Customer Reviews
Excellent sound and quality, lots of nice feature, good value
My fiance loves to listen to music around the house, and since I was getting her a 4 GB Nano for Christmas I thought this would be a great accessory to compliment it.
I was in Best Buy comparing the models they had on display and there were two units that stood out head and shoulders above the rest with respect to sound quality - the Bose SoundDock for nearly $300, and the Logitech MM50 for half the price. Naturally you'd assume that Logitech has cut some corners, or lowered quality to come in with a competing product at half the price...for the life of me I couldn't find any! I know Bose makes excellent quality AV products and they have always been, and still are, quite revered by me. So I'm by no means bashing Bose, but the MM50 is a serious contender and in my opinion can't be beat given the value. Read on...
The quality of the unit stands out the minute you start to pull it out of the box. It is very well built and has high quality materials. You can tell by the mass that the drivers are high quality and have large magnets inside which is important for delivering quality sound. As you can see in the photo the unit is nice and flat and has retractable legs that extend out from the rear when in use. For travel you can fold the legs in and place it into the included travel case. The carry case is quite slim and can fit into carry on luggage easily.
The MM50 really shines when you power it up and drop your ipod into it. I was amazed out how full the sound spectrum was, and how deep the bass was for such a small unit. The sound quality is very good and is even suitable for medium to large rooms such as a living room.
The unit also comes with a rechargeable internal battery that provides about 7-8 hours worth of play time. The battery charges while you have the unit plugged into the wall. One drawback on the battery is that it is not removable/replaceable - so if you're on a long trip such as a camping trip and you have no place to plug it in, you can not replace the battery.
The remote control is functional and allows you to power it on and off, play/pause, fast forward/rewind and skip tracks forward/backward. The remote is very useful, however you need to point it directly at the unit and you also must be well aligned with the front of the unit. It doesn't like it if you try to use it from an angle since the sensor is somewhat recessed into the unit.
The power adapter also leaves something to be desired. It's rather large and kind of oddly shaped. An inline power adapter I think would be much cleaner.
Bottom Line - this unit has excellent sound and is of high quality. For the price I don't think you can beat it.
This is powerful for its size
I give this 4.5 stars. I bought the IM7 for myself and mm50 for the kids. The IM7 is more powerful but the logitech mm50 is not that far behind. I saw 2 IM7s on display at Costco: one was locked so you couldn't open it, the other was not connected to the power source, but the door didn't stay closed. I read another user's review who returned his to Costco after 3 weeks when the door stopped working. I don't feel so comfortable with the moving door, same like your cassette player's door. The IM7 is so powerful but is heavy and does not have rechargeable battery. I don't plan on having parties or to take mine to many places besides the bathroom, so the weight and bulkiness do matter. The IM7 took up most of the nightstand's width.
Therefore, having the mm50 makes more sense. Since the sound packs so much punch, it is not that far behind the IM7. The remote still works for me about 20 feet away. I don't have to worry about the moving components being broken, it's so portable (can take on trips) and the big plus is having the rechargeable battery. As a trade-off for having the IM7's a notch better speakers, I exchanged the IM7 for the mm50 for myself due to portability. I know all I need to do is pop the ipod in the dock. I would pick the IM7 if it did not have moving door, and less heavy.
Go to Costco and get the mm50 for $98.99. The IM7 at Costco is $189 without the carrying bag, $214 with the bag.
Impressive
Having traded the Altec Lansing IM7 in for this baby, thought I'd share the pros and cons. Don't totally agree that the mm50 sounds better than the IM7 -- the IM7 is a much more powerful device, capable of producing a much bigger, brawnier sound. And if that is your sole criteria, the IM7 may be your best bet. However, the Ipod door on my IM7 broke after only three weeks, and Costco told us the item had been discontinued -- two red flags. So I tried the mm50, which runs half the price -- less than $100 at Costco! First thing I liked - no moving parts, so much less likely to ever break down the way the IM7 did in such a short time. Second, this has a rechargeable, internal battery; the IM7 doesn't. That, combined with the fact that the mm50 is about a fifth the IM7's size and weight, makes this truly a much more portable device. When my wife wanted to pack our IM7 for a weekend plane trip a week ago, I told her she was nuts. I wouldn't have objected over the mm50.
So far, I'm happy with the mm50. Close your eyes and the sound feels like it's coming from something 20 times bigger. And isn't that what good portable audio is all about?
