@Dengue I used to think that too, but is there really a show you listen to on AM that's not on TuneIn Radio? Admittedly the data fees on AM are slightly less...
@stinks I've never heard of that but I'll have to try it. In my experience though, they black out online radio for baseball which is the main use case I'm thinking of here.
@Dengue MLB's At Bat app gives you out of market for $3 a month, but sounds like you need local. And TuneIn has all the games I think for $8 a month (which is too much, but it comes with some other streams).
Worst case is hooking up a pocket AM radio to the 3.5 input... A little dorky, but we're all on meh already, right? ;)
@stinks True although the Meh point is moot at this point since I didn't pull the trigger. I kind of regret it though since at this point I have at least 3 of the mini bluetooth speakers with me each time hoping the sound would be better than the previous but they all have ended up only being marginally better than playing it from the phone/ipad directly, hah.
I really want something like this. I have a lot of FLAC files of Grateful Dead shows and I want some kind of music player which is portable like a boom box and that I can slap a 2Tb drive into. Does anyone know of something that fits this description or am I looking at a Raspberry Pi project?
@cercopithecoid We have exactly and hour to go(if I don't type too slow. I love my Logitek Squeezebox and love listening to internet radio on it--somehow they got superb sound out of it. I think the memorex probably has as good of sound as a lot of bluetooth boxes they are selling now. Anyway, this might help you:
(don't wanna take time messing up linking a few times before succeeding. I'm not too swift on technology anymore, I have VMP, but just not sure how slick I'd be setting it up. Good luck!
Quite a mix. Some people who apparently signed into the end of sonic history, where all speakers fit inside a bluetooth-enabled matchbook, while some lament the lack of AM, which is rarely in stereo and more suitable for tiny, tinny speakers.
Is it just me or did @Snapster pay your Christmas bonus in more publicly signed write ups? (Seem to be more of them with your handle included vs the past. More freelance opportunities?)
If it had AM capability I would buy this. The fact that it is FM only kills the deal for me. I actually do listen to Rush Limbaugh and his conservative brethren pretty faithfully. I never tune in FM stations.
@ozzallos Not hard but it would probably add 15 cents to their manufacturing costs. That doesn't sound like a lot of money but if you make a million of these devices, that adds up and they were gambling that people would probably buy it without that feature anyway.
This is so close to something I've been waiting for. Unfortunately I just opened an unexpected package last night--a package that delighted me, but was cause for unending eye-rolls from my wife. It's just--I--well--fuck, Idunno.
I'll keep checking throughout the day. The merciful thing would be for these to sell out before I cave. Can we make that happen? 'Cause that'd be great. Mkay?
@joelmw This is right at that price point that doesn't typically warrant spousal approval before purchasing. I say, take the plunge. An eye-roll is acceptable, so as long as this won't tip the scale to yelling, I think you're good. Plus, it won't come for another week, so she may have forgotten yesterday's delivery by then.
I'm in a time crunch but wanted to reply, so this'll be quick.
My first wife and I were both the type that save and collect, sometimes irrationally, sometimes for anticipated eventualities, sometimes for more projects than we ever have time for. She was also a shopper--and I mean that as a compliment, at least in part. When she died unexpectedly, not only was I traumatized from losing her, but, even up to the point two years later when the new wife walked in, I was surrounded by stuff. She is not a fan of lots of stuff. Plus we have other reasons that having a lot of stuff is bad (again, this is the short version of this story; they are plenty, just take my word for it). Partly out of my natural neurosis, partly out of sentimentality, partly out of pain and confusion, I was loathe to part with shit. I feel like I've made vast leaps and bounds toward disconnecting from all of it. Still one of my main jobs is to get rid of shit. Books are the main thing I will not, and she's good with that. Actually, I'm ready to part with some books. And I'd prefer @christinewas house many of them, but that's not really fair; and I think she would love to, but, yaknow, they've got their own space issues.
It's less about the money than it is about having one more thing in the house.
@joelmw that's a lot of heart-twists and pulls there. Sympathies on the challenges.
Makes me appreciate my simple hoarding challenges.
While I like to have stuff ready for too many eventualities, I'm learning to factor in both the likelihood and timeline of potential need before buying.... weighted by the cost (price) materiality (if it's inherently cheap, buy it later when/if actually needed).
