New Toys part II

Since I ponied up for new music, and since I'm not all THAT enamored of the sound of music as flows through my laptop speakers [note: The Toshibas come with Harmon Kardon speakers, unlike the Dells. Guess which brand I bought.] I also bought another shiny toy today.

L'Oreal Volumous Mascara! Wait. uhh, true. I did buy eyelash spackle to cover the spiky stubble that counts for eyelashes in my family, but that isn't the new toy.

The new toy is a JBL OnStage II. A good friend has one, and I was just amazed at how this tiny, white, powdered doughnut of a gizmo could put out such quality sound. The thing is freakin' TEENY, but the sound is darned impressive. Granted, it's no Polk, but I didn't spend that kind of cash. I was also considering the JBL OnTime, as I would like my clock radio to join this century. But once I gave the OnTime a good pawing, I could clearly see it wouldn't do. It's considerably larger than the OnStage for starters, and lacks the remote. More than that, it just looked cheesy. They didn't have the black or the white, only the new shade which is suggestive of the silvery goo on a scratch-off lottery ticket. That didn't look classy at all. Worst of all, the clock face sits at an approximate 45 degree angle. That's a fine angle for a person standing, but I require a clock that tells me the time when I crack one sleepy eye from my pillow. I don't want to crane my neck or sit up to discover that there are three and a half hours (or minutes) of quality sleep time remaining. I might not get back to sleep.

Secretly, I'm glad. I've had my current alarm clock for many years. It has a lovely green read-out which is never too bright in the wee hours. It accepts input from my walkman or iPod. It has dual buzzers. It's ANALOG, radio-wise. Yeah, I don't really want to replace it.

The moral of the story is that if you're looking for a tiny desk speaker for Mr. or Ms. iPod, you would do well to pick up a JBL OnStage II. I've already discovered that I can use the remote in my bedroom to fastforward when the unit is in the kitchen. Neat!