Customer Reviews

JBL On Stage 200ID High-Performance Speaker Dock for iPhone 1G and iPod (Black)

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you don't want to read my full review and just need to find a small speaker with great bass and a remote control that works with your iPhone and all iPods under $300 then this what you need to buy. Nothing comes close in that price range or size. And it's only $150, so it's easily the best value too; JBL could have charged well over $200 for this and it would still be the only one to buy. I was so impressed I decided to take 30 minutes and write a review.

I wanted something small with big sound (eg, good bass, which almost always sucks on small speakers). I wanted to be able to throw it in my suitcase if I travel. Usually Bose owns this space with their amazing engineering (I own a couple Bose products). I figured to get that kind of sound I was going to have to cough up $350-$500 for Bose's portable solution. Bose have two versions - one that uses AC power, and another with a built in rechargeable battery and it's $100 more. Nice units, and priced right. But when I was at Fry's, I stumbled onto this JBL. For $200-$300 less, this unit sounds almost as good, and is much smaller. Same footprint, but about 1/3 as tall. Nothing in the other 30+ units I tested came close to the sound to this unit in its size and NOTHING touches it under $300 for the sound it products. It also works with my iPhone which was a requirement. What this really means is you don't have to put it in "Airplane Mode" which turns off the phone to keep the interference from wrecking your listening enjoyment - which means you can still get calls when it's docked - it mutes the music and plays the ringtone though the speaker. Kind of funny, though, when the phone is in silent mode, it mutes the music and plays no ring tone- I would expect it to just show on the screen but not interrupt the music until you answer the call. This is the iPhone's fault I think, not this unit.

Another thing I like about this device is it seems to auto-equalize the volume of the music to each song so you aren't continually re-adjusting the volume. I don't know if the Bose units do this. Since every album is engineered at different levels, the annoying problem of some songs being loud and others quiet causing a constant readjustment seems to be solved. Very cool. I am guessing that JBL built a signal processing chip into this that does this, and also gets the bass/treble balance perfect and adjusts itself. It also seems to expand the stereo field to make the sound stage much bigger than this unit is, but not so much that it sounds weird. None of the other JBL units seemed to do this, so my hat is off to the signal processing in this unit.

The ten button remote control works great, but it's hard to read the buttons in low light, so I guess I'll have to memorize their position. You don't need the remote control to turn down the volume - the only two buttons on the front/top are volume up/down, so you can always get it quiet in a hurry if you can't find the remote.

Downsides: It has an Aux input - which I was looking forward to using it at my desk where my computer is to double as a computer speaker. When the Aux cable is plugged into my computer, it cuts the volume from the iPod in half, and limits the max volume of the unit quite a bit. Once the cable is unplugged (or the computer is turned off) the volume jumps up. This is a line balancing flaw that was apparently overlooked. Also, it is a bummer this does not have a USB port to connect to your PC. This would allow me to sync when docked, but I have to disconnect from this unit and plug into a separate USB cable to Sync. I would have paid more for this feature, at least another $25.

Oddly, the other JBL units I tested (the ones with a clock and other features) completely sucked in comparison to the sound of this unit. They got the sound right on this one and only this one. Bose gets it right every time, but JBL doesn't have the reputation for making small devices like this, so JBL had to price it this way to compete - take advantage of it.

JBL: if you read this, I'd like to see a version just like with these improvements:

1) Add a backlit LCD clock. Nothing fancy. No alarm necessary - the iPhone/iTouch has that. If it had a clock then I could throw away my bedside clock and use this. Your other unit with the clock/alarm sucks compared to this unit in sound, so just add a basic clock to this one.

2) Add a USB interface so I do not have to undock to sync with my PC.

3) Fix the level issue with the Aux input or remote it. As is, the Aux input is useless unless I didn't need the dock port, which is the only reason you would really buy this.

4) Add a battery option. You could sell the battery as a snap-on thing or separate thing so I can take this outside on the deck without a cord. I'd pay $50-$60 for this, when and if I need the feature (unlike the Bose setup which makes you spend over $100 up front). Heck even just a corded dongle with AA's that can replace the AC adapter would be a hack I could live with in this price range.

