From the Manufacturer
Browse the JLab family of audio products JLab B-Flex: Simple, Portable Sound with No Batteries, No Wires, No Sound Card Needed Portable, powerful sound from any USB port Need better sound from your laptop? The stylish new B-Flex is a compact stereo speaker on a USB flex cable for laptops and desktops. Plug and play for PC and Mac with no batteries or wires. Easy to use, great for travel, mp3 players, DVDs, presentations, and gaming. Features dual 1 watt digital amps and 2 full range paper cone micro drivers for crystal clear sound. The B-Flex digital circuitry even works on computers without sound cards. The patented flex design allows you to position the speaker for optimum listening enjoyment. The only product of its kind, the B-Flex has been featured in the New York Times, on ABC News, on Gizmodo, and on virtually every gadget site in the world. WIRED magazine s (Further details about this electronic product.)
After several weeks of light, mid-volume use, the speaker stopped working on my Dell Latitude D500 and I began receiving error messages noting a “device malfunction”. After trading emails with J-Lab customer service, I was instructed to return the speaker by mail (at my expense) for a refund. The refund I received was 80% of the original purchase price because, according to J-Lab, the device was still “working” upon receipt. The representative handling the return acknowledged that there has, in fact, been a history of compatibility issues with Dell laptops– in other words, a “working” speaker may not always operate correctly when connected to a Dell laptop. Is trying this speaker on your Dell worth the risk of paying two sets of shipping charges, losing 20% of the purchase price, and spending time emailing representatives and repacking/mailing the device? If not, maybe it’s worth considering alternatives.
Great sound from a little package. This is the tiniest unit and you would never guess but it has a huge sound for it’s size. I have an Acer laptop which I love. It’s performance is practically flawless — Except the speakers, which are the worst. You can barely hear music from them. So I purchased these speakers for a boost in sound and they work great. I think they’re priced a little high, but they do have a tremendous sound for the size. Very portable and easy to take along.I would recommend them for the traveler. There a great addition for a laptop with low sound performance and very portable.
After reading several dozen consumer reviews describing laptop speakers I puchased this one. You simply plug it into your laptop, or USB hub, swivel the gooseneck to position the speaker where you want, and you’ve got an excellent speaker that fits in a small laptop utility bag.
The only complaint I have is that there is no quick volume control; once you’ve plugged it into your USB port, it overrides the laptop’s volume control “knob”. You have to open the volume icon in your Control Panel every time you want to adjust the speaker volume, which can be too slow when you’re being blasted by a loud video.
This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the volume modulation in the speaker itself, just that there seems to be a wide volume range across items I view–YouTube, email messages with videos from friends, etc.
If this speaker had a volume control knob it would be perfect!