12 March 2011

Altec Lansing - iM11 - Product revisited

The name Altec Lansing for some may be a brand name that is synonymous with top shelf quality audio.

Similarly when thinking of mp3 players, Apple's ipod units are at the top of the list.

Marrying the two together nets us with products called ipod/iphone speaker docks.

In this consumer throw away oriented society, there is a plethora of ipod speaker docks available that can range from "low end" $40 units to mid range $200 to mid $500 units, then up to the higher end mid $1000 units.

Looking back at a product that corpau has in its possession is the Altec Lansing im11 portable ipod speaker dock (in white, as illustrated), which when bought retailed in the mid $200 range, putting it into the mid range quality bracket.

A quick online search at the time of posting show that the exact same model is still available for approx. AD$170.

The Apple ipod market is one that is well over hyped, and in general the accessories offered are greatly overpriced. This is a common and well expressed view within the online community in both Apple supporters and their critics.

The AL im11 comes with a 9V adapter together with a usb input, and an external 3.5" audio socket.

The sound quality is one that lacks any sort of bass, with the treble sounding tinny and hollow.











Currently Dick Smith Electronic sells an ipod dock from Thomson for $38.

The quality of the output sound from the $170 Altec Lansing im11 is NO better than that of the $38 Thomson unit.

Companies are cashing in on their name offering sub standard quality one would expect from the price bracket the product is slotted into.

In reality the two Chinese made components are as equal as each other.

A similar comparison has been made previously on corpau with respect to the Soniq and Logitec brands. with a price variance of approx. 200%.

logitech-pure-fi-rip-off

In this case the difference is over 400%.

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