Review: inMotion iPod Speakers (updated)

EverLurking writes "Well, I'm a sucker for slick-looking new toys. The Altec Lansing inMotion speakers did look like they would fill a need I had for compact portable speakers to go with my iPod while traveling. Below is a review, but in summary: I'd give it a 7/10, mainly because it's a bit overpriced at $149 (it'd be an 8 if it was, let's say, $75). Pros: Surprisingly loud and full sound reproduction (with the right EQ settings), its looks compliment the iPod, good battery life, sturdy, compact and travels well. Cons: Distortion when turned up too loud, poor stereo separation, requires 2 different AC adapters, a bit overpriced." Read on for EverLurking's more detailed impressions. Update: 11/13 00:57 GMT by T : Turns out, the AC adapter issue was overstated; details below.

Audio: First of all, understand that you are not going to get fantastic full-range audio from a speaker system that uses 2 pairs of 1" drivers. It's just not physically possible. This is not for audiophiles; it is just for travel/convenience listening. However, the inMotions use an interesting trick to make up for the lack of low frequency/bass response: they reproduce the higher frequency harmonics (which the little speakers can reproduce) that the lower bass registers would produce in real life if played over larger speakers. The resulting bass can sound a bit hollow and artificial at times, but it is impressive the degree I perceive it to be present is given how small the drivers are. You do distinctly perceive a fair amount of bass without any actual low-frequency thumping or movement of large amounts of air -- pretty cool.

The high-end response is good, as expected from the small drivers, and the midrange response is better than most small micro/travel speakers that use only one pair of 1" (or smaller) drivers. The simulated bass is surprisingly effective but subject to noticeable distortion if your EQ settings over-amplify the lower frequencies or if the unit is turned up too loud. I have found the "Acoustic" EQ settings seem to work well for the inMotions, luckily, on the iPod you have many EQ settings to play around with.

This bass-enhancement circuitry and/or the built in amplifier does add a bit of noise. You can hear it when you max out the volume w/o the iPod connected. It is not really noticeable at normal listening levels, though.

Because the speakers are located close together and cannot be angled outwards, stereo separation is limited, and music sounds somewhat "mono" and clock radio-like. However, putting a hotel menu or hard cover book opened to 90 degrees with the apex pointed at the midpoint between the speakers helped to spread the audio out a little.

Overall a good sounding set of speakers for less "bassy" music (great for guitar rock, jazz, acoustic and vocal pieces; not so good for techno/dance) at moderate to quiet listening levels. These would be great for Audio Books. Distortion becomes a problem when you turn the speakers up beyond what is reasonable for such small drivers, but you can provide surprisingly full and loud sound to fill a good-sized hotel room (try using the Bass Reducer EQ setting if you have to turn them up really loud).

Hardware/Build: The base station and speaker assembly are fairly well built, but still a bit cheap feeling for something that costs $149. The whole thing folds open/closed much like an oversized audio tape case to protect the drivers. The side arms are made of a brushed aluminum complementing the look of the iPod.

The docking connector for 3G iPods is exposed, and could use a cover of some sort. However, I have one from the firewire cable that came with the iPod that will do just fine, assuming it doesn't fall off and get lost too fast. There is a spacer that comes with the inMotion that is supposed to give a better fit with the 10 and 15/20GB models, as the slot has been made to fit the thicker 30/40GB iPods. I found that the spacer wasn't needed for the thinner iPod to fit well, so I suspect the thicker iPods will have a rather tight fit.

The volume buttons are a -/+ affair to the left of the iPod with a slider switch for power on the right and a power indicator. There is no volume level indicator and since the audio signal is taken from the line-out pins on the 3G connector, you cannot use the iPod's on-board volume selector/indicator. Not really a problem -- the non-amplified line-out's on the iPod reduce distortion to the signal that the inMotions have to work with anyhow.

Connections: On the back of the inMotions are line-in and line-out connections, both 1/8" headphone jack connectors. The line-in port is used for 1G and 2G iPods which don't have the new connectors to dock with. A short dual-male 1/8" cable is included for hooking up the iPod's headphone jack to the line-in port. There is also a little rubber platform that covers the 3G dock connector and recess so that an older iPod has a place to sit between the speakers. The little rubber thing didn't stay in too well, but it was a nice thought.

