Amazon FireTV


 
James, I bought a Amazon Fire Stick last fall when they were offered for $19. dollars. Easy to hook up,and lots of movies for free if you're a Prime member. But not really what I was looking for. I was hoping to be able to cut the cord from Comcast as $200 a month to watch TV is a bit much for someone who only watches tv in bed at night.
Fire TV has Netflix on it and what ever apps you want to put on it, but do I use it? Not really. I think I've watched a movie or two, I couldn't find on On Demand, but that's really it.
 
Hey Jim.. Interesting you posted this. Just bought my Fire Stick this week. $35 at Best Buy. I really like it. Seems like a great variety of movies, TV Series etc. Many HBO programs as well. Not everything is free, but most of it is. After only using it a brief time, I feel it is worth it. Best Buy gives you 14 days to return it. I'm looking to reduce cable bill as well.
 
Hi Jim, I've had my Fire Stick for about 6 months. I think to take full advantage of the content from Amazon you will need to be a Prime Member. Prime Members receive much of the content for free. I spend to much on DirecTV now so I only use what's offered free for Prime Members. I have enjoyed many good movies, TV series, and Amazon exclusive's. I feel that with the boring content on regular TV the Amazon Fire gives me some excellent choices. One word of caution Jim, you must have a good internet connection with high band width to take advantage of some shows. For under $40 plus $99 for Amazon Prime I think it's money well spent. I hope this has helped.
Good luck with your choice.

Bill
 
I don't have it but I also cut the cable back around 2008. I used to have an old notebook connected to my TV (monitor) but last year I built a gaming PC------------ PC TVs are nice! Check out the intel compute stick if you don't have an extra computer laying around... I don't have one but I read about them before they were released & then a little bit from people who liked them..

I do recommend a HTPC.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2482277,00.asp

 
James, my wife got me a fire stick last year for Christmas. After reading up on its capabilities, we returned it. The plan was to use it on our tv In the living room, which is a Samsung smart tv. If you have a smart tv already, you basically already have a fire stick, as the two pretty much overlap each other.
Tim
 
I am a big proponent for htpc's but a htpc's and a fire stick are, in my opinion, for very different uses. Htpc's are to stream local content ( although they can stream online content). There just isn't enough storage on these sticks.

I've tried all three, a chrome cast, apple tv, several built in smart tv's. Was never all that pleased. And in my limited experience, to stream netflix or Amazon instant video my go to device is still a ps3. But everyday cable/dvr it's my home brew htpc's with a blu-ray drive and my silicon dust hdhr prime, and if I'm away a sling m1.

I have more HDMI dongles ( chromecast/ miracast) just sitting in a drawer.Neat because they were cheap but the novelty wears off quick. And ps3's are cheap and the kids can still game on them and they are good as blu-ray players.
 
Sandy B said:
I am a big proponent for htpc's but a htpc's and a fire stick are, in my opinion, for very different uses. Htpc's are to stream local content ( although they can stream online content). There just isn't enough storage on these sticks.

I've tried all three, a chrome cast, apple tv, several built in smart tv's. Was never all that pleased. And in my limited experience, to stream netflix or Amazon instant video my go to device is still a ps3. But everyday cable/dvr it's my home brew htpc's with a blu-ray drive and my silicon dust hdhr prime, and if I'm away a sling m1.

I have more HDMI dongles ( chromecast/ miracast) just sitting in a drawer.Neat because they were cheap but the novelty wears off quick. And ps3's are cheap and the kids can still game on them and they are good as blu-ray players.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting opinion - thanks for posting it.

My HTPC, since it's also a gaming machine, has a big hard drive for games etc and an expensive (low-mid range) video card, but it accesses the NAS for music, videos, etc. If it was to play just movies and online content (including netflix/amazon/hulu/www.whatever) I think one of those intel compute sticks would do the trick just fine.

....that's it - I'm getting one to play with, I've been wondering a few things about it since ~February.
 
I forgot to mention I also tried the android on a stick (MK808), meh. The intel on a stick will run windows buts its still a quad core atom. I killed my htpc that was running an earlier quad core atom ( lack of suitable drivers) then went to a quad core amd kabini htpc ( if you are picking up a trend all of these are super low power super cheap). both really struggled.

I dont game at all, but both of those doorstops were killed by an aniversary unlocked pentium G3258 which is much much more stable ( 4K output from the integrated graphics). this htpc is now the hub of my media consumption for the whole house. its my tv/dvr/red box player and serves my upstairs tv through a xbox360. I also have a nas for photos and movies and im not sure ( it might be but im not sure) whether the fire stick or box will serve as a dlna client or not ( a big advantage for the ps3) and the remote for the fire is reminiscent of the apple tv remote which was awful.

to each their own. if you get the intel stick please come back and post your impressions.
 
I will! I plan on using it very closely to it's intended use but I'll play with it a little to see.
 
Sandy B said:
I forgot to mention I also tried the android on a stick (MK808), meh. The intel on a stick will run windows buts its still a quad core atom. I killed my htpc that was running an earlier quad core atom ( lack of suitable drivers) then went to a quad core amd kabini htpc ( if you are picking up a trend all of these are super low power super cheap). both really struggled.

I dont game at all, but both of those doorstops were killed by an aniversary unlocked pentium G3258 which is much much more stable ( 4K output from the integrated graphics). this htpc is now the hub of my media consumption for the whole house. its my tv/dvr/red box player and serves my upstairs tv through a xbox360. I also have a nas for photos and movies and im not sure ( it might be but im not sure) whether the fire stick or box will serve as a dlna client or not ( a big advantage for the ps3) and the remote for the fire is reminiscent of the apple tv remote which was awful.

to each their own. if you get the intel stick please come back and post your impressions.
Click to expand...

....I have not a single clue what you just said, but it sure sounds convincing!
Tim
 
Tim K said:
James, my wife got me a fire stick last year for Christmas. After reading up on its capabilities, we returned it. The plan was to use it on our tv In the living room, which is a Samsung smart tv. If you have a smart tv already, you basically already have a fire stick, as the two pretty much overlap each other.
Tim
Click to expand...

any blu-ray player is about the same, too.


OT: It can some effort to communicate ideas.... sometimes it helps to remember :)

http://www.mastersinit.org/geeks-vs-nerds/
 
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