This little Panda Pal is one of the best portable speakers I have ever owned. When I saw this speaker system on Amazon, from the pictures it looked like it would be quite big but when I got it the Panda turned out to be so tiny it could fit on the palm of my hand (and I'm a petite little lady). Even though the speaker system is small the sound is nice and big! No matter if they work off the batteries or the USB plugged into a computer the sound is clear and it has a nice bass to it too. Even when I turn up my volume all the way up the sound doesn't distort. I also admire the cute little design. The eyes are the speakers and the earphone jack wraps around its "waist" and tucks nicely in the back. One thing though: It doesn't come with a wall charger but otherwise it's perfect. It's very convenient to carry because it's small and the sound is great. I recommend. GOgroove Panda Pal High-Powered Portable Laptop / MP3 / and Tablet Speaker System
A friend showed me this because she knew how much I love pandas. This little guy is great! It really packs a punch in such a tiny package! The quality of sound is actually pretty impressive. You'd expect something like this, made in China, to suck or break in a few weeks but I've had it for about a month and it's still going strong. I put rechargeable AAA batteries in it, I think it uses a lot of power, especially if you listen to music loudly. It's so perfectly portable and convenient to take around with you whenever you and your friends want to listen to music.
-Accepts 3 AAA batteries
-Has on/off switch
-Has blue light that lights up when panda is on
-Can be plugged into computer with (included) USB cord, and uses computer energy instead of batteries
-Can get pretty loud
-Decent bass!
-Weighs less than a pound
-Has ears, tweeters are the eyes. Haha!
The 12-inch audio cable is too short to allow much flexibility in terms of placement of the speaker unit in relation to the computer. I wanted to put the speakers on top of my Mac G5 tower, but the speaker's audio cable isn't long enough to reach my audio port from the top of the computer. Also, when you wrap the audio cable around the speaker for portability, you have to remove the USB cable in order to get the audio plug to lock into its "wrapped" position (leaving the USB cable to float around and probably get lost).
I like to listen to music in the mornings while I'm getting ready in the bathroom and was looking for something small that could put out enough sound to be heard while in the shower. Upon reading the reviews, I ordered the panda and it is just like all previous reviews! Very cute and light weight, fits in the palm of your hand and puts out a lot of sound!!
Fuzzy Wuzzy's Summary:
***** Highly recommended with warm fuzzies!
I love this little speaker!
First of all, how can you NOT like a panda?!?
And what if this affordably-priced cute little panda head had two great-sounding stereo speakers designed as its big round eyes, a blue LED "smiley" that lights up when the speaker is turned on, a headphone plug and cable that wraps around the panda head and neatly tucks behind its head when you are not using it, and surprisingly good distortion-free sound if you crank up its sound volume?!
The panda head speaker is a round globe, about 3.7 inches in diameter (the size of a softball), with a flat bottom base that has four small round rubber pads for non-sliding grip when set on a table or desk. The speaker's on/off switch and battery door are also on the bottom. Its cute black rounded ears and little button nose stick out from the spherical head, and the two 1.5-inch stereo speakers that are its eyes are covered by protective metal screens. The volume-adjustment wheel is on the right side of the panda head (right-side when you are facing it). The Panda Pal weights 6.1 ounces with only its non-detachable headphone plug and cable, 7.3 ounces with 3 AAA batteries installed, and the detachable 43-inch mini-USB-to-USB cord weighs 0.8 ounces.
The headphone jack and cord has a 12-inch reach after you unwind it from its clever storage groove that is located between the black and white parts of the panda head. This means that your Panda Pal has to stay fairly close to your sound source while you are using it. The short cord was purposely designed so that it could wrap around the panda head once and have the headphone jack neatly tucked away behind the panda head. Really an elegant design. But if you need more distance between the Panda Pal and your sound source, there are a variety of headphone extension cords that can be purchased.
You can power this panda speaker either using 3 AAA batteries (not included in the box), or using the included detachable USB cord. If you want to power your Panda Pal through an electrical wall outlet, you can use the combination of a USB AC adapter (e.g. Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger) and, optionally, a USB extension cord to place your Panda Pal away from your computer and also not use AAA batteries. I now always pack my Panda Pal speaker whenever I travel, along with my iPod Touch/Nano and Dell Mini M1012 netbook. With those items compactly tucked into my backpack, I can stay connected and listen to classical, jazz, punk, alternative, rock, rhythm & blues, and world music anywhere in the world. And if you like to ROCK OUT, this deceptively small speaker can keep up with a loud volume and drums without distorting the sound. Of course, it will not sound as nice as larger speakers, but I was really surprised by how loud it can get and still definitely punch out quite a respectable (for its small size) amount of bass with clarity. I have this plugged into my iPod Touch using the iPod's "Bass Booster" EQ setting and percussion sounds have a nice impact.
Because this speaker gets its audio input from a mini headphone jack, you can plug this speaker into any computer, MP3 player, or handheld device that has a headphone output (i.e. it does not rely on an iPod's 30-pin connector). Devices that retrieve the sound from an iPod's 30-pin connector have higher sound fidelity than via the headphone jack, but for a portable speaker system like this, you would not notice a difference anyway.
This is guaranteed to give the warm fuzzies to children, teenagers, and adults alike. I bought this both for myself and I also purchased additional speakers to give as gifts. This speaker can attract quite the envious adoring crowd once you take it out, plug it into your laptop or MP3 player, and crank it up! And unlike many other desktop speakers that look like electronic computer gear when you are not using it, the Panda Pal looks adorable and fun just sitting on your desktop, nightstand, or kitchen or bathroom counter even when you are not using it.
If you want to continue the panda theme for your portable music, also consider getting the Pineapple Panda Sound Isolating Design Crystal Clear Mega Bass Sound Earphone. The 'Accessory Power' company also bundles the Panda Pal with a 'Solar ReStore' solar rechargeable battery pack in GOgroove Panda Pal Portable Speaker With 1500mAh Solar Rechargeable Extended Battery for Google Android HTC , Motorola Droid / Apple iPhone , iPod , touch / Windows / T Mobile Smartphones and more! - 5 Hours of Music on one Charge!
This Panda Pal is PERFECT! Just about the only improvement that I can possibly suggest for this Panda Pal is for an optional separately-purchased subwoofer utilizing a 4-inch woofer that is hidden inside a fully compatible panda body. So for non-portable home/office use, you could prop this cute panda head onto the panda body subwoofer so that it looks like a full panda, and get even better sound. If a matching panda body subwoofer could be designed for this panda head, I would really be in a tizzy.
At the time of this review's writing, the 'List Price' being displayed for Panda Pal of $64 was ridiculously expensive (perhaps very purposely overinflated to make it look like you are saving more with the "reduced" price, a dumb marketing gimmick that some manufacturers use), but the Amazon-discounted price was competitive. I noticed that Accessory Genie has been increasing the price from the $17 that I paid for my cute pandas.
There are some other portable speakers out there shaped like small panda heads, but some of them are not stereo speakers, they do not sound as nice, and none of them are nearly as adorable and cute as this one. At least for right now, I cannot think of any small portable speakers on the market with this much cuteness and fun factor. This panda speaker is made in China, the land of the panda. This is not some poorly made piece of electronic novelty junk. Everything about this Panda Pal's build seems to be of high quality and very intelligently designed. It comes with a generous 3-year warranty. Don't ponder about getting this... get it!!!! - Laptop Speaker - Desktop Speakers - Panda - Mp3 Speakers'
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