Digital Trends

 

Consumers who have been using JBL products over the years should know that JBL puts time and effort into their designs. Their products usually reflect the quality of sound you’d expect and are unique in their own way. JBL’s On Time docking system is no exception. It’s very similar to the JBL Radial iPod dock in overall shape, but is nowhere near the same product.

 

On Time features the standard iPod docking slot and auxiliary jack for hooking up non-iPod MP3 players. It also has an external FM antenna, which must be connected in order to listen to your local radio stations. The speakers come in a semi-circle above the iPod in order to provide a “360-degree sound field” according to JBL. On the base you’ll find an LCD that displays the time and listening options, as well as a plethora of different controls. JBL really should have simplified their design more here and taken away the assortment of buttons needed to adjust certain features; instead relying more on a menu system and a remote control. There are also 2 dedicated alarm clock buttons that make enabling/disabling the alarms a snap.

 

Rather than just make a big docking area that will fit any size iPod, JBL opted to go with including multiple adapters that can fit into the On Time to hold your specific iPod in place. This is very similar to JBL’s OnStage II iPod dock and is best left not worrying about. Do yourself a favor by leaving the docking pieces in the box and using what you’ve got. It works just fine and you won’t have to worry if someone else brings an iPod over to listen to.

 

No remote is included, but this was done for a reason. The On Time is designed to be both a 100% usable alarm clock and an iPod dock. Think about it: if you woke up and your alarm clock was on the other side of the room, you’d just shut it up with the remote and go back to bed. The On Time includes a conveniently located “Snooze” button on top of the speakers. This should be all you need to get a few more minutes of rest. Otherwise you won’t make it to work because you’ll be jamming out to music all morning!

Image Courtesy of JBL