There is a connector for the included DC 9V/1.6A wall-wart power supply. Unfortunately, the sucker is a bit large and it would have been nicer if the prongs on the AC adapter collapsed for better stowing. Also present is a connector for the special firewire cable that came with the iPod, so you can recharge the iPod while it is still sitting in the inMotion.

However, plugging in the firewire cable with Apple's 12V/1A AC adapter (which is nice and small, and has collapsable prongs) does not also power the inMotion. It would have been a cleaner solution if the inMotion could have been powered off the Apple AC adapter so you wouldn't have to carry around 2 AC adapters, and it would also have meant less of a cable mess behind the thing.

Battery Life: The manufacturer claims 12 hours, this will be very dependent on the volume levels you select. I have not run the 4 AA's down completely yet, but it has lasted as long as the iPod's internal batteries have so far. And no, it does not re-charge the iPod from its 9V AC adapter when docked, nor does it charge the iPod from the 4 AA batteries it uses. That would have been nice too.

Summary: Actually pretty good sound reproduction for such little speakers, certainly much better than my TiBook's speakers. No more hotel clock radios for me, but bring a good pair of headphones/in-ear monitors for really critical listening. If you're willing to run on batteries alone, it is a nice compact way to go.

The inMotions are a bit overpriced and could use larger speaker drivers (it looks like there is still enough room to mount larger speakers) that better yet could be angled outwards for better stereo dispersion. Also, there could be better integration of the Apple AC adapter (maybe someone out there is handy with a soldering iron? :) ) so you wouldn't need to carry around quite so many cables/AC adapters.

I'm glad I got these, as they'll make my already indispensable iPod more useful when traveling.

An update from EverLurking:

I noticed that another review of the inMotions stated that the power adapter that comes with it does in fact recharge the iPod. I went and checked it out, and Yes, the included power adapter will power the speakers and recharge the iPod at the same time. My mistake; I guess my iPod was fully charged at the time I first briefly tested the inMotion's adapter, and I didn't notice that the iPod was drawing power from the inMotion. It does not recharge the iPod while running off of the batteries (which is reasonable, as this would drastically shorten the life of the batteries for driving the speakers).

So you only have to carry around one adapter -- Good. I still think using Apple's little white iPod adapter would have been nicer though. The sucker now gets a 7.5 rating in my book, 8.5 if it was priced near $75.

Comments

Best luggable sound ever

[borgboy]

I used to travel a LOT. 200+ days on the road, 100+ different cities/hotels. I carried a pair of Bose self powered speakers (same driver and enclosure as the 151s) and I absolutely loved them. I wish I still had them. Too bad they weighed about 6lbs each and took up 6x9x4 inches. They were worth the space though. I don't even think Bose still makes them.

Re:Review without pictures

[caseyc]

Pictures on the Apple Store

Personally, I think it looks like butt. After reading this favorable review, though, I think I'd be more inclined to look past the nasty looks of the thing.

Price too high?

[SoCalChris]

I'd give it a 7/10, mainly because it's a bit overpriced at $149 (it'd be an 8 if it was, let's say, $75).

You bought a $500 MP3 player, and you're bitching that the speakers cost too much?

Re:Price too high?

[Didion Sprague]

Dude, here's a tip about the American rich: they're cheap. They like deals. The American rich person care more about saving 10 bucks than spending 10,000.

That said, I'll say this: what crazy isn't so much the price but the fact that it requires yet another adapter to use. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm out of plug-in space. I'm not rich, and I don't have a house full of outlets, but I do have a few outlets -- and several power strips -- and I'm sick of adapters. I'm especially sick of the goddam adapters that are big. I've gotten to the point where I won't buy a product if it's got one of those fatass adapters that's so big that it blocks two other plugs just to get it to fit in my power strip.

Here's a tip for Apple, AltecLansing, and even Microsoft: work on something -- anything -- that can *REDUCE THE GODDAMN SIZE OF POWER ADAPTERS* and, if that's not possible -- work on something that'll reduce the *NEED* for adapters.

Power over ethernet? I dunno. Whatever that is, if it works and frees up some of my power outlets, I'm all for it.

Anyway, the fact that this gadget requires two adapters -- its own and the Apple -- is just dumb. It should be reviewd at 3/10 instead of 7/10.

Let's see some progressive, forward-looking thinking on the power outlet situation. I leave my house thinking a power surge is gonna come, fry up all my powerstrips, and catch my drapes on fire. My dogs are gonna burn, my beloved toaster over is gonna fry, and I'm gonna be standing by a heap of ashes, wondering what happened to all my photoalbums. And I'm gonna have some smartass fireman asking me why I didn't store the important stuff in safe-deposit boxes off the premises?

