Philips SDC5100 Notebook Cushion Speaker

The speakers built into laptop computers have never been particularly good, a fact that Philips has recognised with its Notebook Speaker Cushion.

This large white device has a cushioned underside and a flat plastic top to place a laptop on. A USB cable extends from the back of the cushion to plug into a spare USB port on the laptop.

It was quick and simple to install under Windows XP, Vista and 7, requiring nothing from the user. The sound comes out of the cushion rather than the laptop's speakers (or rather the wide speaker at the front of the cushion).

Quality was fair. It was not up to that of a dedicated set of good speakers or headphones, but far better and louder than the built-in speakers on the selection of laptops we tried.

Volume went quite high but there was some distortion at those high volumes (something the documentation warns about). It was comfortable to use and the cushion removed the hard, hot laptop from the user's lap.

The main problem is its price at £60. For that you can get some excellent speakers or headphones, so the SDC5100 only really works if you need good sound and cushioned-laptop use on the move.