The Journi is roughly the same size as the latest Harry Potter hardback - but if forced to choose, we’d take Harry on the road and leave the Journi at home.

Weighing a little over 2 pounds, the Journi portable iPod speaker is shaped exactly like a hardback book and comes with a wraparound leatherette cover that doubles as a foldout stand. You unwrap the cover, fold it back on itself, and insert a tab into a slot built into the speaker’s plastic housing.

That’s not the end of the Journi’s ingenious features, which include a magnetized remote (with play, pause, volume, fast-forward, and rewind controls) that sticks to the front to prevent loss, a battery-life meter that lights up when pressed, and an adjustable pad in the iPod slot that moves in or out to keep your ’Pod’s face flush with the front of the speaker.

However, Journi’s sound is not up to snuff. We listened to a variety of genres, including rock, rap, folk, blues, classical, and country. Music was sometimes tinny and sometimes muddy. Plus, the sound degraded noticeably, taking on annoying static at any volume past the halfway point - although there was no way to tell exactly where that point was, because it doesn’t have a volume meter. For 130 bucks, we also expect treble and bass control.

The bottom line. We like the Journi’s shape, but not its sound. We’ll take a hard-bound book on the road.

COMPANY: Griffin Technology

CONTACT: www.griffintechnology.com

PRICE: $129.99

REQUIREMENTS: iPod; works with (but not tested or approved for) the iPhone

Portable. Wraparound cover doubles as a stand. Remote has a built-in magnet. Adjustable pad keeps iPod face flush with speaker front. Handy battery-life meter.

Anemic sound overall. Terrible distortion at high volumes. No treble or bass controls. Can’t work onboard controls one-handed. Expensive.