Creative D100 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)Given this is the first review, I will be thorough.
I've owned the Creative D100 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker for two months (paid $78.47). I'm very pleased. The sound quality is excellent for this type of speaker. The volume is loud enough to completely fill a room or a small outdoor area (e.g., patio). I've enjoyed it on the beach and found quality does not suffer much at high volumes.
Like with any small speaker, if you crank it to max volume, there is some distortion on bass-heavy songs. But the distortion is slight, and the bass sounds great if you have the volume appropriately set for the type of audio you are streaming.
On that note, there is no remote. The only way to control the volume is the `volume up' and `volume down' buttons on the front of the speaker or directly from streaming device ONLY IF it allows it. That is, my iPhone (3G - iOS 3.1.3) CANNOT change the speaker's volume while streaming, but my laptop can. In my use, I have not needed a remote. Usually I directly set the speaker's volume for the environment (e.g., bathroom, patio) and forget it. No remote also means you must control the streaming media from your device. There are no media control buttons on the speaker.
There is an auxiliary input on the back of the speaker, if you want to hook up a non-bluetooth device, or maybe just to save battery by not using Bluetooth.
Pairing with Bluetooth-capable devices (in my case, iPhone 3G and HP laptop) is simple and quick.
Battery life (four AA) is excellent. It is so long I cannot even put an estimate in terms of hours. It also came with an AC adapter, but I have never used it. The battery compartment is underneath the speaker.
The speaker is fairly small and very light. I actually carry it from room-to-room to enjoy while I am doing chores.
My only concern with the speaker is the build quality. The plastic casing is sturdy, but the front face of the speaker (surrounding the name plate and volume controls) is made of cloth. The cloth is spongy, but I am worried that it will inevitably tear with my heavy use of the speaker. There is no travel case included with the speaker.
Looking for a portable Bluetooth wireless speaker, I also considered the Logitech Z515 ($90, smaller and cloth-free). I've never used that Logitech speaker, but I ultimately chose the Creative D100 based on superior reviews for sound quality and bass quality. Look into both. There are good reviews for them and a comparison on CNET, if you want more information.
On the front of the speaker:
Volume up button
Volume down button
Bluetooth connect button
On the back of the speaker:
Power (on/off) switch
Aux input
5V AC adapter input
Underneath the speaker:
Battery compartment (four AA)

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Built with award-winning Bluetooth technology, the Creative D100 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker lets you play music wirelessly from your smartphone, laptop, or other A2DP-enabled mobile device. The Creative D100's portable design and full-range drivers make it ideal for outdoor parties or afternoons at the beach. The speaker system comes in four colors and is compatible with PCs, Macintoshes, and most Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices.

Creative D100 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker (Black)Portable design allows you to take it outside and enjoy high-quality wireless audio. View larger.

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New Trent iCruiser IMP1000 11000mAh External Battery Pack and Charger for iPad 2, ipad, iPhone 4 4G 3Gs 3G (AT&T and verizon) , iPod Touch (1G 2G 3G 4G), HTC Android EVO, Blackberry, Kindle DX, Samsung Galaxy S, Droid, Nintendo, Sony PSP and much more Review

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(More customer reviews)I have a couple of backup systems as I spend a lot of time in remote areas without any source of power. I have a Zagg Sparq2 and while they claim it can charge a phone 4 times it never has. I have at best gotten 1 3/4 charges out of it. I decided to try the New Trent 1100 ah pack and will say that it works great! Over the past long weekend on the trail I fully charged my Droid x 4 times and the unit still has power to spare. This is with the 1880ah extended battery in the phone. It let me use my droid GPS and google maps which are far superior to my regular gps whenever I needed or wanted to. I also had no worries that I needed to conserve my battery. Since I had such poor results with the Zagg unit, which weighs the same but only has a little more than 1/2 the storage, I took it along as well as a backup. I never had to use it! The New Trent pack has earned a place in my pack and will be putting many miles on in the coming months! Between it and my solar unit I feel like I will never be without the "juice" my electronics need again! The Zagg will be on ebay this weekend!
***UPDATE***
I was going to sell the Zagg unit on ebay but I went to charge it up for the second time the prongs broke internally. I failed to mention this was the same problem I had with the first Zagg unit I received and had replaced. Same deal with the second one. Stay away from the sparq2 from Zagg. I have been so impressed with the quality of the IMP1000 I bought a second one to carry with me for extra long trips and to carry everyday on remote jobs with no power hookup.

