Hasta La Gadget!

You’re sick of audio docks, we know. So are we. But as much as we wanted to skip merrily along beyond Logitech’s S715i set, we couldn’t help but note that it’s something of a rarity. Whereas most other iDevice speakers tend to keep themselves safely tethered to the nearest wall plug, this unit claims it can get an ambitious eight hours of music playback from its battery, while boasting a whopping eight drivers (two rear-firing ones on the back) in total, including a pair of “laser-tuned” neodymium 3-inchers for midrange delivery. We could hardly gauge audio quality in our noisy environment, but we’ll say this much: Logitech isn’t fooling around with the volume the S715i can put out. Even our video after the break doesn’t do justice to the surprising roar you can generate from this otherwise compact package.

A standard 3.5mm audio input will let you stray outside of the Apple product family if you wish, and there’s a bundled remote too. Yet, in spite of all these goodies, we still can’t recommend this as a sage purchase at Logitech’s lofty $150 price. Don’t get us wrong, the S715i looks neat, just not that neat. We also managed to grab a few images of its family mate, the Z515 Bluetooth speaker, which similarly rolls on its own power (for up to 10 hours, it’s claimed) and captures tunes from your nearest Bluetooth-equipped device. It’s another well built and easily portable little thing, priced at $60 $100 by Logitech.

Continue reading Logitech S715i and Z515 portable speakers hands-on (video)

Logitech S715i and Z515 portable speakers hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When you think about it, iPod docks don’t make sense. Why do you have
to dock Apple’s mp3 player into a speaker dock when recent models come
with Bluetooth support? With XtremeMac’s Tango TRX, you can use
Bluetooth 2.1 and beam your music from your mp3 player to the speakers
wirelessly.

If your iPod doesn’t support Bluetooth, or you keep it disabled, you
can still dock your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPod into the front of Tango
TRX. The Tango TRX supports other portable music players, by means of a
line-in jack.

The speakers consist of two midrange drivers, two dome tweeters and a downward firing subwoofer.

The Tango TRX D, an Apple exclusive model, adds a separate charging dock for your iPod/iPhone/iPad.

There is also a remote control app which allows you to tweak the audio
as well as adjust the various EQ settings. The app is available for
free on the App Store.

The basic model is priced at $179.99 and is available now. 

The trouble with many speaker docks available today is that they support either your iPhone or your iPod, or your iPod Touch, or your iPad. With the Philips Fidelo Docking Speaker, you can attach any device with Apple’s 30-pin Dock Connector at the bottom and use the speaker system as the audio output for the device. This means if you want to play some games on your iPad or get some work done and you’d appreciate the extra sound, you can use the speaker as an iPad stand and a set of external speakers. You can just as easily remove the iPad and put your iPhone on it to charge and wake you up in the morning when it’s time to get up.

The Fidelo can function on 4 AA batteries that will power the speaker set for up to 8 hours or you can attach it to AC power for indefinite use. The device also has an aux-in jack in the back so you can dock your iPhone or iPod in the front, and then connect another media player or mobile phone using the auxiliary jack. The Fidelo will charge just about every iPod and iPhone on the market, but unfortunately it won’t charge your iPad even though it docks with it. The Philips Fidelo Docking Speaker is available now for $99.99 retail.

Sorry, that’s not your cup of joe. While it looks very much like a travel mug, the Sony SRS-V500IP is actually an iPod player dock with a speaker.

The “mug” is a 360-degree Circle Sound Stage 16W stereo speaker. Designed so that everyone around you can enjoy the music, the speaker distributes sound evenly without sticking anyone “behind” the speaker.

When driving, pop the mug into the car’s cupholder, and use the in-car power adapter to keep treating your passengers.

The dock comes with a an iPod/iPhone cradle and a 3.5mm stereo audio input for non-Apple devices, whether it’s a computer or another MP3 player.  A remote control can switch between two input sources and adjust volume. Adapters for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS are also included.

Priced $239.99, the Sony SRS-V500IP is available in black, orange, or pink, from AudioCubes.

Welcome to Engadget’s Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we’re here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we’ve got docks and alarms in our sights — and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of the month we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides.

Whether you’re simply looking for something to put on your bedside table or considering an iPod dock to replace a bulky stereo, you now have more devices than ever to choose from, which can be a tad overwhelming if you’re trying to stay on budget and still get something decent. As usual, however, we’re here to help, and have rounded up a range of docks and alarms that should more than satisfy at any price point.

Continue reading Engadget’s back to school guide: docks and alarms

Engadget’s back to school guide: docks and alarms originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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