@joelmw I'm sorry if my flippant remark caused any pain. You have my deepest sympathies. I really need to click buy less frequently, or else I'll likely leave my husband in a similar situation. I hope, if and when you're ready, you find a loving home for the books. Maybe, if your first wife was a library supporter, you could donate some of them to your local library in her name? Big hugs to you and @christinewas.
@PurplePawprints@RedOak Thank you both. I didn't mean to elicit sympathies with that, truly. Just kinda mapping out the situation. But thank you very much. Yeah, life is twisty, but mine has been and is so very good, despite a few anguishing tragedies (which, let's be honest, we all have eventually; as I was processing the loss of my first wife--of almost 25 years--I could never shake thoughts of what it must be like for the surviving spouse of couples who are together even longer).
And, to be clear, most of my problem at this point is less about nostalgia. There are a few things I will keep, but the larger percentage of our volume of "junk" isn't something I'm hanging on to to remember my first wife. For a while it was, but now it's more my paranoid hoarding of things we might need some day . . . and just the effort to sort through it all.
Speaking of which, one of the coolest things that happened with stuff. Deb (my first wife and I) had renewed our vows, including a new ring for me, at 20 years. On the one hand, it felt weird to use that in the new marriage; on the other, it felt weird getting rid of it, so we didn't. The kid got married about a year after her dad did. They asked to use that ring for our new son-in-law (it makes me smile whenever I see it on his finger; and he's a good son to us and husband to my daughter). As far as I'm concerned, that's perfect.
With the iHome, you get to use (and, unf, pay for) 6 D batteries (which, surprisingly, are still made and sold) when you pretend to be Radio Raheem, just as boom boxes are supposed to work. And you get to put an old 30 pin iPod or iPhone in the place of the tape deck.
Which is to say four AAs and the smaller size for this box are tempting. Bluetooth I can take or leave over the 30 pin. I hate pairing. Well, that's not true. I hate pairing Bluetooth stuff.
Some of the Amazon reviews state that you might have difficulty using rechargeable AA's in this unit...Thats kind of a deal breaker for me. I really wish this was rechargeable, but that would prolly change the price point too much.
@burhan The nice thing about it taking AAs, though, is that you're going to be able to buy batteries for it until it stops working. AAs will be on the market until the demise of most of us.
Buy a hundred AAs at Lowe's or Costco. They're cheap and work well.
@RedOak I've got those cables. I'm still convinced it was a great idea and I'm happy to have them, but I'm not actually using any of the new ones yet. See above.
@lumpthar Yah, and I think I have a bundle of "great deal!" HDMI cables I bought from NewEgg a few yeas ago. What is wrong with me? Almost as bad, I could have cancelled that cycle's VMP and save another 5 bucks if not for that weak moment.
Not only does the sound kind of suck, so does the Bluetooth. Also, mine is plugged into an outlet and randomly shuts itself off in the middle of a song. It's not a matter of the Bluetooth losing connection either, the entire unit shuts off. At that point, I either have to stop what I'm doing and turn it back on, or just give up on listening to music. I'm kind of bummed at just how shitty this is.
@PurplePawprints dang it... I got it for the radio and haven't listened to it for an extended period.... now I am gonna have to to see if it does it to me too :)
@darkzrobe Sorry you are having similar issues. Since it doesn't do it all the time, just every now and then randomly, and I don't use it that often anyway due to its suckage, I've just sucked it up and dealt with it. Let me know if you get a satisfactory resolution.
@PurplePawprints Well they didnt have any more in stock and they are upgrading me to a "MW5554" Which looks pretty awesome... I think this might be a win if that one sounds any better.
I have this to use on my desk at work and it’s fine for that. just wondering if anyone knows if bluetooth headphones can be paired with it? I can’t seem to make it work with the set that I have.
@jbrich67 it has a Bluetooth receiver, but not a Bluetooth transmitter. You’d need something like this to plug into the headphone jack and send the Bluetooth signal: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01K4HM952/
Specs
Condition: New
Warranty: 90 Day Memorex
Estimated Delivery: 1/22 - 1/24
Shipping: $5 or free with VMP
What’s in the Box?
1x Memorex FlexBeats Bluetooth Boombox
1x Power adapter
Pictures
Front
Top
Included
1/4 view
3/4 view
Scale
Price Comparison
$99.95 List, $49.59 at Amazon (62 reviews, fulfilled by Amazon)
Find a relevant price comparison? Please share it in a comment in this thread
Warranty
90 days
#SDF on Thursday
@JazzyJosh no dock... it's the return of Bluetooth Stand Thursday... but no stand... so confused.
