JBL On Beat

JBL OnBeat

As with the iPod and iPhone before it, the megapopularity of the Apple iPad has spawned a thriving accessories industry. Beyond a panoply of cases and keyboards, there's also a burgeoning market for iPad speaker docks--often upscaled version of iPhone docks, supersized to accommodate Apple's market-leading 10-inch tablet. The model we're looking at here is the $150 JBL OnBeat (available in white or black). Its docking port is roomy enough to allow you to dock your iPad--in addition to any other iOS portable device, including the iPhone and iPod Touch. But the OnBeat's ability to rotate from vertical (portrait mode) to horizontal (landscape mode) only works with the handheld devices. If you dock the iPad, it needs to stay vertical--a bummer if you want to watch video. While this product isn't nearly as good as JBL's much larger OnBeat Xtreme , which costs a pricey $500--and allows full rotation of docked iPads--the OnBeat will appeal to folks who want to have an iPad speaker/stand on nightstand to listen to music--or watch video, albeit in a compromised fashion. Like its bigger brother, the OnBeat Xtreme, the original OnBeat has one of those designs that you're either going to love or find a little off-putting.