What is a shock is that they've bucked the trend in making devices with inbuilt iPod docks and gone for a more generic design suitable for the many millions of devices that are not from the Apple ice white stable. The fold flat IM4 package is quite a different beast to the pervious Inmotion devices, for a start it's not as sexy, instead it's just a bit plain and utilitarian and possibly not as well built as the earlier IM range.

The package makes a very portable system measuring 261 x 134 x 26mm and its simple to set-up and run too, the rear has a mains plug for power and either an audio input (cable not supplied) or the retractable cable which is ready to plus straight into your MP3 player. The front has the power switch with a blue LED to indicate that your IM4 is ready for action and a volume slider enabling control of the IM4's output without needing to operate your player.

It seems that Altec Lansing have ditched the dock to make the IM4 more unisex and not just another iPod extra, in doing so they use the centre section to lay your player on while plugged into the speakers, it's not secure at all and weirdly we found we really missed having a dock. It's quite possible to have your player sat in whatever kind of dock came with it but then that sort of defeats the idea.

The Altec system can run from mains or battery, underneath there are two battery compartments that hold a total of 4 x AA batteries which can power the IM4 for up to 18 hours (depending on volume) and this turns out to be the best asset of the IM4 it's ability to provide sound on the move which really plays to it's small size. The mains power is cool too as Altec have provided the IM4 with a range of plug adaptors which mean you can travel with your Inmotion throughout Europe and North America, oh and there's a rather tasty bag to keep it in too.

Of course all of this is pointless if they sound cack, luckily they don't, the IM4 is not a room filler, you are not going to find a student party dancing to this systems output, not unless they are in very small digs! Instead the IM4 has a more measured sound, very well balanced and giving an accurate reproduction of the entire range, even the bass. That's due to the MaxxBass™ system that is used on this model, the 4 x 25mm drivers manage to make a reasonable effort of providing a bass line on almost every track we tried, it's not totally convincing and nowhere near the Bose or Monitor Audio systems we've tried recently. but then it's no where near their £250 cost either!

You can rotate the Inmotion IM4's speakers independently in order to try and increase the stereo image, to be fair the image isn't bad to start with but again not as good as the detachable i-Deck system.

Priced at £70 ($79) the Altec Inmotion IM4 speakers provide a real speaker system for owners of MP3 players not just those who have joined the iPod flock, it's not a high end HiFi system but the IM4 provides a quality audio experience for those who demand truly portable speaker systems for their players.

Published - 03/09/2005

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