JBL On Time - Time Machine Dock for iPod

Reviews: Multimedia

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Mark Korff
Kurtis
JBL
May. 24, 2006

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Conclusion

The JBL On Time is an interesting device because it sets out to do many things, and to its credit it does most of them fairly well. The best place for the On Time is on your nightstand, where you can get the most use out of all of its features. In this ideal location you'll able to use this one device to listen to the radio or music on your iPod at moderate volume levels, wake you up to your favorite song in the morning, and charge your iPod while you're sleeping. This is assuming of course that you don't run into the same problem that I did and end up hearing the same song every morning, in which case even your favorite song will soon become despised.

Other than the inability to change the alarm song, the most annoying thing I ran across was changing the brightness of the display. When I go to sleep I prefer to have my room as dark as possible, and even at the lowest brightness setting the On Time was distractingly bright for my tastes. After trying to get used to the light for a while, I decided that I just wanted the light off completely, so I went through the menu navigation system and turned it off. Unfortunately, it's next to impossible to read the display in a dark room, so the next morning I couldn't tell what time it was, and I couldn't see the display well enough to navigate through the menu system to get the display light back on. This may not be an issue for everyone, but to me it was a prime example of why the menu system shouldn't have been the only way to change certain settings on the device. (Perhaps an even better solution would be to have a sleep mode where you can hit a button to turn the display on momentarily so you can set the alarm or see what time it is. On a cheap alarm clock I have, the snooze button serves this function. - Ed)

So, does the JBL On Time sound like the perfect iPod accessory to spend those hard earned dollars on? Well, before you answer that question you'll probably want to know that the MSRP of the device is $249.99. I was able to find it at reputable online retailers for around $180 shipped at the time of this review. Where I come from that's a pretty high price to pay for something that is essentially still an alarm clock when you get right down to it. Obviously the On Time is more than that, but how much more it's really worth depends on what your needs are. If you really want to be able to wake up to tunes from your iPod, be able to charge your iPod without using your computer or a separate AC adaptor, and have a decent sounding speaker system to listen to music quietly before bed or in the morning, then the On Time might just be worth it. Hey, if you go to work happier than ever because you can wake up to your favorite song, and your productivity improves so much that your boss promotes you and you get a nice bonus, the On Time might just pay for itself.

Kurtis' Thoughts:

Mark and I spent a while talking about the On Time after he received it, discussing some of the good and bad points about the product. Overall, we were both pleased with the sound, for an alarm clock. The menu navigation was definitely cumbersome and took some getting used to, and I'm not sure that every individual will have the patience for it. The issue Mark had with waking up to the same song every morning is inexcusable, in my opinion. A roughly $200 product's main feature should be flawless, if nothing else, and this is where the On Time fails for me. It may only be a problem on 5th gen. iPods with the latest firmware, but that means anybody who buys a new iPod nano is going to have this problem - and we all know that a lot of people are still buying iPod nanos (it's the best-selling iPod so far). Another thing that really bothered me is that this product is marketed primarily as an alarm clock - not as an iPod speaker system. I've seen speaker systems such as this one with similar price tags, but I have never seen such an expensive alarm clock. Overall, I think that JBL's On Time was a good idea with less than perfect implementation and a poorly-chosen price point.

Pros

Unique, modern styling that matches the iPod
Good sound quality at low to medium volume
Charges your iPod while you sleep
Can be used to wakeup to your favorite song(s)

Cons

Sound quality drops off sharply at higher volumes
Alarm issue with latest firmware for 5G iPods
Menu navigation system isn't the best option for all controls
Questionable value considering the price

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12 User Comments

1 - Posted by Nick on May 25, 2006 - 12:47 pm

If I give that thing 1000volts will a portal open up and suck my nano into another dimension?

Does it make a comfy hat? Would you wear it with the display in front or in back if it did?

2 - Posted by Kalo on May 25, 2006 - 5:36 pm

Nice all-in-one, but bad name. :P

3 - Posted by Kurtis on May 25, 2006 - 6:36 pm

It's actually just called the JBL On Time; Time Machine Dock for iPod is like the catch phrase for the product - but yeah it's not a great catch phrase :-P

4 - Posted by Mark on May 26, 2006 - 3:38 pm

The only way it would be a fitting catch phrase is if it could actually perform time travel. If it could do that, they might actually be able to justify that ridiculous price too. :-p

5 - Posted by fr00zen on May 27, 2006 - 5:31 pm

I think the name is a bit silly. If anything, the name is a "turn off". I would not buy an item with that name. It just sounds stupid.

6 - Posted by Kurtis on May 27, 2006 - 9:31 pm

and someone once laughed at the idea of a "mouse" for a human interface device for computers :-P

I'm not defending the product in question, but to judge a product by its name is silly.

7 - Posted by Brian on May 27, 2006 - 10:40 pm

Yeah... just look at the Playstation...

8 - Posted by tiamat on May 28, 2006 - 5:22 pm

Nintendo named it's new machine Wiii, and people are still buying it.

I would not judge a product by the name. It would be like judging a book because of it's cover.

9 - Posted by kerma on May 31, 2006 - 11:53 am

A weird name can draw attention to a product. I think that is what Nintendo is doing.

10 - Posted by mheade on June 3, 2006 - 4:29 pm

You know, for about 1/2 the price, you can get an iHome which has near all the same functionality. With a name like JBL, I'd expect the extra $$$ to go towards the sound.

11 - Posted by Kurtis on June 3, 2006 - 5:05 pm

lol... funny you mention that. we got one for review. keep your eyes out for it :)

12 - Posted by DirtCrashr on September 26, 2007 - 10:16 am

We got this, we hate it. The iPod is continuously going on the fritz and the clock-display goes to bit-salad and everything has to be re-set. Since it does it even without the iPod I'm not sure what the problem is - something in firmware - it's unreliable as an alarm-clock and doesn't catch the automatic time-set.
But mainly you can't set the alarm volume at a level of your own choice. It comes on loud and gets louder and louder as the alarm proceeds until it's too damn loud, whether it's the radio/iPod/beeper. It's loud enough to wake the neighbors through three layers of insulation and sheetrock. There should be a cutoff volume.
This is meant for a 17-yr old slumber hog who could sleep through a nuclear blast, not an adult with neighbors.

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