PlayGear Amp
Score: 95% Developer: Logitech Device Type: Audio
Function: As I said in my review of Logitech's PlayGear Pocket, I find myself using the PSP as an MP3 player more times than not. So when I had an opportunity to review the PlayGear Amp, I took it. This sleek black speaker system has a small footprint and complements the PSP style perfectly. When set up with the PSP in the removable cradle and the speakers positioned vertically, the PlayGear Amp's height is about one and a half times that of the PSP, and the Amp's width is a little less than two PSP's long. When nothing is sitting between the two micro drivers, each speaker can move freely across about 180 degrees, letting you collapse the speakers into a much more compact package. Though the Playgear Amp is designed to accompany your PlayStation Portable, it isn't picky. The cradle can be taken off, and the audio wire can be plugged into anything from an iPod, to a CD Player or even (dare I say it) a Nintendo DS. The Amp comes with two audio cables, a short one and a longer one. The short one is for when you want to set your audio player down. Switching to the longer cable lets you sit back and play some games without having to hunker over the table that the Amp is sitting on.
Performance: The PlayGear Amp gets high marks in this department. The sound quality is amazingly clear and the sheer amount of volume the speakers can put out is astounding. I got into work early one day (before anyone else) and decided to really test it. After setting it up in my office, I turned the PSP's volume up all the way, and then did the same to the Amp. After that I walked through several rooms, closing each door behind me. Six rooms and some 100 feet away, I could still clearly make out the words to Cake's "Frank Sinatra". The PlayGear Amp gets its power from two possible sources, an AC plug, or four AAA batteries. Unlike other speakers to come out for the PSP, the Amp sounds just as good on DC power as it does when jacked into a wall. I decided to test the speaker's battery life as well. In the three weeks that I've had to write this review, I have used the Amps as often as possible and with the AC adapter as little as possible. I have yet to change the AAA batteries once. I was hoping to go into this review with a fairly good idea of the battery life -- but quite frankly, I just don't know. One of Logitech's attempts with their PSP hardware line is to really appeal to the portability of this system. To help accommodate this idea, not only can the PlayGear Amp run off of batteries, but it comes with a nice carrying case for the speakers, wires and cradle. This zipper-case is divided into two sections, one for the folded up Amp and the other for the four accessories that come with it. Though it isn't quite portable enough to pull out in the car and listen to your PSP while you drive, it does make it easy to prop it up on your desk at work and drown yourself in some tunes while you pound at the keyboard.
Features: Quad micro drivers for robust audio Custom-fit cradle holds your PSP perfectly Protective traveling case organizes your cables & speakers Operates with included AC adapter or four AAA batteries (not included) 1-year limited warranty
Drawbacks & Problems:: PlayGear Amp is great for listening to music, or watching UMD movies. The custom-fit cradle lets you just set up the system and step back, but there were a couple of issues that made the experience slightly less than perfect. Mainly the problem came in the position of the on/off switch and volume buttons. They are positioned on top of the crossbar that connects the two speakers directly behind the PSP. That, coupled with the fact that when set up, the PSP and speakers are angled slightly upward to allow for better viewing, made it hard to reach the audio buttons if you suddenly needed to turn the volume down (or up for that matter). The need to do this happened more often than I would have expected, but it was frequent -- normally due to one song being quiet and the next being loud. I got around this when I hooked up the PSP's remote control between the system and the speakers' audio wire, but the one white wire hanging off the edge of my bookshelf next to the sleek black look made the overall appearance lessen. The only other issues I had with the PlayGear Amp are features that probably go above-and-beyond the functionality of this product, but would have been nice to see anyway. The only connection between the Amp and your PSP is the audio cable, and it would have been nice to be able to plug my portable into the speakers and charge it up while I listened to the music. But as it is, I have to either plug both pieces of hardware into the wall or only one while the other drains its batteries (thankfully the Amp's battery life is apparently really, really long). The other problem deals with the first issue I talked about in this section (the position of the buttons). But I'm not going to rant about that again. I was just thinking it would be nice to have a small (wireless) remote to adjust the speaker's volume so that when it sits on my shelf or entertainment center, I don't have to reach around the system (or even go near it) in order to pump up the music. Maybe a thought for the developers for future Amps? But like I said, these last two issues are just extras that aren't really necessary for a good portable speaker system, so even with these couple of problems, I still think the PlayGear Amp is one of the best portable speaker systems to come out in a long time.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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