"Like I'll store a couple of beagles in a safe-deposit box?"

Gone because of some Altec Lansing speaker system?

No thank you.

Re:Price too high?

[ObiWanKenblowme]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm out of plug-in space. I'm not rich, and I don't have a house full of outlets, but I do have a few outlets -- and several power strips -- and I'm sick of adapters. I'm especially sick of the goddam adapters that are big. I've gotten to the point where I won't buy a product if it's got one of those fatass adapters that's so big that it blocks two other plugs just to get it to fit in my power strip.

Amen! Is it really so hard to come up with an adapter design that doesn't block at least one or two free sockets? Is it THAT much more difficult/expensive to put the adapter box in the middle of the cord instead of at the wall end?

Re:Price too high?

[Rick the Red]

This is not flamebait, but you're shopping at the Apple store and you're complaining about the prices? If you went to a Cadilac dealer and grumbled that you could get the equivalent Chevy for half as much, they'd politely invite you to shop at Chevy. Same deal here -- high-end stuff costs more.

Re:Price too high?

[FlameSnyper]

I think the Apple iPod power adapter is _very_ well designed. I have a 2nd-gen iPod (20Gig) and the adapter is so thin, it only takes one power-strip slot, and the prongs fold for easy storage.

Also, when I'm travelling, I take a simple 1/8" to RCA cable -- most hotel TVs have RCA inputs on the back, if not the front, and I plug my iPod in there.

BTW, I never use the "brick" for listening -- that's the advantage of having a fricken 10 hour battery!

Re:Price too high?

[osxuser-02]

That's just it, though. By shopping at the Apple store, we expect a little more forward thinking in the design. Needing two power adapters is enough to keep me from shelling out $149 for it. I can buy "Chevy" speakers that are a little uglier and save a bit of money. I don't think these Altec-Lansing speakers can qualify as Apple high-end stuff. I think A-L is just throwing out a white box with speakers hoping iPod-aphiles will buy just because it's "designed for iPod".

Re:Price too high?

[piecewise]

The American rich? Flamebait.

They're cheap? So everyone. You don't like things to be cheaper? Your logic basically says rich people like cheap stuff, and homeless people prefer much more expensive items.

Also, to the person who said $149 shouldn't be "bitched about" when you spend $500 for an MP3 player. First, *I* didn't spend 500, I spent $299. Which means an "accessory" is suddenly 1/2 the value of my iPod. No thanks.

Now, granted, I don't make much money, so I am in the market for something more expensive.

Re:Price too high?

[PD]

Time for another bus on our computers: a power bus. Sure would be nice if the only thing we needed to plug into the wall was the main computer. Inside the computer would be a voltage converter and rectifier. That would go out to some jacks on the outside of the computer case.

Voltage would be perhaps 16-24 volts DC. The connectors would be small, and impossible to plug in backwards. Every external device on the system - LCD monitor, USB hard drives, Linksys routers, scanners, maybe inkjet printers, would have two jacks and allow a daisy chain of the power from one device to the next. So, you could plug the power from your scanner into the power from your USB hard drive which would be plugged into the power from the main computer.

Each device would have a circuit breaker, not a fuse, so the total capacity could not be exceeded.

If you wanted to use your little device without a computer to convert the power for you, you could get a little cheap wall wart. Each device would have a flexible range in input voltage that it would accept, so the wall wart would not have to be highly regulated. Just make it 18 volts +- 1 volt and that should be good enough. All you'd have to think about is what the device needs for watts, and how many watts the wall wart can supply.

This is so easy, I don't know why nobody has implemented it yet.

Re:Price too high?

[pmz]

Your logic basically says rich people like cheap stuff, and homeless people prefer much more expensive items.

A general trend is for a rich person (or, more accurately, a financially-educated person) is to buy something outright rather than finance it. Even better is to buy something outright when it is on sale or marked down for going out of style. Uneducated people are more likely to buy something impulsively on a payment plan plus get sucked into the extended warranty scams (yes, extended warranties for things less than a few thousand dollars are scams, because they are a profit-generating business--otherwise why would they sell them?).

People who understand finance are cheap, because they see straight through the salesperson's pitches and lies and cut right to the deal and are even able to negotiate bigger-ticket items.

