Altec Lansing iML237USB ORBIT Ultra Portable USB-Powered Speaker

By 

Michael (Fairfax County, Virginia) –

  

I have bought and used a number of so-called portable speakers. Some were just too huge and bulky to take with me. Others sounded like a toy.

This wonderful gem is fantastic. It is small enough to throw in my suitcase without worrying about bulk or consequence. The sound is absolutely superb. I hooked it up and played various tunes from my library and the sound was incredible. The instrument nuances, the volume, the quality was incredible. I looked over at it and couldn’t believe my ears.

This is a wonderful product by a fantastic company. I highly recommend it.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comment

I’ve only had this speaker for 24 hours, but I can say that so far it’s been brilliant. I got it for my Thinkpad T400 laptop because the internal speakers were not loud enough, and some things, like DVD movies, or watching TV from my Slingbox had really low volume. I’m running Windows 7 64 bit on the laptop. I plugged in the speaker and Windows installed the driver without a hitch (no CD needed). It worked immediately thereafter. The native speakers are disabled when you plug this one in, and all the volume controls, including the hardware volume buttons on the laptop, work without change on the new speaker. If you unplug it while it’s in use the native speakers take over seamlessly. The sound quality is brilliant as compared to the native laptop speakers, and the volume, wow! I have the volume set at 5%, which is providing about the same volume of sound as the native T400 speakers grant at 100% volume. If I run the volume all the way up I can easily hear the sound at a comfortable level in the next room, and there is very small distortion. This speaker won’t take the place of a set of powered stereo speakers; but for the price, portability, and the fact that it runs off the USB port without any other power source, you can’t beat it with a stick.

Edit 10/5/2010

I found that this speaker will work with an iPad if you have the camera connector (the camera connector basically turns the dock connector into a USB port). I just plugged it into the USB port and it immediately worked, even if there is no mention in the iPad documentation that you can do this. If you have both products it might be valuable buying the camera connector instead of a separate speaker for your iPad.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comment

By 

Sacratomato (Northern California) –

  

The Orbit is the diameter of a small coaster and has a nice modern feel of heavy consequence aluminum. It comes with an attractive, very tightly fitting carrying case that looks like a miniature hat case. There are two IM237 Orbits: a battery powered model with a jack that fits 3.5mm headphone jacks and this USB model. I’m guessing Altec wants us to buy two Orbits, one for our laptops and a second one for our IPod.

The Orbit gives a very nice volume boost to laptop audio and the quality was better, much better, than I expected. Hopefully, no will guess audiophile sound from a tiny speaker that is carried on a lanyard like a change purse.

The bottom of the Orbit has a storage area for the USB cable. The cord is wound around the base and then the USB plug snaps into a storage area. The only problem is: DID ANYONE AT ALTEC TRY TO DO THIS? It doesn’t matter if you wind the cord clockwise or counteract clockwise, the cord is an inch too small and the USB plug can’t reach the storage slot. Without the plug snapped into place providing tension, the cord falls out. So putting the Orbit into the storage case means stuffing the cable in the bottom, approaching the Orbit on top and then maneuvering the lanyard around so the zipper on the case doesn’t catch it. As I mentioned, the case is very tightly fitted.

I’m assuming the Orbit for IPods was designed first. And the storage system probably worked for a cable with a small headphone jack at the end. But when Altec adapted a USB plug, the much better USB plug effectively shortened the cable length rendering the storage system useless.

9-24-09 Additional comment added: Other reviewers here of the USB Orbit don’t mention any problems with storage. I’m starting to reckon it’s not a design problem but a manufacturing problem. If the base is not snapped into the Orbit at a regular position relative to the cable, the USB plug may or may not reach the storage slot.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comments (12)