• Review: Philips CushionSpeaker

    Review: Philips CushionSpeaker

    Nachiket 'therapist' Mhatre, Jul 25, 2011 1131 hrs IST

    A must-have product, if money is no object.

    Surprisingly loud; Extremely comfortable; Excellent heat insulation; Hassle-free cable management; Packs in a USB audio device; Offers great convenience

    Expensive; Lacks surface inclination; Heavy; Loses tonal balance at maximum volume

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Philips CushionSpeaker
Price: Rs 3999


Review: Philips CushionSpeaker


The heat-resistant hard top anchors your laptop securely.



Entertainment for kids in the early 90s meant pooling lunch money to rent tapes of Peter Jackson classics such as Braindead and Bad Taste. Back then, movies meant huddling in front of the bulky CRT TV set during summer vacations. In this age of YouTube, the TV and VCR have been miniaturised into laptops that can fit in a backpack. It's possible to use a notebook PC on the lap, sofa, or bed, but the weak inbuilt speakers render dialogues incomprehensible. Laptop speakers are of no use either; unless, of course, you're Prince Goro and have an extra pair of spare hands to hold them. Despite all the technological advancement, watching movies still constrained one to the desk. That is, until Philips decided it had enough and made the CushionSpeaker.


It's A Cushion, It's A Speaker, It's A Philips!
The CushionSpeaker is just what the name says - a cushion and a speaker. The product is meant for laptop users wishing to experience movies and music away from the desk, without the hassles of unwieldy external speakers and cumbersome headphones. It is a comfortably plaint foam cushion with a hard, flat top that's large enough to accommodate a laptop of any size. A horizontal grille runs across the front lip, which houses a pair of speakers of unspecified power output. The speakers hook up to your notebook PC through a USB cable emerging from a hole at the back of the cushion.


Review: Philips CushionSpeaker


The stereo speakers are surprisingly loud.



The whole shebang sounds simple enough, but the devil is in the details. The speakers are driven by neodymium magnets, which make them surprisingly loud. The hard top is sticky enough to arrest laptop rubber feet remarkably well. I could lean back and angle my HP Pavilion dm1z to about 30 degrees without it sliding onto my belly. Ditto for an older, heavier 15.6" Dell notebook. Even if your laptop's rubber feet are ruined or otherwise slippery, Philips includes chunky replacement feet that can be stuck onto its base. I recommend installing the bundled rubber feet, as they deliver better ground clearance and hence improved airflow.


Pillow Talk
The CushionSpeaker has an inbuilt USB audio device, which delivers plug-and-play convenience and total independence from your laptop's audio hardware. It connects through a 0.5 m cable housed in a nifty self-winding mechanism. The hassle-free cable management system also allows the retractable spool to lock the cable in place after every few inches. This way, the spring tension doesn't yank it off the port. Moreover, the cable is long enough to reach all USB ports with ease.


Review: Philips CushionSpeaker


The self-winding cable management is neat.

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Discussion Board
(8) Comments
rai
,gangtok, on Oct 19, 2011 08:46 PM
can it be used for notebook too? Please suggest.
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Old TT Reader
,Delhi, on Jul 26, 2011 09:07 PM
out of all the "reviewers" at techtree only Jayesh Limaye is worth reading to. Others including this guy have this 31337'ish attitude problem. People like prasad also suffered from the same and would not take criticism in a positive way. Refer to the Portronics Scanny 3 review. Jayesh does more than a decent job of it. It shows in the comments. This guy is more concerned about the english language "how to speak" rather than what to speak. Just like someone pointed out now they are not doing any hardcore reviews like processors and motherboards. Roydon, while he was around was also ok, these new guys have a lot of attitude problem and with minimal IT understanding of how products are manufactured and how products work.
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Nick Patel
,Mumbai, on Jul 27, 2011 01:04 AM
I think this was a fair review. Probably the choice of product is questionable but there was only so much that Nachiket could do with the review. My cousin has a similar product from Logitech (think it's called Lapdesk) & from this review I can make out that Phillips would be a better option. If you ask me then the fact that I could conclude based on this review means that it is a fair review.
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Siddhanth
,Kolkata, on Jul 25, 2011 08:04 PM
Get bluetooth a2dp headphones. And headphones are bulky, whereas this giant heavy cushion is very portable? Also, you can get thin external speakers which offer good sound. Your recent reviews are showing a clash of ideas. Maybe you ought to consult your therapist. ;-D
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Nachiket
, TechTree, on Jul 25, 2011 09:28 PM
I'm afraid the only thing clashing here is what's actually written in the article and your delusions about what I have written. The review doesn't at any point mention that headphones are bulky. Are you sure you read the same article? On the contrary, you should contact your English teacher and ask for a refund.
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Siddhanth
,Kolkata, on Jul 26, 2011 06:06 PM
"to deliver a louder, fuller sound while maintaining the portability of the laptop, and it does the same with great competence". My point is that you claim this to be portable. You have barely mentioned headphones, and I presume that the only gripe you could have with them is the lack of cable management. And honestly,if you guys keep lashing out at your readers, you will lose them all. You don't have very many in the first place. And tech companies hardly bother to send you good products, and when they do (iPhone 4, SGS2, E6), you guys post a 3 page article with pixelated photos, and blurry screenshots (don't know how you could achieve that).
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MDS
,Chennai, on Jul 26, 2011 12:21 AM
Is that all you guys get to review these days?Laptop coolers, speakers and (Holy Jezus), Refrigerators? Or do the major brands refuse to send u guys products to review? There has been no hands on/review of HTC Flyer or Playbook..but i guess thats what sites like tech2in and Digit are for..Yours, its just bout freeby giveaways and mundane stuff like these
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Amlendu
,Bangalore, on Jul 25, 2011 11:28 PM
The Logitech Speaker Lapdesk N700 is a much better option with same features
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