Portable speaker recommendation???

[nixmeister]

I\'m having a hard time finding real data on which portable speakers are really worth their salt. Just had a beach bonfire experience that woulda been much better with some speakers. Anyone have any and can recommend some? I\'d \"like\" some that can fit in the pocket, but fitting into a backpack is good \'nuff. And as usual, when it comes to zaurus gadgets, money is no object...lol

[ganoe]

Hmmm ... not sure what you are looking for here.  Just get a good quality \"boom box\" that has a line input of some sort.  Sony makes various small battery powered portable speakers (SRS-T33, SRS-RF90RK, SRS-T88, SRS-T55, etc.), but I\'m not sure what the quality on those would be like.

I thought Acoustic Research used to make some nice higher end powered ones, but I can\'t seem to find them on the web.  Hmmm ... maybe it was these Advent AV570 Powered Partners, but you\'d need and AC power supply for them.
http://www.jandr.com/JRProductPage.process...roduct_Id=12881

Also, Cambridge SoundWorks makes some nice battery powered ones.
http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/store/c...egory=port_spkr

[ganoe]

I should add that you need big heavy speakers with a lot of power to cover an open air environment like a beach party.  The speakers I mentioned are all good quality sound, but they\'re generally designed for rooms.  Basically what you want doesn\'t exist.  That\'s why I mentioned the \"boom box\" first, they at least are more typically designed for outdoor use.  Just get as big and as high quality one as will fit in your backpack, plus you get a built-in CD player and radio.

[Foxdie]

The best portable speakers I have found for the Zaurus are the Creative TravelSound

Not only do they give great sound for their size, the PSU is multi-voltage compatible AND it has the same voltage output as the Sharp Zaurus PSU

[zbones]

The best portable speakers I have found for the Zaurus are the Creative TravelSound

I have the same speakers, they are very good but are not much use in a situation where they have to compete with other sounds.
They are not loud enough for a party.  

Other than that they are hard to beat for their size and power requirement. The 4 AAA batteries usually outlast the zaurus before dying.

For a party you will need bigger speakers with more power, at least \'c\' or \'D\' cells in a boom box style player as ganoe suggested.

[nixmeister]

Sony SRS-T88. 4 watts output. Not much, but better than most pocket sized speakers, and certainly louder than the build in one. Slowly but surely, I\'m getting all the accessories I think I need to ditch my laptop completely

[RoniXt]

If you have the money, I\'d recommend the Cambridge Soundworks Model Twelve</a> mentioned on the page that ganoe linked to.

http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/store/c...r&item=c1md12ee

I\'ve heard a lot of great things about these speakers.  Supposedly they put out a sound that\'s as good as some top-notch desktop speakers.  I don\'t know if there\'s a portable way to power these speakers, but I\'ve heard of a battery setup that can do that.  

Of course, the only other drawback is that I don\'t think these will fit in your backpack.

[ran]

I almost ordered these,  but found something similar at Target (which I think may be the previous generation from the same company) for either $20 or $30.  The sound is extremely impressive for such a small system:  very clean,  and with \"pretty good\" bass response.  I think that ones linked above may have some relatively new signal processing that\'s designed to give the illusion of more bass.  You should definitely check on that,  because just about everything else inexpensive I tried out (and Fry\'s had almost 10 different models wired up for comparison) had that icky \"pocket transistor radio\" response curve.

I doubt that you\'d find those flat-panel units suitable for a beach party,  though,  because they don\'t put out enough volume.

[zaurusaardvark]

what you\'re probably looking for are the Inflatable speakers: http://www.paramountzone.com/speakers.htm
Compact for travelling and as they use the whole surface of the inflated speaker they produce a loud and rich sound. At least that\'s what it says in the blurb :-)
Haven\'t tried them myself but they sound like the sort of thing you\'re after. The way they emit sound should work quite well outdoors.
Also I\'m sure I\'ve seen battery powered ones somewhere (not the ones on link above) have a look on gadget sites.http://www.iwantitcheaper.com/2851/9/gadgets-online.htm
This link goes to inflatable speakers with battery or mains - pretty much exactly what you\'re after.
And if you\'re in the us you should be able to find the same thing cheaper :-)

[zaurusaardvark]

what you\'re probably looking for are the Infaltable speakers: http://www.paramountzone.com/speakers.htm
Compact for travelling and as they use the whole surface of the inflated speaker they produce a loud and rich sound. At least that\'s what it says in theb blurb :-)
Haven\'t tried them myself but they sound like the sort of thing you\'re after.
Also I\'m sure I\'ve seen battery powered ones somewhere (not the ones on link above) have alook on gadget sites.

[tz]

The Altec-Lansing speakers designed for the new iPods are the only thing I know that are reasonably small and loud.

For general use, I found a $20 walkman type cassette player at an audiobook place with a set of speakers that were quite efficient for the size, but the Z doesn\'t have much power.

I didn\'t check out the creative travel speakers though.  I think they have a second variant with built-in MP3.

[VeeDubb]

Get a soundbug, or better yet, get two sound bugs and put them up in stereo!!!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/5a15/


They turn any flat surface into a sounding board.  coffee tables and medium sized widows work especialy well, but most anything will work.