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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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Bow Wow Doggy Speakers
by spiritwood
These strange looking dogs from "The novelty gift company" are one set of a few mini portable speakers that we own in the house. My daughter loves technology and so I have started to get her some of her own bits and pieces (mainly to stop her pinching mine!). She is just coming up to 4 so still young, so everything we buy has ... to be hard wearing and able to cope with a bouncy small person.
These were initially purchased for an cheap mp3 player that I got for her but we have used them on a tablet and a PSP as well. Although my daughter was drawn to the cute factor of these, I had to ensure that they would work well before I bought them. The one review on Amazon did not look very promising however we know somebody who had these and we asked her.
MEET THE DAWGS:
Yes they are pink. Very pink. My daughter was going through her "pink phase" and loved these when she saw them on Ebay. Most portable speakers supply you with just the one speaker and cables, sometimes you are lucky and get one with a "buddy jack" so that you can connect two together. In this case you get two pink dogs to start with which is great. Apparently when released, these somewhat disturbing faceless pink canines cost £35! We paid £8.99 for the pair on Ebay but it seems that you can only get them second hand now which is a shame (if you are 4).
These little dogs are 15cm high and 7cm wide so a good size for my daughter to manage and being this size and pink means that they are not easy to lose either which is a bonus. They are made from a shiny plastic and shaped along the lines of a scotty dog. They have hideous white gem clad collars on and more interestingly they seem to have the speaker for a face....
They are USB powered so best used for a tablet, laptop etc of can be used with an mp3/PSP etc with a suitable cable which we have too as it increases their versatility.
SOUND QUALITY:
Bearing in mind that these are a novelty item, I did not expect too much. I have been very surprised by the loudness and quality of some pop up mini speakers, these are no different. Obviously you cannot expect top quality stereo from these but they are plenty loud enough to play music through or to game with. They do not seem to distort even at top volumes and they fill a room easily. You will not be able to hear every nuance of a song through speakers like these but for what they are they are very good.
BUILD:
These have decent enough quality build, the plastic has not scratched or cracked in any places despite being owned by a small child. Neither have the speaker cone noses become indented or torn despite being quite fragile. The speakers themselves are well attached and seem to be very strong for something so small. The cable connectors are equally decent, no pins have bent or broken off despite rough handling.
USE:
These plug into any 3.5 jack. They are USB powered as I stated but it appears that some when released were battery powered. I have not been able to find any of those around though and indeed finding these USB powered ones is difficult now unless second hand. Being USB powered you are somewhat limited to the home rather than out and about like the little pop up speakers available, but this is easy to get around with the right add on cables. You can run the USB from a car lighter socket too with an adapter and this is something that we have done. These speakers work straight from the box and are very easy to set up. Having a pair of them means greater sound quality as you can set them up to be multi-directional. Great fun for immersing yourself in a game.
Summary:
All in all these are a functional novelty item. The sound is surprisingly good and I guess if you like pink dogs with no faces then these would be for you. They are now hard to find... maybe this is a good thing?!
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Kitsound Mini Buddy Penguin Speaker
by spiritwood
This is a cute speaker for kids who like technology (or adults that like penguins). I bought this a while ago for my daughter as one of a bunch of portable speakers that we now own for assorted phones, mp3 players, PSP etc and we have taken it out and about on our travels with no problems. It is well build and packs a surprisingly good ... noise into such a strange looking casing. It does have a nice feature in the buddy jack (more about this below) and like a lot of these mini speakers, it has a keyring clip. A nice touch but it is not something that I would really want hanging off of my keys :)
Amazon have two versions of this little speaker on the listing, a rather groovy pink owl and this little penguin. Included in the price is a universal size smartphone cover and a set of headphones which appear to be exclusive to Amazon as the products on Ebay just include the speaker.
FEATURES:
Fits in your hand at around 10cm with a shiny hard wearing plastic case. The cables and jacks work well and there is no crackling or bad connection. The so called "buddy jack" is on the bottom edge and it has a charging connector for USB charging. The main cable to connect to your device is short but should that be an issue it would be easy to use an extension 3.5 cable to make it much longer.
Buddy jack:
Apart from the very obvious penguin design, this has something called a "buddy jack" which means that you can pair it up with other speakers for a fuller sound experience. The buddy jack is a standard 3.5 sized jack which means any 3.5 cable will fit. Easy to pair up with the portable pop up speakers (of which we have a few) or of course another penguin....
Portability and charging:
This little speaker has a USB (supplied) charging facility and a built in Li-ion battery which means that there are no annoying batteries to buy or replace. Ours charges up in less than two hours from my laptop and it gives us up to 6 hrs play. The speaker is highly portable and very versatile. The 3.5 jack means that it will fit a laptop, any phone with headphone socket, tablet etc and we have used this for all of those items with success.
It looks silly but does it work?
For a portable speaker this does what it says. It works well, the sound is good for something so small and it is actually surprisingly loud. If you want it loud then you are obviously not going to get a quality sound experience but for portable music or gaming this thing is fun. We have used it out and about, on the beach, at the childminders (with PSP attached) and at home to stop my daughter from hogging my posh new laptop speaker system.
Connecting it up is self explanatory and my 4 year old can work it and plug it in no problems so it is not complicated at all, and of course this is one of the reasons that I chose this for her. She is very independent and likes to do things for herself. This would make a great present for kids who like their technology and music.
It travels well, it has not cracked or got scratched despite being lugged about and shoved in various bags. Although not remotely the cheapest portable speaker out there (some go for just £4.99), it is good fun and sounds decent. Ours came with the extras that are included in the Amazon listing which as well as the little phone case have some bonkers penguin headphones too.
Summary:
* USB charging
* Fits any tablet/ phone/ laptop. PSP etc with standard 3.5 jack out.
* Fun little speaker for kids that stops them pinching your stuff!
* Surprisingly loud and decent sound for what it is.
* Keyring clip
* Amazon listing also includes penguin headphones and phone case
PRICE:
Range from £7.99 on Ebay to £19.99 on Amazon (with extras - headphones and case). I paid £11.99 for mine so do shop around.
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