Gear Diary Reviews the Altec Lansing M604

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.geardiary.com/?p=2092' target='_blank'>http://www.geardiary.com/?p=2092</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;One of the first things I realized after getting my Zune was that although listening to it through a premium set of earphones was nice, there were going to be plenty of times when I wouldn&rsquo;t want to hear my music that way. Times when I would want to hear it playing over a better sounding system than the craptastic speakers on my laptop. Figuring out how I was going to accomplish this became my goal, because the fact of the matter is that there is a certain other digital music player that currently enjoys most of the after-market accessory love from all of the premium music dock companies. That&rsquo;s why I was very interested when I saw the announcement that Altec Lansing - one of those premier music dock companies - would be producing a M604 Powered Audio System specifically for the Microsoft Zune.&quot;<br /><br /></em><img alt="" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/zt/2006/wey-20070206-alteclansm604.jpg" /><br /><br />Gear Diary's Judie Hughes has just reviewed the Altec Lansing M604 Powered Audio System for the Zune. At $199.95 (or slightly lower, if you shop around), you can expect great sound and great looks, so if money is no object, you may want to consider one of these beasts as an accessory.

[NPrtmn4evr]

I really hate the high prices of these type of speakers. It's insane that they sell them for almost the same price (and sometimes higher) than the player itself.

[MarxMarvelous]

I was able to get one for about $125 (incl shipping) off of eBay. It was a store returned item that was in perfect working condition.

[bleeman]

I paid full price for mine and yes I would have preferred paying less, but they are really nice so no regrets here. About the only feature I'm not completely thrilled with is the dock. As Judie mentioned in her review you have to pull your Zune out of the case to dock it. A pain with my ToughSkin case, but I think it will be much easier once my Vaja case arrives.

[ale_ers]

My biggest problem with this speaker is that it has no battery (correct me if I am wrong). I would probably pick up up if I could play it at a tailgate or on my deck without having to worry about an extension cord.

I thought the point of a portable music player was to be portable. You could do the same thing if you bought the dock and a nice set of computer speakers.

Please tell me if I am wrong and it will work without plugging it in.

[gasusan2006]

I was waiting for Judie at Gear Diary to review the speakers....and I am thrilled to hear they are worth it! I am going to add these to my "I need list" :)

Susan

[bleeman]

My biggest problem with this speaker is that it has no battery (correct me if I am wrong). I would probably pick up up if I could play it at a tailgate or on my deck without having to worry about an extension cord.

I thought the point of a portable music player was to be portable. You could do the same thing if you bought the dock and a nice set of computer speakers.

Please tell me if I am wrong and it will work without plugging it in.

Sorry, no battery, so no sound these speakers were designed to just sit on your desk, in your living room, etc. where they can be plugged in. I use my headset if I'm going mobile, my adapter in my truck when I'm traveling, and the speakers at home when I don't want to be "plugged in".

I had Logitech's MM50's when I had my Nano and they were battery powered but I never used them in that mode as my main purpose for the speakers were to give me a way to listen to my music while at my desk, but still able to take calls, as well as work on my computer and not have to run the music through it and put up with the inevitable LOUD ding when mail arrived or an error occurred.

I'm not saying having batteries isn't a good thing, but for me, it's not a big deal. Maybe Logitech will release a variation of the MM50's for the Zune too. I know that physically the Zune would fit in the space on them, it's just the dock connector doesn't match. However, they do have a line-in jack and you could run your Zune through it just knowing you couldn't sync or charge via them. I was using them in this manner until I was able to sell them with my Zune and that's what gave me the $'s to buy these speakers.