Creative D100 Bluetooth speakers

I picked up the Creative D100 Bluetooth speakers today at Staples for $39.99... it was also that price during a Dell.ca sale a couple months back... I wasn't ready to part with the $$$ back then but when I heard about it being on sale at Staples, I couldn't resist again and took a bite.

CNET has a video overview of it:




The front has the appearance of one "uni-speaker" and in the center is the Bluetooth button, a light (blue when connected, green when not connected) and 2 buttons to control volume.




A closeup of the buttons (sorry for blurry picture)




The back has a hole that could be used as a handle maybe (if you have small hands)... I think it's for the sound quality? There's also an AUX port for wired audio in, but you *can't* increase the volume for that on the speakers, you can only do it from the source device. Also AC adapter port and ON/OFF switch.




No, I didn't peel the plastic off the back yet... yes, I'm one of THOSE types of people.... my Neuros Recorder II+ still has the plastic on it, 3 years later.....

On the bottom there's a panel for 4 AA batteries. The speaker looks like it would be really light & cheap feeling, but it has a surprising sense of weight to it; it's not too heavy, but won't easily tip forward or anything. There are also 4 rubber feet on the bottom for grip.

The sound quality is very good. My favourite earbuds are the Creative EP-610s, so I knew that the sound would be good. The speakers are a nice compact size, not overly small but still easy to lug around especially when using battery power.

I paired it with all 3 of my bluetooth devices: HTC Legend, PSPgo, and Toshiba NB-205 netbook. Initial pairing was easy. The BIG problem is switching between the devices. The manual says that you hold down the CONNECT button for 1 second, the light is supposed to blink then go solid blue, and then you can reconnect to another previously paired device. However, I can NOT get it to blink & go solid blue, thus, it WILL NOT reconnect..... it's very annoying.

I plan to use it mostly with my HTC Legend, so I will try to keep the multiple device use to a minimum. BUT AGAIN... when I disconnect from my HTC Legend and come back to it later, I need to manually go into my BLUETOOTH SETTINGS on my phone, and hit CONNECT. Both of my other Bluetooth headphones connect AUTOMATICALLY with my HTC Legend when I turn on the Bluetooth. So it's not as smooth a process.


UPDATE... after a day of using it, I ended up resetting it to factory default & pairing all my devices with it again. And now it does seem to switch between devices as advertised... just have to give it about 20 seconds to connect. That's one of the problems with Bluetooth-- depite being a "standard", every system seems to have its own quirks: some you have to turn on one first, then the other device-- or vice-versa. Just a matter of understanding the Creative D100's idiosyncrasies...

Pros:

• sound quality is good if a little bass-heavy.
• Battery life is rated at 25 hours(?) for 4 x AA. If true, that's impressive.
  
• Small & portable though not too small.
• Easy to pair devices (if not as easy to switch between them)
  

Cons:

• Power switch is on the back. Would have been easier to access on the front as all the other buttons are there, especially if you have this placed on a recessed shelf.
• Front is just fabric "speaker cover material" which feels like it could puncture easily.
• No low battery meter.
• Casing is a rough matte finish-which is good- but somehow, it STILL manages to be a massive fingerprint magnet! How does that work?
  

The cons are fairly minor ones, with the power switch placement being my biggest gripe. Also, it could use a proper handle, that would have been nice. But so far this is a pretty sweet Bluetooth speaker if one is looking for that sort of thing.



later
don