Portable Altec Lansing Speakers Not For The Budget-Conscious

The Altec Lansing iMT702 is a speaker system that can be used both indoors and outdoors, thanks to its AC adapter and built-in rechargeable battery. It is compatible with most iPods and iPhones and comes with an Auxiliary-in port, which means it can be used to blast your tunes from any source anytime.

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The unit sports a black frontage with a hard grey plastic lining the sides. Users can find four speakers (behind the grille), a slide-out docking bay for the iPod, and a 1.75-inch LCD screen up front. Seven touch sensitive controls are found on top of the dock, with users being able to power up (or down), change the source, adjust the volumes, change the station (or track), or turn the unit’s ESS (Expanded Sound Stage) function on or off (more on ESS later).

The unit’s rear hosts the FM antennae, AC, and Aux-in ports. One thing missing on the device, which users could have liked as an addition, is a video-out port that could let us watch videos on a monitor.

The unit is flat and requires a user to flip open the kickstand and slide open the iPod docking bay. The company has included a couple of adapters to ensure a proper fit for your iPhone or iPod.

Since the unit is designed for the iPhone, users can receive calls or SMS while it is docked.

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While the remote is well-labelled and fairly easy to use, we had issues with the unit’s range and responsiveness. Users would have to directly point the remote to the IR sensor for it to work, which gets annoying after a while. The control buttons on the device were too sensitive, with us accidentally changing the source while moving the unit to another part of our desk.

The iMT702 handled tracks from our iPod well, with the unit being clear and crisp even at high volumes. It may not have as much bass as other iPod docking stations, but it still packed a punch.

The Expanded Sound Storage mode (ESS) widens the stereo image to fill a room with sound. This mode gives the feeling that music is coming from all sides rather than just the front. The LCD displays the title of the song, the artist, as well as the album information, although the information was cut by three dots (…) if the text is too long.

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In addition to the iPod playback function, the unit also comes with a built-in FM tuner. Users would have to connect the external antennae in order to get the best signal possible. The iMT702 can store up to four stations, and all users have to do is to press and hold one of the four ‘P’ buttons on the remote.

Users can also hook up their non-iPod audio device to the iMT702, just so long as they purchase their own 3.5mm jack.

Since the unit comes with rechargeable batteries, users can bring it around and use it for about 3.5 hours.

While this portable stereo from Altec Lansing sounds good and is ‘portable,’ we feel that the asking price of $449 is just too steep. There are a couple of portable iPod docking stations that are compatible with the iPhone that sounds better  (and cheaper) than the iMT702, so have a look around first before taking the plunge.

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Altec Lansing InMotion Max iMT702 | $449 |  | www.anyware.com.au

For: Design; Rechargeable batteries; Compatible with iPhone; Good sound output; FM; Remote included; ESS mode
Against: Overly sensitive touch keys; Remote has limited range
Conclusion: Go ahead and indulge, if you can stomach the steep price.