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GOgroove Panda Pal High-Powered Portable Laptop and MP3 Speaker System Review

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(More customer reviews)This little Panda Pal is one of the best portable speakers I have ever owned. When I saw this speaker system on Amazon, from the pictures it looked like it would be quite big but when I got it the Panda turned out to be so tiny it could fit on the palm of my hand (and I'm a petite little lady). Even though the speaker system is small the sound is nice and big! No matter if they work off the batteries or the USB plugged into a computer the sound is clear and it has a nice bass to it too. Even when I turn up my volume all the way up the sound doesn't distort. I also admire the cute little design. The eyes are the speakers and the earphone jack wraps around its "waist" and tucks nicely in the back. One thing though: It doesn't come with a wall charger but otherwise it's perfect. It's very convenient to carry because it's small and the sound is great. I recommend.

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Soundfreaq SFQ-01W Sound Platform (Ghost) Bluetooth Wireless Audio System Review

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(More customer reviews)I was looking for a dock for my wife's iPhone4 and my Blackberry. I had 2 mandatory requirements other than good sound quality:
1. It should work with an iPhone 4 in a bumper case.
2: I should be able to use it with non-Apple devices using the AUX input.
I first purchased the Philips Fidelio DS8500 Speaker Dock with Remote for iPod/iPhone (White/Silver) (Note: I have posted of review there as well) based on the good reviews on Amazon but returned it because it wouldn't allow the iPhone4 to dock with the bumper case and there was an omnipresent hum when I used the AUX input. The sound quality however was excellent. I then purchased the Soundfreaq and was able able to compare it with the Phillips before I shipped the Phillips. Here are my conclusions:
1. Sound: Phillips wins hands down. The bass is fuller and it can be played at a higher volume. Having said that, the Soundfreaq is no laggard. The bass isn't as deep but the sound over all is excellent. My wife listens mostly to older Indian songs and podcasts, neither of which requires big thumping bass. Both genres are more vocal oriented and the Soundfreaq does a good job. I have a different system for my periodic dose of classic rock/metal and any sound dock in this price range will most likely not do the trick anyways.
2. Connectivity and convenience: The Soundfreaq is the outright winner. The iPhone4 connects without any adapters even with the bumper case. No problems! Even better, I don't even need to actually mount the iPhone on the dock because of Bluetooth connectivity. It took 5 - 7 minutes from the moment I signed the UPS receipt for the box to having a song from the iPhone 4 playing through this dock via bluetooth. It works like a charm. Setup is a breeze and the convenience of Bluetooth is a HUGE plus. Similarly, I was able to connect my Blackberry via Bluetooth, so I no longer need to use the AUX input for my BB. The device can stay in your pocket or you can do something else on it while the music plays through the dock. Also, the AUX input works perfectly with no background hum like the Phillips.
3. FM radio: Works fine on the Soundfreaq. Not present on the Phillips. This isn't a very big differentiator but since I'm spending more for the Soundfreaq, its nice to get more too.
4. Looks/aesthetics: both systems look pretty good. I liked the Phillips but the retro, vacuum-tube radio like design of the Soundfreaq is very nice.
5. iPhone app: Phillips' app is buggy, clunky and is more of a hindrance. Soundfreq app does what it is supposed to and stays out of the way. Neither app needs to be used but the Soundfreq app doesn't irritate like the Phillips.
Conclusions:
1. If you want deeper bass and all round richer sound, go with the Phillips. I am however very satisfied with the Soundfreaq in this department.
2. The convenience of the Soundfreaq cannot be matched by the Phillips. I really like the fact that I can switch on bluetooth on my phone (I don't have it running all the time to conserve battery), connect and I'm in business from anywhere in the room. No wires. No need to even get close to the actual dock.
3. Soundfreaq is more expensive, and more than what I was planning to spend but I think I'm getting decent value for the extra money.
I'm happy with my purchase of the Soundfreaq and more important, the wife loves it. I'm keeping it and will ship back the Phillips.