Nooooooooooooo
Is it real or is it Memorex?? Get a blast out iof this deal-
@AttyVette This deal is a fist full of Boomstick!
Kind of looks like an old telephone receiver.
@cengland0 Or Binoculars
@mamawoot First I thought binoculars, then I thought really large gag telephone. Either of those would have been better than a Memorex boom box.
@cengland0 I think you meant a linesman's handset. Like this:
@mike808 That looks like a hair dryer.
Meh
Soo...what closet did you find this in?
Wall-e 's head?
Is it live? No ...
And my second loss of the night
Cool binoculars
I bought one! Quick, someone tell me whether or not I made a horrible decision before it's too late to cancel.
@PurplePawprints
But seriously the reviews on amazon look great, and I got one too. Wish it had AM tho.
@PurplePawprints Reviews look good. Think I'll get one. @rileyper Ditto on the AM.
The lack of AM is annoying.
@Dengue at least you don't have to listen to Rush Limbaugh
@somf69 There's another reason to listen to AM?
@Dengue I used to think that too, but is there really a show you listen to on AM that's not on TuneIn Radio? Admittedly the data fees on AM are slightly less...
@somf69 Mainly I would want the AM to be able to listen to baseball and other sports.
@stinks I've never heard of that but I'll have to try it. In my experience though, they black out online radio for baseball which is the main use case I'm thinking of here.
@Dengue MLB's At Bat app gives you out of market for $3 a month, but sounds like you need local. And TuneIn has all the games I think for $8 a month (which is too much, but it comes with some other streams).
Worst case is hooking up a pocket AM radio to the 3.5 input... A little dorky, but we're all on meh already, right? ;)
@stinks True although the Meh point is moot at this point since I didn't pull the trigger. I kind of regret it though since at this point I have at least 3 of the mini bluetooth speakers with me each time hoping the sound would be better than the previous but they all have ended up only being marginally better than playing it from the phone/ipad directly, hah.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8yvEYKRF5IA
@studerc A boombox can change the world! Who knew?
Boom goes the meh...
How many D batteries does this require?
@fyreblazer 4AA to power it. I think the ISO boombox requires, at the minimum, 6C cells.
@daggar It bums me out that the answer was not 20.
You'll Say Anything to sell these, won't you?
@nadroj
You won the Internet!
In case anyone thought I was being sarcastic, let me rephrase that: funniest damn post I've seen in ages.
I really want something like this. I have a lot of FLAC files of Grateful Dead shows and I want some kind of music player which is portable like a boom box and that I can slap a 2Tb drive into. Does anyone know of something that fits this description or am I looking at a Raspberry Pi project?
@cercopithecoid We have exactly and hour to go(if I don't type too slow. I love my Logitek Squeezebox and love listening to internet radio on it--somehow they got superb sound out of it. I think the memorex probably has as good of sound as a lot of bluetooth boxes they are selling now. Anyway, this might help you:
(don't wanna take time messing up linking a few times before succeeding.
I'm not too swift on technology anymore, I have VMP, but just not sure how slick I'd be setting it up. Good luck!
No phone dock? Meh
I'd be all over this for $5 or even $8, but that's too much boom for this box
I like the look of it. It's kinda like the envisioning of a boombox Back to the Future's 2015 might have.
It has a digital display. None of that retro-analog moving pointer on a string crap to get derailed. So there's that.
All about that bass!
@Stallion
@Comedian You called?
economic-witty-pie
Quite a mix. Some people who apparently signed into the end of sonic history, where all speakers fit inside a bluetooth-enabled matchbook, while some lament the lack of AM, which is rarely in stereo and more suitable for tiny, tinny speakers.
That delay at the hour.... you totally had my fuku senses tingling... good job.
@thismyusername Same! And, I was a few seconds later than normal when I checked, so I thought there was a fuku and that I'd missed it.
@JasonToon,
Is it just me or did @Snapster pay your Christmas bonus in more publicly signed write ups? (Seem to be more of them with your handle included vs the past. More freelance opportunities?)
If it had AM capability I would buy this. The fact that it is FM only kills the deal for me. I actually do listen to Rush Limbaugh and his conservative brethren pretty faithfully. I never tune in FM stations.
Wonder who came up with that design first. TDK/Imation or Memorex
@cengland0 According to Wikipedia, Imation owns both TDK and Memorex
@Comedian aha! The Imation clan. The day stands explained.
