Home > Consumer Reviews > Altec Lansing iM3 Remote Controlled Portable Speaker and Docking System for iPod

I have trouble sleeping, as does my partner. I thought that playing soothing music while we tried to sleep might help, so I bought a micro HiFI for the bedroom. It worked well and we began to sleep better ... but the problem was that whenever one of us rewoke, we'd have wake up enough to restart the CD by which time we'd be fully awake again.

Then along came the next idea: why not find a way to set up an all-night playlist on my PC? The trouble was that PC's fan was too noisy, and a PC didn't really fit neatly into the bedroom. I wondered if there was a way to do the same with iPod and play it through some speakers. That's when I bought my Altec Lansing iM3 - and the results have been nothing less than sensational.

Whereas before I would toss and turn all night, seeking out the elusive posture that would give me a deep night's sleep and would wake up feeling poorly-rested, with my brain generally feeling like trying to drive a car with the handbrake on, now I wake up feeling refreshed, revived and eager for the day.

The coolest part is that I have various playlists prepared, depending on what sort of sleep I want. e.g. 'Deep'(very slow, arhythmic Ambient plus John B. Levine's astonishing 'alphamusic') which I use when I'm exhausted, 'Refreshing' (various selections from the Café del Mar albums), 'Normal' (the latest from Radio 4's superb selection of Podcasts, followed by whatever I'm in the mood for, so I can catch up with something interesting and then drift off) or 'Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?'(cos my partner doesn't particularly find Radio 4 that much of a turn-on...).

It's only occasionally that you come across a genuinely transformational technology - and this piece of kit is just such a thing, although as ever I doubt the designers had sleep-induction at the front of their minds! Friends and family-members who've seen the effect it's had on my life have eagerly embraced the idea and have now done the same for themselves, with similar results.

I'm sure there are plenty of other applications for it, but as far as I'm concerned I'm now looking forward to a lifetime of deep and refreshing sleep. I'd pay many thousands for this prize - let alone whatever the current Amazon price is.