A couple of weeks ago I decided to finally make use of a spare pc I had lying around, and figured I could put it in the bedroom to be able to use it alongside the xbox I currently use as a media centre, and also to allow my girlfriend and I to play multiplayer games together.

To make things sound good, I decided to pick up a set of speakers rather than just using the sound from the TV. I managed to pick up a set of creative Inspire Slim 2700 2.1 speakers from Ebay for a bargainous £10.

When they arrived (packed in a massive cardboard package made from a cutdown vacuum cleaner box) I was quite impressed with the build quality, although nothing like a nice set of good quality hifi speakers, for a set of pc speakers they are pretty well made.

The setup consists of two small speakers, a bass cube and a wired volume control.

The two speakers are approximately 6.5 inches (16cm) tall, 4 inches (10cm) wide and 2 inches (5cm) deep. The front of the speakers is covered in acoustic cloth and at the bottom there is a 1 inch square panel with a Creative logo. They are pretty stylish to look at and look nice sat next to a flat screen display.

Turning the speakers around, it is only the bottom 4inches or so actually have any depth beyond just being a plastic panel, and this is where the speaker is housed. Removing the front cover reveals the speakers cone - which is just under 2.5inches in diameter - which is mounted with 4 screws. The front panel has an open grid infront of the speaker and te rest is solid plastic. The overall size of the speaker seems to have been chosen onpurely an aesthetic basis, and as I've said, they do look good.

Round the back of the speaker, the back is sorted of rounded off and feratures a creative logo. In the back there is a slot about an inch wide. Exiting from the middle of the slot is the speaker wire, a reasonably thick strand wire terminated with a standard phono plug. At the top of the slot is a narrow slot to allow for wall mounting the speakers. This is done simply by putting a screw in the wall and slotting the speaker over the screw head.

To fit into the wide slot on the back of the speaker there are two stands (one for each speaker). The stands slide into place nicely and even have a hole in the back for the wire to fit through.

With the stands in place, the spekaers sit nicely on the desk and lean back slightly to angle the speaker upwards towards the user (who for the most part is likely to be sat in front of the pc).

The wires from the two speakers plug into phono sockets on the back of the bass unit, which is a small approx 8 inch cube. Along with the speaker sockets, the back of the bass unit houses a power socket for the mains adapter, a 3.5mm stereo jack socket input to plug the pcs audio output into. A socket for the wired volume control and a volume knob.

The rest of the cube is fairly plain, though the front is in the same style as the small speakers, covered in acoustic cloth and with a small silver square with a Creative logo on it.

The wired control is a a small triangular shaped plastic device with a circular dial on the top. the lead which connects to the bass unit exits from the narrow end of the triangle. Next to the dial is a small led which lights up when the unit is switched on.

Once setup, which takes a matter of a couple of minutes, operating the speakers couldn't be more simple.

To switch it on, you just turn the dial on the the volume control, there is an initial click as the unit switches on then you adjust the volume with the dial...simple.

That really is all there is to the using the speakers.

Of course the most important aspect of any speaker system, is how does it sound, well top be honest I am pretty impressed! The top end is pretty detailed and crisp, the mid range works quite nicely and the bass from the bass unit is actually quite impressive, giving a good level of depth and kick to the bass.

My main hifi setup is a fairly nice separates system with lovely KEF speakers, so I am used to nice sounds and I have to say the Creative speakers, while obviously nowhere near as good as my main speakers, didn't offend my ear like some small cheap speakers do!

For use with a pc these speakers are great, they produce bags of sound and are a pleasure for gaming. Playing various shooting games, the explosions and gunfire are very satisfying to the ears.

If you can find yourself a set of these cheap you will be very impressed and will have yourself a great sound setup!