So today's deal is a cousin to the wonderful Imation rechargeable portable shower kit sold a couple times here on Meh.
I have absolutely no need for today's gadget but that genetic affiliation leads me to reponder...
For fucks sake, is building these with an SD card slot for native MP3 compatibility that hard?
@ozzallos Not hard but it would probably add 15 cents to their manufacturing costs. That doesn't sound like a lot of money but if you make a million of these devices, that adds up and they were gambling that people would probably buy it without that feature anyway.
@ozzallos @cengland0
If they could play mp3 natively, they might never have made it to meh.
This is so close to something I've been waiting for. Unfortunately I just opened an unexpected package last night--a package that delighted me, but was cause for unending eye-rolls from my wife. It's just--I--well--fuck, Idunno.
I'll keep checking throughout the day. The merciful thing would be for these to sell out before I cave. Can we make that happen? 'Cause that'd be great. Mkay?
@joelmw C'mon, now we need to know what it was that caused the eye-rolls. A photo would be even better.
@joelmw This is right at that price point that doesn't typically warrant spousal approval before purchasing. I say, take the plunge. An eye-roll is acceptable, so as long as this won't tip the scale to yelling, I think you're good. Plus, it won't come for another week, so she may have forgotten yesterday's delivery by then.
@joelmw solution: his and hers - a selfish bribe. A black one for you and a pink one for... oh wait. Never mind.
Bonus: you'd double-help them sell out before I could reconsider.
@RedOak @PurplePawprints @sammydog01
I'm in a time crunch but wanted to reply, so this'll be quick.
My first wife and I were both the type that save and collect, sometimes irrationally, sometimes for anticipated eventualities, sometimes for more projects than we ever have time for. She was also a shopper--and I mean that as a compliment, at least in part. When she died unexpectedly, not only was I traumatized from losing her, but, even up to the point two years later when the new wife walked in, I was surrounded by stuff. She is not a fan of lots of stuff. Plus we have other reasons that having a lot of stuff is bad (again, this is the short version of this story; they are plenty, just take my word for it). Partly out of my natural neurosis, partly out of sentimentality, partly out of pain and confusion, I was loathe to part with shit. I feel like I've made vast leaps and bounds toward disconnecting from all of it. Still one of my main jobs is to get rid of shit. Books are the main thing I will not, and she's good with that. Actually, I'm ready to part with some books. And I'd prefer @christinewas house many of them, but that's not really fair; and I think she would love to, but, yaknow, they've got their own space issues.
It's less about the money than it is about having one more thing in the house.
If you ever meet my wife, ask her about Post-Its.
@joelmw that's a lot of heart-twists and pulls there. Sympathies on the challenges.
Makes me appreciate my simple hoarding challenges.
While I like to have stuff ready for too many eventualities, I'm learning to factor in both the likelihood and timeline of potential need before buying.... weighted by the cost (price) materiality (if it's inherently cheap, buy it later when/if actually needed).
@joelmw I'm sorry if my flippant remark caused any pain. You have my deepest sympathies. I really need to click buy less frequently, or else I'll likely leave my husband in a similar situation. I hope, if and when you're ready, you find a loving home for the books. Maybe, if your first wife was a library supporter, you could donate some of them to your local library in her name? Big hugs to you and @christinewas.
@PurplePawprints @RedOak Thank you both. I didn't mean to elicit sympathies with that, truly. Just kinda mapping out the situation. But thank you very much. Yeah, life is twisty, but mine has been and is so very good, despite a few anguishing tragedies (which, let's be honest, we all have eventually; as I was processing the loss of my first wife--of almost 25 years--I could never shake thoughts of what it must be like for the surviving spouse of couples who are together even longer).
And, to be clear, most of my problem at this point is less about nostalgia. There are a few things I will keep, but the larger percentage of our volume of "junk" isn't something I'm hanging on to to remember my first wife. For a while it was, but now it's more my paranoid hoarding of things we might need some day . . . and just the effort to sort through it all.
Speaking of which, one of the coolest things that happened with stuff. Deb (my first wife and I) had renewed our vows, including a new ring for me, at 20 years. On the one hand, it felt weird to use that in the new marriage; on the other, it felt weird getting rid of it, so we didn't. The kid got married about a year after her dad did. They asked to use that ring for our new son-in-law (it makes me smile whenever I see it on his finger; and he's a good son to us and husband to my daughter). As far as I'm concerned, that's perfect.
