Looking for *amplified* speakers to add to laptop

[jme5343]

I've never come across anything like this, so all input is appreciated.

My old Dell laptop plays the movies just fine, but the sound level is severely lacking. I'm looking for a good solution to boost sound

I've looked at the sony SRS-T33 and some similar devices, but have no idea if they're going to be loud enough. I'm also pretty cheap, so I'm looking in the $20 -30 range.

 

[Raduque]

Get 'em a couple sets of headphones and a splitter.

 

[vshah]

or get a tape adapter and play it through your car stereo

 

[jme5343]

Thanks for the answers guys. Kids are 5 and 2. The 5 yr old would wear the phones, the 2 yr old...not so much 🙂

And I had thought about the adapter, but we don't have a tape player in the van.

I settled for an altec lansing ipod mini dock that also has an input jack. I'll see how it works Friday!

 

[vshah]

another option, if the dock turns out not loud enough, is an FM modulator (assuming you have a radio). quality wouldn't be as good as the tape adapter but it'd be pretty acceptable 🙂

 

[deeyo]

theres a logitech mm28 portable speaker ( http://www.amazon.com/Logitech...Speakers/dp/B000AM6QH4 ). I bought mine off woot.com for about $35. you can also find a pretty corny, but informative review on youtube if you wanna "preview" it.

Pros: It's REALLY thin and light. Battery life is an unbelievable 45 hours on 4 AA's which would be great on the road. Also very loud and crisp compared to almost any laptop speaker, though the bass distorts at louder levels.

Cons: really really short cable. No volume adjustment on the actual unit. When i use mine with my laptop i have to turn the volume on my laptop way down, like at 10%.


And i've used it in a car once, and the sound dies really quick, but i think that'd be good for you if you don't want to hear what your kids are hearing so much =P