Strengths:Nice build quality, video and sync pass throughs, included remote
Weaknesses:Good, but not great, sound
Posted Feb 2, 2008 - There are so many choices of speaker docks for the iPod but not nearly as many for the Zune. Of course, the iPod outsold the Zune by about 100:1. After getting a 30GB Zune at an incredible price from Woot!, I jumped at the opportunity to get the Altec Lansing speakers from the same company at an equally unbelievable price.
The Zune sits vertically in a dock in front of the speakers. If you want to watch a movie or video, it will be sideways, but it's a small sacrifice for having the menus upright when playing music which will of course be the primary activity when using this dock. There is a composite output on the back of the dock if you want to hook it up to a TV for viewing, although I haven't tried this feature.
Controls lie on top in the silver band that goes around the perimeter of the unit. From left to right, they are power, -, +, volume, bass, and treble. The + and - buttons change the volume, bass, or treble. Green LEDs light up under the black grill indicating the level setting of the parameter under adjustment.
The sound is good, but not great. You'll never confuse them with a decent pair of speakers, but they get the job done. Maximum volume is impressively high with no significant increase in distortion. The volume control on the Zune itself has no effect, unless you bring it down to minimum, at which point it mutes the speakers. Nice touch.
Overall, the speakers are definitely with the money paid ($40) and highly recommended at this price.
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