@joelmw That is so sweet. Thanks for sharing.
I bought one of these on clearance for about $20 during a store closing. It's definitely worth it. No dock but the sound is pretty decent.
@invalidmicah Thank you for saying this because I made a midnight impulse buy and it's too late to cancel.
Where do the cassettes go?
@Pitmonkey
it doesnt even do 8-track. :(
What, no headstrap?!
Could this work as a sound bar for a small-ish flat screen?
@wickhameh why yes - as long as your TV has a compatible output:
If I hadn't already purchased the iHome boom box, I'd be game. ($35 on eBay, free shipping, three colors, btw)
With the iHome, you get to use (and, unf, pay for) 6 D batteries (which, surprisingly, are still made and sold) when you pretend to be Radio Raheem, just as boom boxes are supposed to work. And you get to put an old 30 pin iPod or iPhone in the place of the tape deck.
Which is to say four AAs and the smaller size for this box are tempting. Bluetooth I can take or leave over the 30 pin. I hate pairing. Well, that's not true. I hate pairing Bluetooth stuff.
I would totally buy one of these if I didn't already purchase an outdoor speaker from Meh last month. UGH.
Does it have an alarm clock?
I say that this is what dreams are made of.But don't wake up..If you see Buddha on the road,kill him
5 watts total? enough said ...NO !!!!!
Some of the Amazon reviews state that you might have difficulty using rechargeable AA's in this unit...Thats kind of a deal breaker for me. I really wish this was rechargeable, but that would prolly change the price point too much.
@mp3god it must be voltage-sensitive. Rechargeable AAs are typically 1.2 volts and work fine in most things... vs Alkaline AAs @ 1.5 volts.
I want this so much but I swore off frivolous spending for a while. :(
Maybe if it had a internal rechargeable battery instead of having to feed it AAs I would've gotten one. It does look nostalgic, at any rate.
@burhan The nice thing about it taking AAs, though, is that you're going to be able to buy batteries for it until it stops working. AAs will be on the market until the demise of most of us.
Buy a hundred AAs at Lowe's or Costco. They're cheap and work well.
Dammit, you win again meh. It's been a long time though.
@lumpthar you mean that HDMI cable 4 pack recently didn't hook you? OK, yah, I have buyers remorse about that one.
@RedOak I've got those cables. I'm still convinced it was a great idea and I'm happy to have them, but I'm not actually using any of the new ones yet. See above.
@RedOak I've still got unopened HDMI cables from the days when Woot was still Woot. I definitely don't need any more.
@lumpthar Yah, and I think I have a bundle of "great deal!" HDMI cables I bought from NewEgg a few yeas ago. What is wrong with me? Almost as bad, I could have cancelled that cycle's VMP and save another 5 bucks if not for that weak moment.
I'm pretty certain I'm not going to regret this. But I've been certain before.
review:
JBL Mini sounds much better.
That is all.
@thismyusername I have to agree. I thought this one would be louder than the mini, but no.
Not only does the sound kind of suck, so does the Bluetooth. Also, mine is plugged into an outlet and randomly shuts itself off in the middle of a song. It's not a matter of the Bluetooth losing connection either, the entire unit shuts off. At that point, I either have to stop what I'm doing and turn it back on, or just give up on listening to music. I'm kind of bummed at just how shitty this is.
@PurplePawprints dang it... I got it for the radio and haven't listened to it for an extended period.... now I am gonna have to to see if it does it to me too :)
@thismyusername Well, if so, you know whose fault it is.
@PurplePawprints Mine did the same thing too... I hope that is not a feature, I am currently RMAing it with Memorex.
@darkzrobe Sorry you are having similar issues. Since it doesn't do it all the time, just every now and then randomly, and I don't use it that often anyway due to its suckage, I've just sucked it up and dealt with it. Let me know if you get a satisfactory resolution.
@PurplePawprints I doubt it considering I just spent $11 on shipping. Price is sticking it to a place where I could have gotten something nicer.
@PurplePawprints Well they didnt have any more in stock and they are upgrading me to a "MW5554" Which looks pretty awesome... I think this might be a win if that one sounds any better.
I have this to use on my desk at work and it’s fine for that. just wondering if anyone knows if bluetooth headphones can be paired with it? I can’t seem to make it work with the set that I have.
@jbrich67 it has a Bluetooth receiver, but not a Bluetooth transmitter. You’d need something like this to plug into the headphone jack and send the Bluetooth signal: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01K4HM952/