Tell me if I'm an idiot or not, but I'm looking for a speaker system that's around or under $100 for a laptop computer. I've been scouring eBay for such a thing and have found a lot of very cheap stuff, but I don't want to buy something that lacks quality. I'd also like to get something with some sort of brand name if possible. I honestly don't know much about speakers at all, even at home my family doesn't have a fancy theatre system, my uncle's the only one with such a thing (which i couldn't figure out how to set up), so simplicity would be good, but not necessary. Any suggestions I'll investigate, I just don't want to end up with something cheap that has poor quality and only lasts 8 months. Thank you for any help.
I would take Harman/Kardon over any of those brands, no questions asked. Logitech's computer speakers came out of necessity to fill their computer peripheral line and were never meant to sound that great. Altec Lansings just sound (relatively) like garbage and are made with poor material.
Many may disagree, but the Bose MediaMates actually put out great sound and do well enough on the low end to not require a subwoofer. Better yet, they don't flavor the sound as many Bose speakers do. The only speakers in my mind that compare are the Harman/Kardon's-they have a bit more clarity.
Additionally, don't be fooled when you see names like Yamaha, Boston Acoustics, or Polk on computer speakers. They're just junk speakers made by cheap no-name manufacturers with the nice brand name on them. Harman/Kardon and Bose actually engineer their own computer speakers.
Thanks for the suggestion, I was checking out eBay and the Harman stuff looks really expensive, though, I'm in the market for a 5.1 system and would prefer a hardware decoder on it, but I want to spend less than $150, and I'd let to get the best system I can get my hands on, in the mean time I'm going to search eBay, but if you have any model numbers or something for Harman speakers that fit that description or similar (4.1 is acceptable, just would like surround sound), please offer them up. Thanks again!
My bad for not checking back on this!! The JBL Creature speakers should be what you want! JBL, Infinity, and Harman/Kardon are all the same company: Harman International. The creatures sound really nice.
Hello, and thanks for all the responses, the two above posts makes the creatures sound really nice, and it looks like they're only going for <$50 on eBay. 2.1 wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but two solid reviews on a single type of speakers is pretty solid, but I see on that speaker review site, the logitech Z-2300's got the best 2.1 reviews. I'm still doing my own looking around, but like I said, I don't know much, and all my friends got screwed with these really crappy speaker systems, so I know what not to buy (Altec Lansing was one brand that sticks out). It'd be cool to get a 4.1 or 5.1 surround sound system, but now these Creature II's are pretty tempting, thanks again. There's no real rush to this by the way, I'm just looking for quality speakers that'll last me a good few years and I don't want to rush into that.
Thanks again, I think I'm forming a decision on what I'm looking for, a 2.1 system should be good for a dorm and my room while I'm at home, so I think that's a really good suggestion, and now I'm much more interested in quality than anything else, so I'll probably go with the JBL speakers, being that they engineer their own stuff, so which would be better in the quality ring: the JBL Encounter or JBL Creature... I see that the Encounter mark is more expensive, but I know how much that means, or are they both about the same quality? I know I'm asking pretty specific questions now and sorry for that, I hope I can give back what I've taken from this forum. After reading two reviews on the encounter and many more on the creature, it seems that the encounter packs more power, but does one have higher quality than the other? Thanks again.
so neither has better or worse quality... yet on eBay the encounter seems to be much cheaper, like, down to half the price or thereabout. Granted the encounters don't look as cool as the creatures, but if their sound quality is equal, speakers aren't exactly supposed to be the focal point of an average room. I'm impressed by the fact that the creatures got two people raving about them, that seems like a really good sign, so those might be my choice... do they just use a 1/8 or whatever headphone jack (I'm kind of assuming they do, most of my friends went with 2.1 systems, and the systems all have those headphone jacks.
I would like to visit the Logitech Z680 idea, though, I might be able to get them for $125, but my concern about quality steers me away from them, should it? I'm really looking for high-quality audio, no matter how big it is or how loud it gets, just so long as it can be heard 10 feet away at a reasonable volume, but if I could get a 5.1 system, that'd be awesome, too. Probably go with those Creature II's, though. Thanks for any help.
I thought anyone who helped me might be interested, I did get those JBL Creature II speakers, choose quality over quantity anytime. Thanks for all your help.