I get my pre-flight briefings from:
*) weathertap - RadarLab, area outlook, tafs, progs
*) ADDS - flightpath tool for AIRMETS & winds aloft along the route
*) FlightStar - to tell me how long it'll take, print nice-looking flight
plans, plan fuel stops, etc.

Then I call flight service and listen to the guy/girl give me this wildly
generalized briefing that usually doesn't tell me very much.

Last time I was in a flight service station (2000 I think) they were still
using IBM CRTs with textual info, so I don't know how they can give anyone a
very precise route briefing.

So... is FSS just there to a) cover your ass in case of an incident ("pilot
called FSS and got a full weather briefing prior to departing into known
icing/TFR/hurricane etc.") b) accept flight plans?