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    USB speakers for laptop

    Discussion in 'Accessories' started by fantomasz, Nov 22, 2009.

  1. fantomasz

    fantomasz Notebook Deity

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    I was thinking to buy small speakers for my dv7 laptop.I look at Altec Lansing speakers.Anyone have some experience with any USB speakers?

    Altec Lansing

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    fantomasz, Nov 22, 2009
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  2. hankdennemann

    hankdennemann Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi,

    I have not had a chance to demo the Altec Lansing speakers, but I was looking for USB powered speakers about eight months ago and tried out a lot of crap. The problem with USB powered speakers is that they are limited by the USB power, so it is very difficult to make a speaker system that is any louder than your laptop speakers. In fact, that was the problem with two of the cheap speaker systems I first bought (and returned).

    Logitech makes the V10 and V20 USB speaker systems, and both are pretty good (I own both). The V10 are only 1 watt per speaker, and while they are certainly clearer than my laptop speakers (an XPS M1530), they aren't that much louder. The V20's are 2 watts per speaker, and they are very, very loud for US speakers. Their system response ranges is 70hz-20khz, which isn't as good as the Altec's, and they do seem to have too much muddy presence in the bass. That said, you can't beat them on volume.

    The 2-speaker Altec system you posted has a range of 180hz-20khz, so they may sound better than the logitech's. I cannot find the total watts for that system anywhere on Altec's site, though, and you should try to see what it is before you buy. Most USB speakers run at .5 watts per speaker; better ones run at 1 watt per speaker; and to my knowledge, only logitech's V20 and a single speaker array by Sony (not sure of the model) run at 2 watts per speaker. If you plan to use them in a noisy environment, go for the 2 watt systems.
     
    hankdennemann, Nov 22, 2009
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