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Azatom Street Dance Mini Docking Station
by louisechackett
For my birthday this year my sister asked could she have a look at my amazon wish list as she was down in Nottingham at Uni and was typically last minute in sorting things out. I, of course, let her look at my wish list but had no idea what she was ordering for me and she told me to just wait and see what the postman would bring. The ... first item that arrived was the azatom street dance mini home speaker system and I was absolutely delighted to receive it.
==What is it?==
I had never heard of the Azatom brand before but when I was looking for a home speaker system for my ipod before Christmas I stumbled across this one which had good reviews and was a reasonable price to boot. I hoped that it would meet my needs and had actually hoped to receive the item as a present for Christmas so as I said earlier I was delighted to receive it for my birthday.
The speaker is available in a few colours these being black, silver, pink and blue so I am sure there would be one to suit everyone really. I asked for the black option as I figured it would fit in any room I wanted it to go and would be quite timeless really.
The product is compatible with iphones up to the 4S as far as I am aware and although the box doesn't mention the 5 it may well be compatible but just not updated on the box. For me though it was imperative that the unit was compatible with the ipod nano 5th generation which isn't one of the newer models now but was the one I own. I was finding my ipod a bit reduntant as I could play music through the speakers on my Blackberry and so my ipod was shoved in a drawer and barely used. It seemed a waste which is when I started my search for a speaker dock. This unit is actually compatible with ipod nanos, touch, classic, mini and I would advise having a quick look at the product online for specific details as there are many brands of ipod it is compatible with.
==My experience==
When this product arrived I was really eager to get it open and have a look at it. The street dance mini comes in a good quality thick cardboard box which shows a picture of the unit on the front and also gives information about the product as well. Me being me though just wanted to get in to the box and have a look at the actual unit! When I opened the box I was able to remove the speaker unit as well as the plug to pop it on to the mains. There is an instruction leaflet included in the box but I didn't need this.
Immediately I was impressed by the look of this unit. It was a nice compact size and sleek in design with a mainly black plastic but which also had some silver around the place you pop your ipod or iphone and the edges of the speaker. I wondered if the size of the unit would mean that it wasn't a very powerful portable speaker but I couldn't wait to try it and find out!
Now personally I tend to keep this unit on top of my microwave in my kitchen and so I have it plugged in to the mains via the plug provided. The length of the cable isn't massive but it is enough for where I want it to go. This unit can be portable should you want it to be though and you just need to insert four AA batteries which aren't provided should you wish to use it in this way. I find that the small design is really easy to move around if I really need to and I sometimes take it upstairs and plug it in up there for when I am having a bath and want some music on but for the most part it stays on top of the microwave. It looks nice when it is plugged in too as when it is on there is a glowing blue light comes from the unit which I think looks cool. It does have an on off button though for preserving energy!
This speaker unit has a 12 watt power output and I suppose to some people that will make sense. To me who is totally clueless about a lot of things it means nothing and the only way I was going to find out how good this portable speaker was would be to try it out. Slotting my ipod on to the unit was really easy and once it is on there there is no need to remove it unless you are wanting to sync it with new songs because this speaker also acts as a charging unit when the unit is on and this has been as beneficial for me as the actual speaker itself!
Basically you need to press play on your ipod and then the music will play out of the speakers. To the left and right of the place to pop your ipod there are silver buttons one of which has a plus sign and one which has a minus sign and this is for adjusting the volume of the music. The buttons are really responsive and I have had no issues with them at all. Frankly I have to say I am amazed at how much power this small speaker has and I can put my ipod on and turn it up and literally hear it in every room of the house if I wanted which makes it perfect for parties and such like! I am a girl who likes her music loud when I am cleaning and things and this speaker meets all of my needs. When the weather is good I can either open my window or door and listen to music outside or I will add batteries and take it outside with me. The quality of the sound even when on very loud is excellent and not tinny or crackly as you may possibly expect from a portable speaker. I actually called my sister on my birthday to demonstrate how good the speakers where and she couldn't believe it. It is head and shoulders above the quality and sound of the speakers I have on my PC which was where I used to play my music from.
This speaker has been such a brilliant gift to receive. It was literally a case of plug it in and add my ipod and then I could have music playing from it whenever I wanted. I love that I can leave my ipod in the unit charging and so whenever I want to hit play it will be ready to go. I will often have this playing music at various points of the day either first thing when I am pottering around making my son breakfast or later on in the day when I am cleaning for example. As I mentioned this would be great when you were having a get together but I would have to make some playlists as currently I just have mine on random shuffle of all music and knowing my luck in the middle of some really current tracks let's get it on would come on or something!
The only thing that would enhance this particular model for me would be perhaps to have a small remote control but this isn't a massive deal as like I say I like to have my music on random anyway. I do believe Azatom have models that do include remotes should you be interested.
This particular model is selling for £24.99 currently on amazon. I know my sister got it for £19.99 back at the start of April and I think this is an amazing price for a sleek looking, high performing portable speaker for your ipod. As a basic range product I am more than happy with this and would totally recommend it to anyone looking for a portable home speaker as it as far surpassed my expectations.
