Pros: Sturdy, extremely portable, technology delivers excellent sound.
Cons: Battery compartment looks breakable. Leaving the unit partially open could drain Batteries.
The bottom line: I like this unit for the low low price and the excellent sound quality that is the result of JBL's sound technology.
I've had the JBL On Tour system for a few months now. With all the Ipod and mp3 speaker systems that have been coming out on a more than regular basis, systems like the JBL On Tour which have been on the market for over a year, have dropped down in price considerably. This leaves the smart consumers the opportunity to purchase a high quality product like the JBL On Tour for a lesser price than newer systems that cost more but might not sound as good.

I bought the JBL On Tour because of the price, but most of all, because of it's versatility. It's small and can be used on an AC outlet or on AAA batteries. This means I can carry it in my laptop case without the AC cord, or keep it plugged into the outlet by my bed while it's connected to my Ipod.

When you think of speakers or sound technology, JBL is one of the brands names you immediately think of(It's part of Harmon Kardon).

I was able to purchase this product at a local DVD/CD shop for $39.99 which is 60% off it's entry price of $99.99.

The unit comes with a gloss white and light grey finish with nice chrome accents around the speakers, controls and sides. It comes with a cloth pouch for portability, and ac cord and mini stereo plug. This unit is very sturdy. The controls are "soft touch" for on and off and volume functionality. You use the included mini stereo jack to connect to your laptop/mp3 device.


When you open the sliding cover of the unit, it has sturdy rubber feet that serve as a stabilizer. You can then plug in your device through the back with the included mini stereo jack. A cool notable feature of the JBL On Tour is that it remembers your last volume setting. To turn the unit off, all you have to do is close the sliding door. Make sure you disconnect the mini stereo jack in the back or it won't close.

As for the general overview of the sound quality, you look at the JBL On Tour and wonder how it can get so loud for how small it is (7" x 3.5"). The speakers are only 1.5 inches! With only 3 watts per channel, you can definitely appreciate the JBL technology that went into the design based on how much it puts out. There was absolutely no crackling or distortion at peak levels. It has crisp highs and impressive bass. I used my 60 gig video ipod on it and most of my music that is recorded at 192 kb/s sounds like cd quality. With 4 AAA batteries, I was able to play it throughout the whole day continuously. All I can tell you is that battery life exceeds 12 hours.

The only two things I didn't like about the JBL On Tour is the battery compartment and how you turn it off.

The battery compartment is located in the back and is release with a little lever that you toggle. Just by looking at the protruding prongs, you can tell that there's some risk of breaking them. I'm not clumsy, but I don't have a lot of grace either!

Although, it's a cool feature to turn off the unit by closing the sliding door, I've already drained the batteries twice when the door wasn't completely shut. It might have been a better idea to put a power switch on the side with a lock/hold feature.

My conclusion is that you can probably find something out there that's a more attractive unit, but with a "not so" attractive price.The proof is in the pudding. The JBL On Tour sounds great, extremely portable and comes at a very attractive price.