Back in July I wrote about Verbatim’s portable USB Audio Bar and I have to say I was a little sceptical. The device is basically a USB powered speaker that you can clip on to your laptop and I wasn’t sure how useful it would be.
However having got my hands on one I have changed my mind. The bar plugs in to your PC or Mac via USB and clips on top of the screen. It configures its self as an audio device (without the need for any drivers) and then it can take over the sound duties from the laptop. The thing that I was surprised about was the quality of the audio the speakers produce, they are powered by a 2 watt amp and includes magnetically shielded speakers. The sound out of them is very clean and can produce a decent volume.
One of the issues with my MacBook Air is its low volume output, one of the compromises of the ultra-light notebook is the small speaker and I am happy to live with that but every now and then you want a bit more volume and this is where the Audio Bar comes in. Connected up to my Macbook it produced a great sound and for watching a movie or listening to music it works great.
So having tried the unit I can see that it can be very handy where you need a little extra volume from your laptop and the Audio Bar delivers it with decent quality and at a RRP of £14.99 is pretty good value
Spec:
Piano black finish
Retractable clip to secure the speaker to your notebook while in use
Red LED power indicator
USB plug’n’play
2 Watts (RMS) total output power
USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 compatible
Speaker dimensions: 200mm x 34mm x 34mm (W x H x D)
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