Well, I usually jump on the mystery boxes. Haven't been shagged yet. I'm kinda excited about this one. I'm always in the market for ipod speakers, and this little video one looks pretty cool. For me, it's all about the cool factor. I have an xm receiver, but not the one for this speaker set. We'll see what ends up happening with this.

anyway, I hope it's cool when it gets here next week.


r

OK, I peeked at this thread and am bummed. I was hoping for some standalone item as well. I don't own a friggin' ipod and I don't want one.I don't 'do' xm radio and don't want to. And I already have the Philips remote from the $30MB (which I like, but I only need 1!) So this MB (when it arrives)will be pretty useless for me.


I know, I know, MB's are always a gamble. I just won't be doing any more. Maybe an AMB if it looks good. But too much of the MB items seem to be accessories which are useless if you don't own the product they're made for. I just thought the big $123.45 MB would be more stand-alone-ish, so people spending the $$$ on it would be less likely to be disappointed.

I think it is always important to research what you buy. In the case of mystery boxes, it is oft helpful to read the related forums. In the case of ThingFling, they do not hide their MO, it is all publicly available in threads dating back to the very beginning in the "What did you get forum" and furthermore you can also see everything they've ever sold in the "products" thread, and can assemble a fairly reasonable idea of what it is they generally include in their mystery boxes. There are certainly some usual suspects, Phillips for example, it is quite unreasonable to buy hoping they send you something that they obviously have never carried. ThingFling is a front runner in the mystery box game because you are always assured that you will get a set of products at least worth what you paid, though usually over it. Now whether you can use those products personally or not, is the true gamble. After all as another poster said, if TF has a awesome standalone product that everyone is dying to get, they'd likely sell it as a regular fling rather than a MB. A lot seem to miss the fact that Mystery Boxes do indeed generally carry a deep discount over what the item generally would carry, and this is because some items will sell better as a mystery then as a regular sale item, and thus more people buy it when its in a MB, and thus they can offer a greater discount to the entire population. In effect, a MB sorta works how buying insurance works... Not everyone will actually need it, and take a gamble buying it, but the times you DO need it, you'll be well thankful you bought it. I personally sell on ebay and that fact is a big part of why I am willing to buy so many mystery boxes here and otherwise. Because I know that if I cannot use it, I will likely over time be able to sell it myself on ebay. And to be honest, usually at profit, although it does take time and energy. If I did not sell on ebay and didn't want to go through that hassle, I maybe would buy a Mystery box occasionally for fun like lottery tickets, but not regularly as I semi-do now.

An 8.5" LCD? Wow, I haven't looked it up, but that all sounds hot. Tons of things you could do, buy a cheap used Playstation or playstation 2, put it on a power inverter in the car, and let your kids knock themselves out, etc. I didn't get in on this box, but I would be well pleased having received that. I don't own a ipod either, but that sounds handy for so many things.

Phew, I'm glad I sat out on this one. I was expecting (perhaps unreasonably) two or three NICE stand-alone items as a new venture for TF into the $100+ realm, and thought I might regret skipping this one. But fortunately, I don't have any of the items that these are accessories to, so I'm very happy I didn't fling. Guess I could have spent some time on ebay, but my guess is that the rest of you would be selling the same items and therefore cutting into my sale price...

I still have to congratulate those of you who went for this mystery box, you have more money and more guts than I have.

Oh, I'm not saying it wasn't nice stuff. On the contrary, it's worth far more (as usual) than the purchasing price in dollar value. I'm sure if I had flung I would have found some use for the digital theater, but it would have been a stretch. With my salary I need to stretch my cash in other ways, which is why I didn't go for this box.

I guess what I forgot to say was, THANKS TF for the entertainment value of these mystery boxes. I really was sweating it for a few days as we awaited the outcome of these $123 MBs. Should I have? Will I be glad I didn't? What did they get? Should I have...?

Well what other inputs do you need? It's standard Def I'm sure, so the only relevant inputs you're missing is Coax and component and component would probably be a waste anyway.

I don't find plugging in universally standard audio and video cables to be jury rigging. Sure it'd still be for niche uses, such as on the kitchen counter top, on the nightstand, rigged up in the car, travel, etc. But that would still be so even if you did have a video ipod. 8.5" is not large by TV/monitor standards no, but for a portable device, that is quite large.

FedEx sez:
Ship date Jul 10, 2008
Estimated delivery Jul 16, 2008

Date/Time Activity Location
Jul 15, 2008 6:12 AM Arrived at FedEx location FORT WORTH, TX

OH, when will it get to Austin, TX????

The personal theater center can be used with cd/dvd players and I believe it said most mp3 players, so it is not just limited to Ipod. I will probably use this as a spare viewer for dvd's.