Altec Lansing Speakers on sale at Office Depot

[bleeman]

While going through the weekend ads, I discovered Office Depot of all places has the Altec Lansing Speakers for the Zune on sale for $50 off, making them $149 instead of $199. I haven't physically seen them or tested them out as my local store didn't have them in stock. However, the product description (http://www.alteclansing.com/product_details.asp?pID=M604) makes them look good and you can order them online at Office Depot (http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=208647&D=2%20zune&No=10&Dx=mode%20matchallpartial&Nty=1&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&Ntt=zune&N=100000&uniqueSearchFlag=true&Nr=100000&Ntk=all&An=text). Since it's part of their "Weeky Specials" flyer I'm assuming the price is only good until Saturday the 6th.

If I can get the money together in time I'll probably purchase them and will post back with a mini review if I do.

[zuneone]

Nice... that is a good price.

Sadly I can't use may Zune yet because I still have Vista RC2 and must wait until the end of January to purchase full version :<

[MarxMarvelous]

I got this dock last week (a returned unit for even cheaper off eBay). Quick review:

Pros:
* Looks nice & compact, buttons are well hidden, cool use of LED's behind the speaker grill to show volume levels.
* Easy to get up and running.
* Decent sound quality.
* Nice way to charge the Zune w/o having to leave the computer on or buy the AC adapter
* Remote included
* Easy to hook up other MP3 players (and it includes the cable to do so which I didn't expect)
* Bass/treble adjustments

Cons:
* Not blown away by the sound.
* Can't control everything using remote. Only play/pause, volume, and prev/next track. You need to actually select the music using the Zune itself.

Overall, I'm pleased with the purchase as an easy way to get music into another room in the house. Given the price, I think the 'cons' are reasonable enough to live with.

If anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

[bleeman]

Thanks for the mini review MM. As you mentioned it looks like the cons aren't enough to outweigh the pros. My main reason for purchase would be to have a mini "boombox" for my desk. When I'm working from my home office quite often I'll be handling phone calls from clients so I don't want to deal with headphones. In addition, although I'll be right in front of the computer I'd much rather use the Zune for playback as it's one less item running on my system and I always hate tuning my sound for music and then getting a loud "ding" when new mail, an error, etc. pops up :)

I have a similar setup for my iPod Nano with Logitech's mm50's and they're a nice set of speakers. They have a cable input option and right now I've been using them as an interim as the Zune fits nicely in the dock. Unfortunately, it won't actually dock so I can't recharge and I can't use any of the remote features other than volume up/down and mute. Therefore, my plan is to sell them with the Nano. I had hoped Logitech would come out with a set for the Zune, but it doesn't appear they're doing anything for it at the moment.

[MarxMarvelous]

Yup, that sounds like an ideal application Bill. I just didn't want anyone to expect they could power a big party or anything with it. ;)

Since you are keeping it near a computer, you also might like that it has a mini-USB plug on the back so that you can sync while the Zune is docked. The USB cable is not included.

[bleeman]

Cool! That will work out great. I already have a mini USB cable in place for syncing my PSP when needed and since I don't really do that very often I can use the same one for the speakers.