Thank you for reading my review!
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Bow Wow Doggy Speakers
by thriftygiftyisme
=Bow Wow Doggy Speakers=
The gadgets we have in this house, if it is cute we get it, I liked these myself but added them to the joint Santa stocking, as Santa gives my daughter a stocking but on Christmas Eve one appears early for the two of us.
=Ebay=
I purchased mine a few months before Christmas and I paid ... about £5 plus postage on eBay for them.
=What are they=
They are mini portable speakers, and can be used on MP3 players, her tablets, and laptop.
=Pinky and Perky=
I know there dog speakers but as there pink she named them after Pinky and perky from who I grew up watching in the 1970s.
=Measurements=
The dogs are 15cm in height, 7cm in width, they are made from a bright shiny pink plastic and to say shape wise I would say they are meant to look like scottie dogs, they have a white gem collar, and the speaker is the space.
=Cables=
You get the wires ours are battery powered, so it great for moving around, although some of the dogs are USB cables so it may be worth checking to see which the connection you are getting.
=Sound Quality=
Considering they are a novelty product they have a good sound coming from them, on holiday in the hotel room they are perfect to listen to some music on chill out time or getting ready, there not loud enough that they would upset anyone in the next room.
=Jack=
They have a 3,5jack, which fits most devices.
=Easy to use=
Just really plug and go, all instructions are included.
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Asda SA51AR 5.1 Powered Home Cinema System
by greaper
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Introduction
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Although i don't remember when i bought this as i was still in school at that point this speaker system is of a quality that i did not expect from something that only cost me around £20-£30. i use this with my computer which is good because i do ... not own anything to convert tv sound into the correct sources. using RCA to 3.5mm jack cables allows me to easily plug this into my computer, although i do not have the correct colour ports on my motherboard because it does have jack sensing this does not matter.
This also offers my piece of mind that i can change the location that the different speakers are in and just use the sound manager on my computer to change which speakers do what function. I am currently only using 3 of the speakers that come with this as one of the cables broke of one of the speakers when i was moving rooms and the other speaker is one its way out as the sound quality from it has dropped. But i am happy with using the 3 speakers and the sub woofer because the 3rd speaker i used for voices in games and movies which makes them much clearer.
I bought these because i was originally looking for a surround sound system to use with my computer and i must say these have done their job excellently and i would quite happily replace it when it eventually breaks with a new set. although i believe i would first try and get the individual speakers and sub woofer if that was cheaper. although for the price i would be most likely to just buy the whole set again.
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Specification
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Total Power Output: 40 watts (RMS)
Sub woofer power output: 15 watts
speakers: 5x 5 watts
Frequency response:
Sub woofer: 20Hz- 170Hz
speakers 120Hz- 20kHz
Dimensions - Subwoofer - 150 x 200 x 225mm
Speakers - 85 x 134 x 70mm
Weight: 4.5 kgs
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Details
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The rear of the sub woofer has a power on switch, which if you are going to have these in your bedroom then i would recommend that you switch them off at night as when on without a sound source they emit a humming noise. It also has a volume control which is also the button used for standby which you press in for that function, there is also a bass control which means that when you want to feel more vibrations from games you can. I find myself using this for Mass Effect 3 which makes Purgatory feel more real because you get the same thumping as you would in a real club.
If you are planning on clipping these onto walls then you can use a screw driver to remove the base from the speakers which gives you much more room to work with. This is because the stand sticks out of the back of the speaker and removing it allows you to fit it flush to the wall if you so wish. although the set that i bought did not contain any clips for wall mounting these speakers you can use screws which if you are going to use screws i would recommend using a piece of wood to attach the speakers to which can be fitted in a corner of a room. This allows the speakers to be angled around 45 degrees from the wall which allows the rear speaker sound in my opinion to have a deeper effect.
The speakers will stand up straight without the stands attached which is useful because on 2 of my speakers the stands came off. i find the center speaker because it is too high when stood up in the center of the TV because it blocks part of the screen i can have it laid on its side, this still has the speaker work as it should. This will really only be a problem for you if your TV is lower if it is wall mounted or the speakers are on a lower shelf then this should not be a problem. If like me you are going to use these with a computer for gaming and you will be likely to be closer to the speakers then i would recommend tilting the speakers towards the center speaker because this helps to add depth to the sound and can help to confine where the sound is going to go.
I believe there is a troubleshooting guide included along with the manual although i have not needed to use this so my memory on it is not as good but the other reviews that i have read also mention this so this should mean that it is included with this product. Because it is an asda product you can also use their customer helpline to help troubleshoot problems. with this product you get a 28 day returns policy and a 1 year warranty for if it stops working. I do not believe that if you buy this that it will go wrong, as mine has not after 3-5 years because the wattage of the individual speakers is listed this means that you can also source replacement speakers at the correct wattage although i have not tried this myself i am not sure if this will work.
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