPod photo DOES NOT FIT in the dock. Altec Lansing tech support claims by removing the installed adapter it will fit, but in fact IT DOES NOT... Altec Lansing also claims that the iM3c is compatable with the iPod photo. Amazon apparently does not carry the iM3c only the iM3...

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT IF YOU HAVE AN iPod Photo!!!!