The sound from the 4 neodymium micro drivers was at first a little too deep, muffling the higher notes. Changing the equalizer settings on my Creative Zen Touch corrected this problem. Overall sound quality is superb and they sound excellent with all genre's of music. The bass is, as expected, better than the Creative Travelsound i300 and 400 speakers. Although I think the Travelsound range do sound slightly more crisp at the higher notes. The IM4 speakers go louder without distortion than the Creative Travelsound and do have a more complete sound.

Build quality is great and they feel very durable. The fold out design of the speakers is clever, matched with the rubberised platform creating a mini stereo system that looks cool with any MP3 player.

Portability of the speakers is surprisingly good, they are quite big when rotated up into postion but when rotated back down, the unit is more like a book, meaning that they can be easily placed into a rucksack or laptap carry case etc. They are not too heavy either so you can carry them around comfortably in the supplied pouch.

Connecting the IM4 speakers to an MP3 player is simple. the unit comes with a retractable stereo cable to plug into the mp3 players headphone socket, meaning you don't have to be carrying the stereo cable everywhere. Another good feature is that there is another input so you can connect two MP3 players at the same time using the 3.5mm stereo cable that is included with the speakers(although Amazon states theirs doesn't include this cable, mine did).

Battery life is excellent, around the estimated 18 hours using 4 AA batteries. The power adapter includes 4 different socket adapters for use in the UK, Europe, North and South America and the south pacific.

Overall the Altec Lansing IM4 are speakers highly recommended to anybody who wants good value portable speakers with great sound quality. If you're after something smaller than the IM4 speakers then I recommend the Creative Travelsound 400 speakers although they don't come with a power adapter.

For me, the Altec Lansing IM4 speakers are a fantastic purchase and I definitely made the right choice.


another nice bit of kit from altec lansing.   May 31, 2005
 35 out of 38 found this review helpful

The im4 is the latest incarnation from the Altec-Lansing inmotion range, and is the cheapest (mine was 62 including p&p from an online reseller).

I bought one of these to go with my apple ipod, to create a tiny portable stereo for use anywhere. The unit runs from 4 AA batteries, and comes with an adapter with 4 different socket types (3 pin UK, 2 pin European etc) so it's perfect for use while travelling.

Sound is impressive considering the size of the overall unit, and the 4 metal speakers. Bass in particular; nothing earth-shattering, but more than you would expect.

Build quality is good. The unit is made from relatively sturdy plastic, the central section is rubberised, so an ipod etc won't slip, the grilles covering the speakers are strong and protect them well, the controls (on / off and volume) are adequate.

The speakers rotate away from the central section, so they can be tilted to face upwards / angled towards you. The stereo imaging is fine, again considering the size of the unit.

Connection is made via 2 inputs - a 3.5mm stereo jack socket (cable supplied) and a 3.5mm stereo jack plug on a captive lead attached to the back of the im4. Very nice touch here - the captive lead is retractable, being pulled inside the main unit by sliding a button, vaccuum cleaner power-lead style.

Overall, a very good package to match with a personal cd player / mp3 player, and at a competitive price vs the alternatives such as the jbl on-tour.

The only caveat is I'm getting distortion, but this is down to the line-out signal from the ipod being too "loud" for the input sensitivity of the im4, something I will resolve by adding a volume control between. If you're using the headphone socket to connect to the im4, this will not be an issue.