Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305, Clip-on Usb Speaker

Let me tell you a tale. It is a tale of a man who wanted to increase the amount of RAM in his Asus laptop (a G73JW, if you must know). Little did he know, however, that to reach the zenith of 16GB of RAM, he would have to nearly disassemble his entire laptop in order to reach that legendary 4th RAM slot hidden on the motherboard, underneath the keyboard. So, with electronics screwdriver in hand, he unscrewed and unscrewed and popped and slid and unwedged a variety of components until he had finally removed the keyboard. Only one obstacle lay before him, the metal plate covering the motherboard. But first, he would have to carefully detach some ribbons and one tiny white plug. The ribbons proved to be no challenge for him, but that white plug - oh, that infernal plug - steadfastly refused to unsecure itself from the motherboard. He tried to wedge it up with a screwdriver. He tried needlenose pliers. He even tried his wife's good tweezers. Finally - pop! Success? Ah, ah, not so fast...you see, it wasn't just the plug he had unsecured in his mania, but the entire assembly, separating it from the motherboard for good. Not letting this deter him from his ultimate quest, the metal plate covering the motherboard could be removed and the RAM inserted...but at a cost. That white plug? Yes, you can see where this tale leads - it was the laptop speaker connection to the motherboard. The agony! The torture! The turmoil! With the laptop reassembled and powered on, his worst fears became reality - no sound would emit from his laptop, save for muffled audio from the laptop's subwoofer. Of course, he could simply use headphones for the remainder of his days, but why? WHY?! So he bought the Logitech USB Laptop Speaker Z305 and rejoiced when it arrived in today's post courtesy of the swiftness of Amazon Prime's free two-day shipping! Salvation! Glorious salvation! His hands were shaky as he mounted it atop the screen and plugged in the USB cable. Would this be another letdown? Could it compare to that which he had lost? He queued up a video of cats doing cat things on YouTube and...SUCCESS! Fantastic, rich audio! He wept with joy as he could once again feel whole, his audio needs fulfilled once again. ... So, yeah, these speakers are a pretty good replacement for my stock speakers. Even better, honestly. I'm getting more crisp sound than I ever did before (Asus laptop speakers always seem to be a bit weak, in my experience) and it was an easy plug-and-play solution to my problem. My Asus is a 17" and the speakers fit really nicely with their edges about 2" away from each corner of the screen, so even with a smaller 15" laptop, the size would work. Probably a bit too large for netbooks and other ultraportables, but mounting the speakers on the screen isn't necessarily required. So if you've borked your speakers like I did or you're just not happy with the sound your stock speakers are producing, this is a worthy solution and well worth the price.

These speakers are gorgeous, sturdy, great sound quality, loud enough to listen to music from my laptop in another room. Ridiculously easy to use, just plug and play. If the music player is already on, you need to exit and restart to have it automatically recognize the speaker, so plug in the speakers before you open the program you want to use to listen to your music. Windows will automatically select it as the default sound output device when it's turned on; when off, Windows reverts to the built-in speakers. I like that the cord isn't so long that it gets in the way; it's just long enough to reach the USB ports. The usb cord is serves both as power supply and data connection. The speakers hide behind my screen, therefore it puts the volume controls (three buttons in a row: volume down, power/mute, volume up) facing away from me, but because the controls are so simple and are centered on the unit, I can reach over and find the one I need with my fingertips without having to look, in addition all three buttons have raised markings to make it easier to feel with your fingers. I memorized their position, it is intuitive. I can also use the volume icon on the lower right side of my laptop screen to adjust the volume. I noticed that with my WinDVD software I could only use the mute button, to change volume I had to use the cursor on the program. But all the other programs that I have for music or videos, (YouTube videos) I have been able to use the speaker's volume controls. On a notebook or very small laptops, if the screen is leaned too far back, is possible the weight of the speakers might pull the screen down or put strain on the hinges, but on my laptop I have no problem. By hanging from the top of the monitor, the sound rises to ear level which is about where it should be in a good stereo set up, the difference is significant, at least to me. On the other hand, the squarish shape allows the speaker to sit balanced and they sound just fine if placed on the table, or in front and at the foot the screen. Clip is forked so as to not cover the web cam that is inset into the bezel of many laptops today. The speakers fit in my carryon without problem and are the perfect shape and size to slide into my laptop bag It has a 35mm input jack to allow use with mp3 players (Need additionally to buy an Aux cable for this) and phones. Cons: Price The clip which attaches it to the laptop is rather thick and bulky and it keeps the lid from closing, so in order to move the computer you need to remove the speaker before closing the lid, otherwise you risk damage or warping of the screen.