Of course, this whole argument excludes spoiled spouses with hundreds of imported shoes or a gold-plated Lexus. There's a difference when buying for luxury and/or status (i.e., generally wasting money for the sake of it).

Re:Price too high?

[pmz]

(yes, extended warranties for things less than a few thousand dollars are scams, because they are a profit-generating business--otherwise why would they sell them?)

Further, for things over a few thousand dollars, you should go out and get real insurance for replacement value and then eat the cost of mechanical repairs (you did buy a historially reliable car based on your research before buying, right?). So, in conclusion, all extended warranties are scams.

Re:Price too high?

[EverLurking]

Please read my post below, my mistake, the included AC adapter does charge the iPod and I didn't notice it when I posted the review originally.

Does that make a difference?

DaveC

Re:Price too high?

[shamino0]

You bought a $500 MP3 player, and you're bitching that the speakers cost too much?

The fact that I may buy an expensive item doesn't mean I want to be gouged on everything I purchase. The fact that I may think $500 is a good price for a 40G iPod does not mean I'm automatically going to think $150 is a good price for a cheap set of travel speakers.

I suppose you'd say that someone driving a Porsche should be willing to spend $250 on a travel mug for his coffee, and is a whining idiot if he refuses.

PS: How much do you think is a fair price for an MP3 player with a 40G capacity?

Re:Price too high?

[theWrkncacnter]

Thats not really what he/she is saying, I think. I think they're referring to the fact that apple charges more for stuff on its site, that you can get most things they sell on apple's site much cheaper elsewhere.

Re:Price too high?

[Jon Abbott]

Here's a tip for Apple, AltecLansing, and even Microsoft: work on something -- anything -- that can *REDUCE THE GODDAMN SIZE OF POWER ADAPTERS* and, if that's not possible -- work on something that'll reduce the *NEED* for adapters.

OK, I'll bite. First, the iPod can be powered via a tiny wall brick, or via the Firewire cable when connected to your computer. Also, Apple Powerbooks come with an extension cord for their wall bricks that can replace the brick's prongs. The end of the extension cord is a standard two-prong plug, so it can plug into any 110v AC outlet, without taking up any more space horizontally or vertically around the outlet. Also, if U.S. style plugs aren't your thing, you can buy a world travel adapter kit that can replace the prongs on any portable device release by Apple in the last two years.

Now what was the problem again?

Re:Price too high?

[bojan]

flamebait? hardly. You don't see people in Russia or Africa using iPods do you?

I think the statement was dead on.

american rich, spoiled and rich is more like it.

Re:Price too high?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't have any money because I'm worthless, lets whine about how rich americans are.

Re:Price too high?

[stcanard]

I already have one on my powerbook. It's called the firewire port. I plug my iPod in and it charges off of it. Works great. I don't think you would want to power a much higher voltage device, the power supplies in most desktops are too loud as it is.

Re:Price too high?

[LeiraHoward]

Actually, I've been taking some classes in my senior year of electrical engineering that speak to this issue. The benefits of those bulky power transformers are many. I'll list a couple of the most common.

Disclaimer: (a) This doesn't mean that there is no room for improvement in the transformer design. (b) This is a SIMPLIFIED version of the facts, for those /.'ers who don't have an engineering degree. PLEASE don't nitpick terminology, its the general gist of things I'm trying to get across!

Benefits:

(1) The majority of power dissipation (i.e. HEAT) is used in the transformer. Moving it away from the device and putting it by the wall makes the device live longer.

(2) Lower design time. Yes, I know, lame excuse, but seriously, it is much easier to use a pre-existing design than to create your own from scratch.

(3) Standardization. Transformer boxes are cheap and easy to obtain, and easy to replace.

(4) The components inside a transformer also produce enough inductance to mess up the delicate circuitry in many boards. Placing this closer to the device would result in a need for more shielding.

(5) Basically, the power unit itself can mess up the device, is too big and bulky to fit in the device easily, and is just a pain in the neck to work with. The transformer has been the best solution so far.

And for those of you with troubles plugging in devices, power strips are made (and sold at WalMart!) that are wider spaced, specifically for transformer plugs.

7 out of 10??

[djupedal]

>Cons: Distortion when turned up too loud, poor stereo separation, requires 2 different AC adapters, a bit overpriced.

Sounds like someone values form over function. I appreciate the review info, but with that list of negatives, I'd be suspect of anyone that would buy such a package.

