The trend in technology these days is to have smaller and smaller devices but with the same characteristics as the bigger ones. In the computers area the engineers managed to accomplish this by creating really advanced laptops. Some of them are really small, thin and lightweight, but with good technical details and features so that they can do all of the tasks that a desktop computer does.



There are few negative aspects about a laptop and one of them is the sound. Because it is so small it has integrated speakers, that of course are also very small and they don’t sound that good. Of course you can connect a 2.1 system or even a surround sound system to the laptop, but you can use it only when you are at home. Let’s not forget that the biggest advantage of a notebook is its portability, and if you can’t take the audio system with you, that means you are still left with the bad sound of the integrated speakers when traveling.

But engineers came up with a solution for this problem too: the USB speakers. They are small and light (so highly portable) and they also sound quite good (not as good as a surround sound system, but anyway much better than the integrated speakers of the laptop). So this way you can enjoy a great sound on your laptop, even when traveling. As you might know the laptop has an included battery which allows it to work for several hours without needing an AC adapter. But the USB speakers don’t have any batteries, and they don’t need an AC adapter either.

So you might wonder where do they get their power from? Well the answer is simple: from the laptop. They are connecting with it through a single USB cable, which is both for the audio signal and for the power. This also means that the sound will stay digital all the way, so there won’t be any conversion into analog. So the overall sound quality will be better.

If you want to buy a laptop computer with USB speakers there are many options available for you. You can choose a notebook from one of these producers, because they are the best in the world: Hewlett Packard, Acer, Dell, Asus, Toshiba, Apple,  Lenovo, MSI and Fujitsu and in the case of the USB speakers you can choose a model from Altec Lansing, Logitech, Sony, Bose or other good audio producers.

Now let’s discuss more about a model of portable speakers, and for today we’ll choose the Altec Lansing XT2 USB speakers. They have quite a simple but also elegant design meaning that they can be used by a student that is traveling with his laptop and listening to music, or by a business man who is also traveling with his laptop, and he might use these speakers for a Power Point presentation at a business meeting.

These speakers even have a built in microphone so they can be used for Voice over IP (VoIP) communications. When buying them they will also come with a carrying case. They will deliver quite a good sound, with a good quality through all of the sound ranges. And they are even compatible with the BB2001 subwoofer, in case you want some more bass for your music. They have conveniently placed controls to turn them on or off, to change the volume or to mute them. They also have an aux input jack so that you can connect them to other music sources as well (CD, DVD or MP3 players).

The dimensions for one speaker are: 2.2 inch W x 1.4 inch D x 7.4 inch H. The frequency response indicated by the producer is 20 – 20000 Hz, but we are not sure if 20 is the correct number. If they would had such a good low frequency response that would mean that these speakers would have a great bass, just like the one offered by a good subwoofer. The signal to noise ratio is 65 dB and the audio amplifier is integrated. They are USB powered and they have built in microphone.

But anyway, here are the complete technical details offered by the producer: *   Product Type - Portable speakers * Width 2.2 in * Depth 1.4 in * Height 7.4 in * Speaker Type - Active * -3 dB Frequency Response -  20 - 20000 Hz * Signal-To-Noise Ratio - 65 dB * Audio Amplifier - Integrated

* Connectivity Technology - Wired * Interface Type -  USB * Built-in Devices -  Microphone * Additional Features - USB powered; Speaker System Details: * Speakers Included 2 x Right/ left channel speaker - 8 Ohm - Wired * Driver Details Right/left channel speaker : 2 x Full-range driver - 28 mm; Connections * Connector Type 1 x Audio line-in ( Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ) , 1 x USB; Miscellaneous: * Cables Included Audio cable , USB cable * Included Accessories Carrying case; Power * Power Device Power adapter - External