Bose® SoundLink® wireless music system | Wireless Computer Speakers

Pros:

-No need for the included dongle: just tote around the SoundLink, your phone, and you’re done! – successfully pairs or connects to any A2DP enabled devices like cell phones, etc. through Bluetooth!

-System fills room easily with rich sound but travels better when placed in a corner or against a wall for enhanced acoustics

-Quick, no-fuss setup whether using included dongle or not. As long as your device has a USB port, music to be played, and is a computer, you’ll be set up in less than a minute.

-No other device I’ve researched makes such an attractive unit that:

cuts out the input cords to your audio device

AND

cuts out the speaker’s power cord too

-Battery life, 5 hours at low to moderate level. 3 hours as advertised if you’re blasting loud music at full volume or using heavy bass

-Auxiliary cord if you want to hook up a device directly to unit, should a computer or Bluetooth connection not be available

-Plays whatever your iPod or iPhone does. Wanna play a game? Play Pandora? Music Videos, etc. Well, ANY of them will play out of this Bose unit after pairing.

Cons:

-Expensive. Could stand to be $100 cheaper – the price is so high likely due to: inclusion of Bluetooth (this would be a $149 add-on accessory for the SoundDock 10), portability, and likely a ‘Bose tax’

-Sound quality was good but left an 8/10 impression on me

UPDATE – 12/07/09: Added Bluetooth Pairing Instructions within this Review’s comments for any of you curious folks out there. Enjoy!
Rating: 5 / 5

This compact little system is simply amazing. The clarity and depth makes my music come alive. It is exactly what you would expect from Bose. Sure it is expensive, but you get what you pay for. I compared it with Sony (S-Air wireless system) – Sony is slightly cheaper but doesn’t really match up to the Bose quality.

The setup couldn’t be much easier either – just plug it into the wall, plug the USB key into your laptop and its all set! Another reviewer has complained about interference with existing wireless systems. I found no such issues. I am able to surf the web, use my cordless handset and play wireless music simultaneously without any interference.
Rating: 5 / 5

Let me start my review with the two only drawbacks I’ve seen so far after playing music for about 10 hrs with it.

MINOR DRAWBACKS

Small drawback #1 – Price

This sound system is expensive! I know this is a BOSE system but still I considered the current price tag about $540.00 plus taxes, big. Starting price at $490 or maybe $499.00 would make it more appeal to tight budgets, in especial during this thought times and economy. I am making the comment anyway because not sure if BOSE people read reviews but giving the case of the BOSE sound quality and reputation, a small drop in price could create a bigger and better market without making it too cheap or affecting marketing (in my opinion). But well … I paid the price tag and other people will do. So as long as people continue playing the high price, BOSE is not going to drop the it any time soon.

Small drawback #2 – cut in and out on sound with wifi

Like other person here commented, there are some times that the track continuity is affected if your laptop or computer is on wifi and you start browsing or doing stuff with your wireless network like downloading files. I am still investigating and will try to change or modify the wifi frequency and see what happen (I have ATT&T UVERSE with wifi, of course) I am an IT guy so I know what I’m talking about … ATT&t router is open via web (internally with a password) so once connected you can alter some settings and if I recall well, wifi frequency is one of them. I will play a bit and see what happen.

THE GOOD AND WHAT I LIKE

The setup

…is incredible simple: turn the system and plug the USB adapter. After pressing the sync button it will automatically connect, that’s it! And it works! I AM RUNNING UBUNTU LINUX AND WORKS THERE AS WELL! Only thing is that I had to change audio output via GUI; on Ubuntu Jaunty you must go to Preferences>Sound and change it to BOSE SoundLink Audio USB (OSS) Maybe you will also have to close your media player (Exaile on my case) and after that, enjoy your music.

The sound quality

… is a BOSE! YES!… if this is your 1st time getting one, you should know that BOSE creates the standard on sound

quality, same for CANON for photography and HP for printers and computers My mazdaspeed6 has a BOSE system and the sound quality is still the same after 3 years of continue use! They truly create good sound speakers and sound quality via electronic circuits.

So far I’ve played Opera music, salsa, rock, pop, dance, techno, all rhythms sound great! Be aware of that depending of your media player you should change the equalizer a bit so you can get the most of your bass and treble depending of the kind of music you are playing. In other words, if the song sounds funny or not too good, do not blame BOSE but get another media player for your operating system or play a bit with the equalizer.

The power

… I live in a 2000 sq/ft house, not apartment and boy … I can hear this baby from anywhere. I can say without doubt that you will NOT need any other sound system on your house or apt for a party if you get this one. Power is good enough to enjoy in a party or play it loud alone without distortion (that’s what I like it most, not distortion at max volume). I see no reason why someone would like more output than this, unless you want your neighbors call police.

Final comments,

Regardless of the small cut in and cut out, you should get this sound system if you want sound quality and decent power. After all, if you get this sound system is for a party or just listening music outdoor or any place at home, not as a high end-expensive speaker for your office and computer. So, is kind of silly when people say they can not browse the Internet and play the music at same time, I would NOT get this system for that.

Rating: 4 / 5