Philips SBA290 Compact Travel Speakers
23 March 2006 by martin
I spend a fair amount of time travelling and staying in hotels so I really enjoy having my iPod with me. It's not always convenient to wear the head phones - have you ever tried shaving with head phones on ? I looked around for a small pair of speakers for some time until I found this unit from Philips.
The SBA290 is a relatively small all-in-one stereo speaker unit with a head phone jack that can plug into any MP3 player or PC. Despite it's compact size, the sound is actually quite good; there's even some bass. It comes with a travel pouch and it's really easy to carry around in my bag. It can be powered by 6 AAA batteries and it also comes with a power adaptor.
I did get caught out on a recent trip to California with the SBA290, I plugged in the power adaptor and the sound was all broken up and unlistenable. I checked the adaptor and it needs 230v - the US uses 110v. I have put 6 Ni-Mh rechargeable batteries in it now and will make sure they are fully charged before my next US trip. It's a shame the rechargeables don't charge when they are in the unit and the unit is plugged into the mains, but you can't have everything in life.
Cousin Lynn
26 March 2006
Hey Cous'
Now that might motivate me to get an iPod. I've never been too keen on listening to music with headphones, unless I'm riding on the subway or bus (which I hardly ever do nowadays). But that tiny set of speakers is a great idea for travelling, etc.
.k
24 May 2007
i just bought the same unit. the power adaptor is a dissapointment, but you can always get a spare one for us voltage, just note the output power of 9V/ 500mA, and also check the polarity.
i wonder why the manual states "do not use rechargable batteries"?
anyway, i bought 6 GP rech.batteris 1000mAh each, and after 6 hours, still playing at full volume.
Discount Pro
31 March 2009
I guess "do not use rechargable batteries" in manual means only one thing you have to buy one time use batteries from Philips, and only from them, others can destroy it :):):)
Nonsense, I'm the owner of SBA290 and I'm using standard rechargable batteries from VARTA. No problems yet
Gina
24 December 2009
I have Philip SBA290. I'm choosed to not use rechargeable batteries are not from Philips. This is to keep my speaker are more durable. I think, this is the safest to do