How do I rig up speakers without the whole thing spontaneously combusting?!

[OrangeSpacedust]

I want to be able to take the laptop around the house in the morning, when I'm doing boring drudging chores fulfilling housework, and play things from Spotify nice and loud. However, the laptop's only got wee tinny speakers so I'm wondering how to do this ... I have a good digital radio but don't want to unhook the speakers, so think I need to buy just one, good speaker to cart around the house with me.

Or is there an easier solution?! I'm also worried that plugging a big f*-off speaker into the little laptop will somehow blow a fuse and break it, and DP will lose all the important work he's got stored on it. Eek! As you can tell, I'm somewhat clueless about the whole thing, so advice would be great! xx

We have got a iPod Touch for this purpose :) Just plug it into the wifi and plug in headphones.

Any WiFi connected portable music device should work and you can get speaker docks if headphones are inconvenient.

Usually Laptops are designed for headphones and can't drive a hifi type speaker.

If you plug in a speaker into a laptop that isn't meant for it, you are most likely to just blow the output device for the sound (and loose all sound) then destroy the entire laptop.

Buying a speaker alone probably won't help. You won't blow up the computer but the computer probably won't be giving out enough oomph to drive a big speaker.

You'll want something powered that will boost the computers signal, so either a stereo into which you connect the computer or an amp.

Depending on your laptop you might have a variety of plugs on it, however you'll almost certainly have a headphone plug, and while it's not as good as a proper audio-out connection you can just plug them into stereos in a variety of ways.

Is it Spotify Free or one of the paid-for versions ? Just wondering because I know some mobile phones can now run Spotify and that might be one way to use it.

I suppose it depends on the types of chore and whether headphones are an option. Was thinking of the possibility of using Bluetooth to feed you audio into headphones so you can move cordless through the house yet still get the audio from Spotify on the laptop...

It is not from personal experience, but the combination may be possible (and then limited by budget) or a start point for something similar but with an amplified speaker system to give you the volume you are after.

There are some (expensive) options such as Sonos where a unit can be taken room to room but needs a mains power lead and starting price is 400 quid, and running Napster (but maybe not Spotify, so one I had ruled out).

Not sure if this would help, and while cashgenerator might not be a reliable stockist, there's one at Misco (26.99 +delivery).

Depends on whether you have a hi-fi that is loud enough to fill several rooms with sound. Not limited to iPod/ iPhone as it has a 3.5mm plug too. You'd put the 3.5mm plug into your laptop and the device would transmit the signal to the receiver, plugged in to your Hi-Fi (probably there's a Auxiliary input position on it you could use).

You can get speakers that are powered from a usb port although you'll need to shop around if you want something that sounds decent.

I would go for the iPod touch or smartphone and a pair of good headphones. I've just bought a pair of Soundmagic PL11 headphones which are pretty cheap and produce a stunning sound. I had to turn the bass down on my MP3 player as it was hurting my head.

But in this case the audio is coming from Spotify on the internet so it isn't going to be guaranteed to work with the iPod Touch (or even a smartphone) if the Original Poster has Spotify Free

(I think for smartphone or iPod Touch you'd need Spotify Premium at a tenner a month, and OP may have Spotify Free which gives unlimited playing [on your PC] paid for with their adverts from time to time)