Posts Tagged “audio”

With the ongoing price drops with notebook computers aimed at the consumer retail market, it is no wonder that notebook sales are out pacing the desktop PC market. I see it quite often with my business clients which prefer replacing traditional desktops with a notebook computer. The advantages they site are space savings and the ability of taking their work home with them, without having another computer at home. When small business users meld the requirements for their technology between their professional and personal lives, they are sometimes forced to make compromises.

One of the common complaints that I hear from users making the switch from their desktop to a notebook PC, is that the sound of their notebook is not as robust as they would like. I always have to illustrate to these users that the internal speakers on their business notebooks are very small and lightweight and as such are not made for high-volume multi-media escapades. Now it is true that there are multi-media notebooks on the market that have good sound and even sub-woofers, but these notebooks tend to be more on the larger and heavier side; a big issue with small business road warriors. Still, these larger multi-media notebooks don’t compare with the audio quality from traditional consumer electronics.

For general listening, I recommend that my clients get PC speakers from Logitech, Creative or other companies. They are inexpensive enough that you can have a set in your office and at home. For most users, a good set of PC speakers is more than enough for listening to webcasts, the occasional DVD and listening to music. Notebook users should generally experience the same sound from these speakers as when they were using a desktop. The good thing about these types of speaker packages is that it all comes complete in one box, like a complete kit. The bad thing about them is that sometimes the connections are proprietary and if one satellite speaker blows or doesn’t work, you usually have to get a whole new set of speakers.

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