Re:7 out of 10??

[ZackSchil]

Pros: Offers indispensable portable speakers, excellent bass simulation for such small speakers, excellent battery life, small, well designed form factor, good portability and iPod integration. You were saying Mr. Pessimist?

Re:Review without pictures

[ManxStef]

There's a fairly nice big picture (as well as specs) in the PDF brochure.

Not a bad review, though at that price I think I'll stick with my Sony TR-55 speakers which are much more reasonably priced at $50USD, have a remarkably good sound for their size, and excellent battery life (upwards of 10 hours). Sure, they don't have the bells and whistles of these, but they're 100 bucks cheaper! You may also want to check out the TR-77 speakers if you want to spend a bit extra, think they're around $90USD.

Oh, seeing as I'm commenting on iPods, my fellow Europeans might be somewhat tempted to know that Apple Europe are now offering free iPod engraving, so you can't grumble that Apple keep doing these offers for the US only ;)

re: Distortion becomes a problem when you turn the

[Coventry]

Any speakers that do not include circuitry to self-limit thier output (which only some very high end speakers have) will output distorted sound when fed too much power.

The amp in these speakers is too generous with it's output, and is sending too much power to the speakers when set to a high volumn.

This is common place in all commodity speakers and speaker systems. Manufacturers make them this way because the source audio you are playing may have been recorded at a low volumn - and thus needs to be amplified to a higher degree than the 'average' sound being put through the system. IE, sound recordings are not normalized for volumn to a 'standard'.

Go get an 'executive' sterero for a couple of hundred dollars. turn it up too loud, and you'll get distortion.
Take a factory stereo in a car, and turn it up too loud, and you'll get distortion.

I guess my point is: how is this a 'con' for this set of speakers, when 99.99% of all speakers bought suffer frm the same problem? It's like complaining that cars have only four wheels.

so?

[djupedal]

Those 'pros' easily apply to several products, doing the same job, that don't possess the con's of this product.

Re:Review without pictures

[Anonymous Coward]

You're recommending lower cost alternatives to Apple iPod customers?

This must invariably be followed by tortured justifications for paying more, even though it doesn't make sense. Just like when they bought the iPod!

Re: Distortion becomes a problem when you turn the

[Anonymous Coward]

not necessarily the music distortion or speaker cone distortion per se, its that the voltage output of the amp is exceeding its supply input - 9.6V, which is a relatively small supply voltage for most chips, so overdriving the amplifier chip wouldnt take much effort.

A correction on the issue of Power Adapters and $$

[EverLurking]

Well, I noticed that another review of the inMotions stated that the power adapter that comes with it does in fact re-charge the iPod. I went and checked it out and yes, the included power adapter will power the speakers AND recharge the iPod at the same time. My mistake, I guess my iPod was fully charged at the time I first briefly tested the inMotion's adapter and I didn't notice that the iPod was drawing power from the inMotion. It does not recharge the iPod while running off of the batte ries (which is reasonable as this would drastically shorten the life of the batteries for driving the speakers).

So you only have to carry around 1 adapter. Good. Still think using Apple's little white iPod adapter would have been nicer though. The sucker now gets a 7.5 rating in my book, 8.5 if it was priced near $75.

As to the issue of price, well, I'm looking at the price based on how well the speakers perform as a percentage of the overall cost of the iPod. I paid $399 for my 15 GB iPod which wasn't cheap, but I knew I was getting a dammed good mp3/AAC/WAV player. Relative to the aggregrate cost of the 400 odd CD's worth of songs I've put on the thing that are now completely portable and at my fingertips, the $399 was a bargain.

At $149, the inMotions are 37% the cost of an iPod. I'd be fine with this if there was better stereo separation and slightly better drivers, but given it's limitations as listed in my review above, I'd say that the $75 (18%) price point is much more attractive/reasonable IMHO. Now don't go calling me a big cheapstake ($75 bucks does buy quite a bit of good beer), I did after all, go buy the thing and give you guys a free review : )

DaveC

Re:On a side note...

[Horny Smurf]

Time has had a hard-on for Apple/Steve Jobs for years. Historically, many publishing shops have preferred the Macintosh since DTP and the Mac went hand-in-hand like CmdrTaco and Hemos.