5) Improve the contrast on the button labels on the remote. Use different shapes for different controls so you can feel them without having to memorize them.

6) Add a wireless (or wired, but wireless would be better) subwoofer accessory to this and charge $150 for it. This would add the thumping deep bass (under 120 Hz) that would make this unit compete with a real home stereo and/or a higher end computer speaker setup. This would give you a setup for $300 that would sweep the market segment for sound and expandability.

Yesterday I bought a JBL on stage micro III, which I returned today because of its shallow tinny sound. In its place I purchased the JBL on stage 200lD which is far superior in quality. The additional $20 is well worth it. The sound is rich. If you intend to buy this in the store instead of through Amazon, take your Ipod with you. It's the best way to hear the difference rather than through the store set-up.

This is a fine product. It's got a very small foot print (I was expecting much larger), but the sound it puts out is great. I'm not an audiophile, but at the same time, I can tell that this will be satisfactory sound quality for most people.

The build quality is excellent. The mesh is a cloth fabric over the plastic enclosure. There are two volume buttons on the top right in front of the dock. The iPhone and iPod touch dock includes the little "arch" you see in the picture. This provides excellent stability for being able to use the touch features while docked.

The included remote is nice, and it works well to navigate the iPod.

4 stars because of these things:
- I would love to watch video on my iPhone/iPod Touch, but they only display landscape. While this isn't a fault of JBL, it would have been great for them to innovate and come up with a mechanism to dock horizontally.
- The speakerphone doesn't actually work as expected. When answering the phone while docked, the audio for the call doesn't come through the speakers. The person on the line can hear me just fine, but I can't hear them. I'm not sure what it would have taken to make this work, but you have to consciously remember to pick the phone up.

All in all, a great product. I haven't tried the Altec Lansing, but this one is $50 cheaper, and certainly worth the money for an interference-free iPhone speaker experience.

I picked up this speaker dock today and am highly impressed with it. The sound quality is excellent and just right for a small room or work cubicle. I was worried that all of the advertised functions for it might not work with my new iPhone 3G but everything works fine. It comes with iPod and iPhone(1st gen) inserts but I don't use them because my iPhone 3G is in a gel case and fits just fine without them. The iPhone moves just a little while docked if being touched but I don't feel like the dock connector is being stressed at all. This speaker dock does in fact charge the iPhone 3G while it is inserted. I checked email and surfed the internet using both Edge and 3G networks while music was playing with absolutely no GSM interference of any kind. All of the remote functions worked just fine with the iPhone 3G but the remote does have to be pointed towards the speaker dock for anything to register. Silver volume up and down buttons are located in front of the dock connector with a small green power light indicator in between them. The power button is located on the back near the bottom. There is also an external input on the back but no way to switch between iPod/iPhone sound and external input sound. If both sources are playing music you will hear them both at the same time through this speaker dock. It is powered by wall outlet only so no batteries. This is going to be exactly what I need come Monday morning when I get to work! Highly recommended.

JBL Speakers have always been one of the best on the market. Costco used to carry this item for several years before I had an iPod. A couple of years ago they stopped carrying it in stock. Shortly after that I got an iPod. Consumer Reports said this iPod dock by JBL has equal or BETTER sound than the Bose iPod dock for less than half the price of the Bose!
Thank God for Amazon when it came to finding this item. I actually bought 2 of them! One for myself and one for a Christmas gift!
You can't miss on this JBL iPod Dock! Very simple, well made, and the sound is superb. Whether you listen low or want to crank it up to fill the room with sound. I listen to classical music, country, bluegrass and classic rock. If you've got an iPod, this is the dock you want!

Just left a large electronic store with dozens of Ipod/Iphone docks.

I'm impressed. I very rarely write reviews, so trust me when I say I was TRULY impressed.