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Keep the Power in Your Hand, Not in a Dock You use your mobile devices (iPad, iPhone, Android, Blackberry, etc.) for just about everything: to make calls, write emails, browse the web, listen to music, watch movies, play games, and use countless apps. But it's hard to multi-task with home audio systems that still require docking. With built-in Bluetooth capability, you can stream audio directly to Sound Platform without missing a beat; letting you keep your device exactly where you want it- in your hand.

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FiiO E7 USB DAC and Portable Headphone Amplifier (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)First off, please know that the E7 works BEST as a DAC/AMP combo when connected to a computer via USB or connected to a media player that has a dedicated line out (I'm not talking about the pre-amped 3.5 mm headphone jack on your mp3 player...but instead, a dedicated line out jack that bypasses the built-in amplifier of your media player). Portability wise, the E7 is absolutely perfect when carrying around your laptop and wanting to hear some high quality audio bliss while on the road or at the local coffee shop (or at the kitchen table in my case).Sound quality is truly amazing for the price you are paying, and it uses some near-audiophile grade electronics inside. Considering its price point, FIIO packed in a truly nice selection of options as well.
I consider the DAC/AMP to have a very clean and slightly colored sound quality that is comparable to portable amps in the $150 - $250 price range. Very little hissing is evident when the volume is turned up, leaps and bounds less hissing than if you were to connect your earphones/headphones directly to the headphone jack of a laptop/mp3 player. Besides expected sound qualities found in other high-end DAC/Amps of this class, the E7's trump card is the ability to pump out some pretty clean BASS using the built-in BASS settings **while** maintaining it's excellent sound characteristics. The well controlled BASS doesn't kill the mids and highs commonly seen in cheaper audio setups (just be cautious of maxing out the bass to lvl 3...it tends to muffle out the mids and highs just a tad. I found that lvl 1 or 2 on the BASS settings is perfect). I've found that I am easily able to drive my higher-end headphones from the E7, including my Grado 325is, Denon AHD2000's, and is even able to power my Beyerdynamic DT990's and AKG K701's to reasonable volume levels.
The unit has a very bright OLED screen that really is a looker (check it out in my video) and the silicone case makes it look deadly beautiful in my opinion. Build quality is much higher than I expected. The back of the unit is metal, the sides are plastic and the clear face front is also a type of plastic, but of higher quality. Accessing the menu's is easy and straightforward. Size wise, it's about the size of a portable mp3 player.
IMO, this is a no-brainer-buy for those of you just getting into entry-level high-end audio equipment and wanting to make a purchase without having to break the bank. If you are looking to replace your existing audio setup from your laptop, desktop pc or Mac computer, this is an amazing buy!
-Davy
**Keep in mind the E7 will not work properly when connecting it to the 3.5mm jack of a MP3/Media player. The reason is that the E7's sound quality becomes overly distorted and the sound levels are very low due to 'piggy backing' onto the built in amplifier of the mp3 player. The E7 truly shines when using a direct line out dock from an ipod (or any other player that has a dedicated line out) or from the USB connection of a computer. I bought this strictly as my DAC/AMP for my laptop, and it does it's job with flying colors and then some.

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(Silver Color) SimplyVibe SV-S550 Premium Portable Speakers w/ DSP Bass for iPod, iTouch, iPhone, Android Devices, MP3 Players, Laptops (Mac/ PC) and Portable Devices (Plug & Play USB powered) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a solid-feeling, compact speaker that's easy to tuck away in a laptop case. The sound quality is very good, given its size, and function isn't harmed by form. The one caveat that isn't specifically addressed in the description is that this is a powered unit: you can run it from an iPad, for example (with the included cable), but power must be provided via the USB cable--either to an adjacent computer or laptop or via an USB outlet plug. A small, internal rechargeable battery would be nice for when you don't want to tether a bunch of cords, but for the price and quality, that's a minor complaint.

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iTour-POP Ultra Portable Rechargeable Speaker for iPod, Sansa, Zune, iPhone 4, BlackBerry, HTC EVO, DROID, Samsung Wave, Galaxy S Review

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(More customer reviews)Quick Review-
Pros: Pound for pound this is the loudest speaker and has best bass response.
Output is an impressive 3.8 watts which is rare in a package this small.
Comes with adapter for use with Sony and Samsung phones as well as a 2.5mm adapter.
Cons: The cable is only 3 inches so it will be right next to the audio source. It's only a problem if you pick up your phone or mp3 player often thereby lifting the speaker as well.
Thank you.

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