Time has strong liberal tendencies, and would rather discuss psuedo-intellectual culture than the news. Apple satisfies both requirements. They are the "gay" computer, after all, Al Gore is on their board of directors, and are on the forefront of computer design.

iTunes might be cool, but it's not an invention. it might deserve recognition for being the first to show online music sales are popular, but napster already showed that getting reduced quality music online was popular, and amazon.com showed that people would buy stuff online.

Re:inMotion iPod Speakers (another alternative)

[Anonymous Coward]

I have the Sony 77's but wanted more. Instead of spending $150 for the inMotion I bought the Griffin iFire ($40) which allows me to make us of my no longer used Apple Pro Speakers. Works great off of the iPod or my Ti. Shouldn't be a problem packing. YMMV

What kind of distortion?

[shamino0]

I'd be curious to know what the nature of the distortion is.

When I first got my Mac, I made the mistake of getting the Apple Pro speakers. These things look good and sound OK at low volumes. But when you turn up the volume, they start emitting buzzing sounds under all the bass notes. A pretty lousy product, since these speakers are designed for use with a Mac G4 and can't handle the full 10W power output of the proprietary speaker jack that they plug in to. (FWIW, I quickly replaced them with a set of Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speakers, which are MUCH better.)

But there are many other kinds of distortions. Analog clipping doesn't sound like digital clipping, which doesn't sound like a speaker "bottoming out", which doesn't sound like the Apple Pro distortion. Some kinds of distortion are tolerable, while some kinds are not. Some kinds gradually increase as you increase the volume, and others appear in full force when the volume crosses a threshold.

I mention all this because the 1" drivers in the inMotion look very similar to the drivers in the Apple Pro speakers. (I am aware that they're not the same - Apple's speakers are made by Harmon Kardon, not Altec Lansing.) If they distort in the same way, then I wouldn't want to use them even if I got them for free.

On the other hand, if they distort in a less annoying manner (perhaps the way my clock radio distorts when I turn the volume up too far), and only do so at a relatively high level, then it wouldn't be a problem.

Re:What kind of distortion?

[EverLurking]

I hear 2 forms of distortion with the inMotions: 1) Distortion due to too much low frequency signal being passed to such small drivers when you turn up the volume too loud using let's say the "Bass Booster" EQ setting. Physically, you can only go so low in bass reproduction with small drivers. 2) The second form appears to their "MaxxBass" psycoacoustic bass enhancement, when playing excessively bassy music at too high a volume level you will hear some high frequency staticy type distortion that can be annoying. I find the built in "Small Speaker" EQ setting gives the most balanced sound when using the inMotion speakers as it attenuates the high frequencies and emphasizes the lower frequencies. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect these things to never distort. I agree with the other poster that ANY speaker will distort when over driven. The inMotions get impressively loud for how small they are, just don't expect them to fill a big room with sound. They are quite good at moderate to quiet listening levels. Let's face it, 1" drivers are better suited as tweeters than mid-range/bass drivers. But then again, there is always a trade off for portability but these suckers still sound better than any laptop speaker I've heard recently. Though they're pricier than the Sony travel speakers someone else has mentioned, I think the inMotions do sound better and may be worth it depending on how much louder you want to play your music and how much low end bass you want. DaveC

Did anyone else read this as iPod Sneakers?

[jcr]

I was wondering what my iPod had to do with shoes...

-jcr

Expensive, but suprisingly good

[snarshad]

I bought these, I folded it in to a new powerbook order to help me mentally absorb the price. I also figured it doubles as a dock, which helps me justify $40 of the price. I wish it came with a cable to help me justify another $20. I would love to recommend these, because they sound better than any speakers I know of at that size, and are really designed well for traveling, and will work with iPods and any device that has a headphone out. I would have loved these anytime I was in a hotel or traveling and needed something less encumbering than headphones. They do charge the iPod with the power adapter and/or the dock cable. It would be nice if they were powered off the FW ipod cable, but perhaps they didn't want to draw additional current through that thin cable that's already powering the iPod. The price is a little ridiculous. I'd consider 90 a better price - $50 for the speakers/amp, $40 for the dock functionality.

iPod power adapter *does* work, sort of ...

[Anonymous Coward]

I just picked up an inMotion at the Apple store. With 4x AA's installed and the standard iPod power adaptor plugged in, the inMotion speakers work and The iPod is charging. When I take the AA's out, the speakers stop working. So I guess you can travel with your iPod, inMotion, standard Apple charger, and a charger for the rechargable AA's that you will surely want to use anyway. Not soo bad.