I'm 27 and enjoy spending my time building web sites and learning new things. I'm also on DooYoo us...
I'm 27 and enjoy spending my time building web sites and learning new things. I'm also on DooYoo using the same name. Currently not very active but still having a look at some reviews from time to time.
Member since:08.01.2007
Reviews:14
Video reviews:4
Members who trust:22
Creative Inspire 5100 is an excellent surround sound system for your PC. Watch movies, listen to music and play games using Dolby Digital audio. I've been using this system for about 3 years now and its never let me down and the quality is fantastic to the point that I never thought about an upgrade.
Equipment details ```````````````````````````` The system comes with five satellites and a subwoofer. All the satellites are the same design, They are small only 9cm cubes with a curved back and black cloth covering the front. They sit flat on any surface with only a very slight angle pointing up. The three front speakers have
about 2m cables, while the remaining two rear speakers, have about 4m cables, You're given a set of stickers to mark which speakers and which plugs are which, you have to add them yourself after working out which are the longer cables this is really useful during setup and there good stickers only one of them is starting to peal off in the 3 years I've had it, just have to keep an eye on it when fiddling around. The subwoofer unit is a basic box style made of MDF wood by the feel of it, and contains the ports for all the speakers and has its own volume to control the amount of bass. You connect it to your PC using the three-way stereo jack cable thats about 2m long. The plugs on the cable are colour coded, as well as the sockets on the subwoofer. Black cloth also covers the front on a removable plastic grill, since the sub sits on the floor in front of my feet I leave it on for protection.
The systems volume control is on a extension cable, so you can put it anywhere you want. you have to have the volume control plugged in for the speakers to work, it also acts as the power switch for the system. Its a bit chunky about 9cm long, 4cm wide and stand 2.5cm tall but still looks good with a nice curved shape to match the speakers.
Setup ````````` Setup is fairly easy, just plug in the cables, well not quite "easier said than done" come to mind you have 8 cables in total a power cable, 5 speakers, volume and the audio jack with 3 plugs to juggle about, the back of the subwoofer is clearly marked for which port does what so there's no need to refer to any manual... The best way to set it up is to figure out where everything is going to go then lead the cables around before plugging into the sub just to make sure all the cables reach, on the many occasions I failed to do that and had to re-adjust mainly because the rear speaker cables are too short, Another thing to keep in mind is during set up leave the subwoofer in a place thats easy to get to so you can adjust the level of bass to your preferred setting as the volume control is on the back then you can put it where ever you want.
Preformence ``````````````````` The speakers are loud enough for any use, the sound is clean and clear, no buzzes or rattles from any of the satellites or the subwoofer, I've only had the volume above the quarter way mark on a few occasions where the sound quality of the media was very poor and there was still loads of volume to go. Top volume is far too loud, the neighbours wouldn't have to call the police they could probably hear it them selfs from the station. Speaker Details: subwoofer = 12 Watt, satellite speakers = 6 Watt each, Frequency response: 44Hz - 20KHz
Their's only one problem with this system the rear speaker cables are too short, you can buy extension leads but it would have be nice if Creative just made them only a meter or two longer, this is a common problem in all surround systems I've encountered, everything else is perfect. A sound card or onboard audio with 5.1 sound option is required to take full advantage of the system but thats becoming a standard now on most devices. I use my PC for everything from movies, music, and games and I'm completely satisfied and have been for the past three years, when or if they break down then I'll upgrade.
The system can be bought for about £35, they seem pretty rare now, looks like they've been replaced by newer versions. Best bet is to keep an eye out for them on ebay.
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Feb 17th, 2007
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