Granted, we're perhaps not at the wireless monitor stage here. But in the continued quest to remove the wires from the average PC setup, wireless speakers have been a long time coming. True, wireless headphones are nothing new, but to set up a decent speaker system with no trailing wires has been something the technology industry seems to have been struggling with for years.

So it's with a high degree of interest that we greet Saitek's 2.1 wireless speaker system, the A-250. Now it's admittedly hardly the most elaborate setup, with all the speakers built into one portable unit that looks like a smaller version of an old radio cassette deck.

There's also a distinct lack of any kind of balance or equalising tools, save for the trusty old volume control, and that £90 price tag for essentially a 2.1 speaker setup without the flexibility of positional satellites isn't the best news either.

But crikey, they're good.

You can either have them battery powered or run off the mains, and to get them talking to your PC is simplicity itself. You simply connect the supplied Bluetooth transmitter to a spare USB port, and assuming you're running Windows XP, that's as technical as it gets. The operating system on three different test machines had the A-250s seen and connected in seconds.

If you'd like to hook up an MP3 player instead, the standard 3.5mm plug socket is available, and you simply need to press a button on the A-250 so it knows where to pick the signal up from.

The wireless range was found to be strong, albeit with an obstacle or two. While Saitek says the range of the speakers is 100 feet, we're metric, so we were still getting successful and clear output some 20 to 30 metres away from the transmitting PC.

The problems came when positioning the speakers on the other side of walls and doors, as we found the system struggled, particularly when encountering electrical interference. That's not to say that they don't work in a separate room - we got some terrific results - but that it's dependent on the type of obstruction that stands in the way of the transmission.

As for the performance of the speakers themselves, it was surprisingly good. Given the size and the output potential of the A-250, it's unsurprising to reveal that they won't be replacing your home cinema surround system, but if you consider them a perfectly reasonable set of 2.1 PC speakers, then you're in the right ballpark. They're certainly capable of filling a mid-sized room with strong, clear and precise audio.

Coupled with the distinctive design, part of a push Saitek appears to be making in the audio sector, the A-250 system works well. True, the wireless aspect of the product is the only factor that really makes these speakers stand out. But it's still a relief that after waiting so long for wireless speakers to manifest themselves in the marketplace, the first real effort has come out so well.

Verdict
Expensive, not without issues and perhaps not flexible enough for some, the A-250 nonetheless realises the dream of proper wireless speakers with consummate ease. Not vital, perhaps, but certainly desirable.

Company: Saitek

Contact: 01454 451900

Tags: wireless bluetooth saitek windows xp loudspeaker universal serial bus wireless speakers ac power plugs and sockets