I was looking for USB powered PC speakers for quite a while since I didn't have any good speakers for my desktop PC. We were just using earphones or headphones instead. For some time, I was eyeing these $4 speakers at CDR-King, but I put off buying them until I was absolutely certain that I really needed them.
With our tough cash flow situation, it wasn't easy to justify spending for USB powered speakers over more urgent expenses, so I decided it could wait until we had enough savings or when I could no longer tolerate using earphones or headphones or going without hearing any sound.
Aside from PC speakers, I was also looking at speakers that my pair of iPod Shuffles could dock with. There are only a few to choose from and they're either small and underpowered (for portability) with low quality sound, or non-portable, or just plain expensive, so I felt that these iPod Shuffle speakers weren't worth my time and money and I could totally live without them.
Imagine my surprise when I found speakers that an iPod Shuffle could dock with. They were the right size while still maintaining portability, could run on batteries, and had good solid quality sound. Plus, it had AM/FM radio, could be used as PC speakers, and was inexpensive. To top it all off, I found out later on that the speakers could be powered via USB.
We have some cheap AC powered speakers which I don't like to use because of their lousy sound. I prefer PC speakers that are USB powered so they would be easier to move from one PC to another laptop or PC. Additionally, when you power down the PC, the speakers are automatically powered off.
I wanted to buy an affordable USB powered speakers with good quality sound. I decided to delay my purchase until I had no doubts whatsoever that I picked the right speakers and that I also had enough extra cash. I thought it would be a long while before I could buy the PC speakers I had in mind, but I got them and then some, sooner than I planned.
A few months ago, my wife wanted to take a look at furniture so we dropped by the SM City North EDSA car park building where all the furniture stores were located. I myself wasn't looking to buy anything actually. We went into a store called Dimensione, which was a stylish but affordable furniture and accessories shop.
I was looking at something else when my wife called my attention to these items on a shelf which looked like radios. Some of them looked like old radios. We were interested in modern AM/FM radios that looked like antique radios so we started checking out the radios on display.
The sales lady pointed out that these radios were actually speakers for portable multimedia players and cellphones. Some speakers actually had the ability to tune in to AM/FM stations.
I noticed an audio jack plug embedded inside the top cavity of one of the speakers and I realized that the size of the cavity was about the dimensions of the side of an iPod Shuffle, and the location of the audio jack plug was where the audio jack socket of the iPod Shuffle would be, so I took out my iPod Shuffle and tried to insert it in the cavity. I was disappointed when I saw that it wouldn't fit and I showed this to the sales lady.
I think I asked her if they had any more speakers that had the cavity and audio jack plug. She then showed me these speakers, then she flipped up the audio jack plug, and asked me to try again inserting the iPod Shuffle in the cavity. This time it was a perfect fit.
She inserted four AA bateries in the speakers and turned it on. I played the iPod Shuffle and the music we heard was full, solid, and loud. It was good quality sound we were hearing.
She also showed me the audio input jack plug that could be plugged into the audio output/ear/headphone jack sockets of cellphones and other portable media devices. I realized I could plug this into the ear/headphone jack of a PC and it would basically become PC speakers.
It was a very nice item and at $24, it was affordable, but I questioned whether I needed it or not. I didn't like the fact that the speakers were battery powered only. It did not come with a power adapter but you could buy a generic one that would work with it.
I felt that we could use the speakers primarily as a good-looking battery operated portable radio which had good sound, could dock with an iPod Shuffle, and could occasionally be used as a portable PC speaker. Based on this, I decided to buy the speakers.
At $24, it was a pretty decently priced good quality stereo sound radio. The cheapest mono speaker radios are usually only half the price of this so I felt this was a good value for my money since, aside from the Radio, I got an iPod Shuffle speakers and occasional PC speaker.
It took a while for me to use it at home since I didn't have any spare rechargable batteries. I was trying to figure out how to supply power to the speakers because I didn't have any generic power adapter, but then I spotted my portable DVD-RW drive which was powered via USB.
I figured that the power plug of the USB power cable from the DVD-RW drive could fit in the power socket of the speakers. I tried it out and it fit properly. I had a USB AC power adapter that I could connect the USB power cable to, so I connected it and turned on the radio. The radio worked perfectly.
I was pretty happy with my purchase. The AM/FM radio worked well. Reception was good. Sound was good. Music from the iPod Shuffle sounded good. The only thing I hadn't used it for was as a PC speaker. I wanted to try it as a PC speaker but the problem was that the USB power cable was too short to reach the electrical socket where I could plug the USB AC power adapter.
I didn't want to plug in the USB plug of the power cable directly to the PC's USB socket since I didn't know if the speakers would draw too much current and fry my PC's motherboard. I had to calculate if the speakers would draw more current than the motherboard was rated for, before I could plug in the USB plug directly.
Alkaline batteries provide up to 2600 mAh of current. I figured that if 4 AA alkaline batteries would last at least 7 hours straight powering the radio, that would mean, at most, 6V and 370 mA was needed to supply power to it. Since USB ports only supply 5V, then around 450 mA would be needed, which is lower than the 500 mA limit that the USB specification defines.
I didn't want to wait 7 hours just to waste 4 alkaline batteries so I went looking for any mention on the web about the battery life of AM/FM radios which used 4 AA batteries. I saw products like digital AM/FM weather radios advertised to last 24 hours on 4 AA alkaline batteries so I concluded that it was safe to plug in the power cable's USB plug directly to my PC's USB socket.
I plugged in the USB power cable, turned on the speakers, and waited for any bad sign that something had gone wrong. Nothing happened and the speakers have been connected ever since to my PC, playing music and sounds loud and clear from audio files, videos, and games.
To make these speakers USB powered, you have to buy a USB DC power cable. I think a 5.5mm DC plug is needed. CDR-King only sells USB power cables with 3.5mm DC plugs but I think they sell laptop cooler pads that have these power cables with 5.5mm plugs. I just don't know which ones.
I now have a USB powered PC speaker that is occasionally a battery or USB powered portable iPod Shuffle speaker dock and AM/FM radio. Check out these wonderful speakers at Dimensione. The picture on the site shows the speakers with red colors but mine is all black.
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