Due to circumstances I hadn’t anticipated, I came into possession of a new black 60 GB iPod (5G) on 3/1/06. This makes me very happy because now I can watch video on it in addition to looking at photos and listening to music. I’m in the unusual position that my iPod now has more capacity than my laptops (40 GB and 20 GB). But that isn’t the point of this entry.
The point of this entry is that the new iPod (despite the fact that it has lost firewire capability and is USB only) STILL works with the Altec Lansing inMotion speakers. I attached one end of the iPod USB cable to my laptop (old stylee USB 1) and the other to the port on the Altec Lansing, it immediately fired up iTunes automatically and synced through the dock, and I can also listen to it through the dock, not having to connect the audio out of the iPod to the aux in of the speakers. That made me happy. The port on the inMotion speakers is obviously a 1:1 thing, and they haven’t fooled round with the wiring. Nice of them. Both products are superb, although it’s difficult to buy content for the iPod in Europe. I have to make my own which is a bit slow.
(Electronics) I bought the IM9 yetaerdsy after spending an hour at the Apple store listening to all the alternatives. Loved the Bose system, but couldn’t justify the expense. It was a decision between this and a Klipsch product, but when it came to sound balance (you have no control over bass, treble, etc. on any of them) using Barry White for the comparison the Klipsch was WAY too tinny. The IM9 has really nice warm bass (almost TOO much for a small room) I liked it better in the store and outside than I did in my little kitchen. Inside, I also noticed the hiss another reviewer mentioned, but it wasn’t enough to make me want to take it back it was, however, enough to knock my rating here down a star. What I love about this is the beefiness of it. It’s heavy for its size, and for all its compactness, it surprised me with the quality of sound. THe IM7(?) claims to have better sound, which I couldn’t really hear in the store, and is so much bigger it makes portability a factor.