Wife wants one with a small footprint, nothing fancy just a way to play the Iphone (3G) in the kitchen with good sound and not gawky like a big boombox -- and not miss incoming calls, etc. Walked around plugging my phone into the docs and playing songs on the compatible ones. The JBL's are well made and sound good, though others not as good as this one. Most other brands sound predictably tinny and very few work with the Iphone, esp. without using Airplane mode (disabling the phone - GSM is very bad to cause RF interference) This one sounds great. I actually wouldn't pay extra for the much bigger Bose units, and by the way the Bose and some futuristic looking and also much bigger Altec Lansing product (that wouldn't interface with the Iphone) were the only ones of the models more expensive than this one that I'd even consider close competition for it from audio quality standpoint.

And in fact at low/normal volume levels I still prefer the sound of this unit, especially the bass, to even those more expensive units mentioned above. Rivals your average small multi-satellite+subwoofer units (and blows away anything of this compact size I've ever heard), in an amazingly compact and svelt footprint.

And I can vouch that it is compatible with iPhone 3G. Didn't try to receive calls on it but other reviewers have addressed that.

You don't get the frills of alarm, AM/FM or a digital display, but lack of an LCD screen only makes it that much cleaner in my opinion.

I've had this thing about a week. It's decent. The only real problem has been a random quirk where the volume drops really low by itself. I just turn it back up, but it's a pain. There's no predicting when or why this will happen. Annoying. I have occasionally, after taking a phone call, gotten the "This accessory was not made for iPhone" message, with the option to turn on "airplane mode". I just ignored it, and it went away.

Update: This unit has a very flimsy connector between the phone and the base. Normal use alone wore it out in about 3 months, and now the unit is useless (it can be used as a charger I suppose). Don't waste your money.

Pros: Good, reasonably powerful sound. Keeps the phone charged while you listen. Remote comes with battery installed.

Cons: Connector breaks easily, making unit useless. Volume will fall randomly and unexpectedly. Occasional "airplane mode" message. Glossy black top and remote smudges easily. A bit pricey for a speaker/charger.

A speaker must be transparent to the listener to permit a realistic listening experience. How JBL achieved this with a small system and a modest price is amazing. But don't bother with my encouragement, since listening is so personal. Go to a brick and mortar store that has it on display beside other systems costing twice as much or more and see for yourself. Or take a chance, believe me, and save yourself the time of the trip. One tip: fastening the iPod adapter in place is tricky. I slipped a piece of paper between the back of the adapter and the base and pulled the paper slowly out while holding the adapter down. The friction of the withdrawing paper was enough to lift the rubbery base contact in line with its corresponding slot in the adapter.

I was given the JBL On Stage 200iD as a Christmas gift. I was very dissapointed to discover within the first five minutes of having it on that it randomly turns the volume up full blast. Since I got it to listen to quiet music in my office, it's clearly unacceptable. I stuck with it a while longer, hoping it was a glitch, but it would only work for an hour or so before the volume would go up again. Apparently this is a problem (along with volume turning down) that JBL has had with the entire On Stage series for years (according to some complaints I found on the internet). The sound is great and I would love it otherwise, but I think that the entire line is to be avoided because of this glitch.

I bough this unit after listening to it and a few of its competitors on a dsiplay I found at Target. The display had a selector button you could press to hear the various manufacturer's units. I was surprised honestly to find such a nice display at a Taget store. That really helped me make my mind on which speaker to buy. They also had the Bose unit there. Frankly the JBL and the Bose sounded the best - but the JBL is 1/3 the price.

I bought this particular unit and set it up in less than 3 minutes. The whole family was surprised how good the sound was. It has really remarkable base for such a small unit. I just bought a brand new 64GB iTouch and I can report that it works flawlessly with this unit. The remote also works fine. I had been concerned as to whether the iTouch would fit snuggly on the base - it does. JBL includes in the box little rubber spacers that attach to the plastic semi-cirlce on top of this unit - including a slightly thicker one for use with the iTouch.

Well, it works perfectly, the iTouch fits very snugly in there. To change songs or playlists, you can either use the remote or the iTouch - either works fine.

I'm not sure about the other reviewers claims of distortion at high volume. I can tell you that the volume on this unit is as high as I would want it to go for a 20' x 25'room under normal listening conditions.

If you want to have a dance party with 20 people this is not a unit for that... get some big speakers if that is what you want to do...but it would be silly to expect that from a small unit like this.