Just got the new Amazon Fire TV box

[morasp]

I placed an advance order for the new Fire TV box and got Monday on the release date. It features upgraded processing and memory, 4K video output, high efficiency video coding (HEVC), and Alexa the brains behind Echo. It is a big improvement over the previous version for the same price. I don't own a 4K TV yet but the picture looks a lot clearer. I stream amazon prime, Hulu, Sling TV, and Netflix and the performance improvement is significant. Prime videos start almost instantaneously.

Alexa is very cool. The original Fire had voice search that was very fun but Alexa takes it a notch higher. It is a calculator, Weather man, Joke teller, Dictionary, Calendar, sports scores, Encyclopedia, shopping list, to do list, thesaurus, unit converter, and music player all in one. You can tell it: Alexa play classical music and it starts playing almost instantly. I plan on getting the Echo next.

The only glitch is that the box doesn't do 5.1 audio with Netflix, Plex, etc. but amazon reportedly will have a fix out by October 22.

I'd have to say that for $99 it's a very good value.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Should have gotten a Roku. Roku own the streaming market. They are so much better than any other offering it's ridiculous. They just released the Roku 4 too.

Return it and order a Roku. Then you can just order an Echo for the goofiness stuff you want.

 

[morasp]

I have heard good things about the Roku too but haven't tried it. There were a lot of reviews that had tried both and said even the original fire was better so I went with it and haven't been disappointed. Just looking at the specs the Fire looks significantly better.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Sounds interesting. Can you give me some more details? I have a 1080p TV with basic channels (ABC, NBC, FOX) but I have Xfinity OnDemand and they threw in HBO for free so I can watch a lot of HBO shows and movies. I also have subscriptions for Amazon Prime and Netflix so I just plug my laptop into my TV via HDMI cable so I can watch on the big screen. Sometimes the picture quality of Amazon Instant Video is a little crappy, but I think it might be because of my internet speed.

Anyway, so I'm just wondering if this Fire TV Box is worth purchasing. What are the benefits other than not having to plug my laptop into my TV (which isn't really an inconvenience)? Also, what is the difference between the $99 Fire TV and the $39 Fire TV Stick?

 

[YosemiteSam]

I have heard good things about the Roku too but haven't tried it. There were a lot of reviews that had tried both and said even the original fire was better so I went with it and haven't been disappointed. Just looking at the specs the Fire looks significantly better.

lol, the only people that would say the original Fire is better than than the Roku are Amazon employees that were forced to do it by Jeff Bezos!

 

[morasp]

lol, the only people that would say the original Fire is better than than the Roku are Amazon employees that were forced to do it by Jeff Bezos!

I wouldn't know, you would have to ask them.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Just Google "Amazon Fire User Reviews" Avoid "Product Reviews" by sites paid to review products. You can look at Amazon.com's user reviews, but Amazon has been caught filtering those before.

 

[morasp]

Just Google "Amazon Fire User Reviews" Avoid "Product Reviews" by sites paid to review products. You can look at Amazon.com's user reviews, but Amazon has been caught filtering those before.

I think a nap would be a better use of my time since I already own the new fire and am thrilled with it. PC magazine did do a review of it and gave it an editors choice award with the promise of a comparison to Roku's 4K box when they get one.

By Will Greenwald
Amazon's new Fire TV media streamer takes the powerful performance of the first Android-based Fire TV and ups the ante with ultra high-definition (4K) video support and Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. The updated Fire TV retains its broad support for apps, games, and services while keeping the same $99.99 price tag, easily earning our Editors' Choice for media streamers.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2455886,00.asp

 

[CyberB0b]

I have the original. Much more flexible than Roku.

 

[morasp]

Sounds interesting. Can you give me some more details? I have a 1080p TV with basic channels (ABC, NBC, FOX) but I have Xfinity OnDemand and they threw in HBO for free so I can watch a lot of HBO shows and movies. I also have subscriptions for Amazon Prime and Netflix so I just plug my laptop into my TV via HDMI cable so I can watch on the big screen. Sometimes the picture quality of Amazon Instant Video is a little crappy, but I think it might be because of my internet speed.

Anyway, so I'm just wondering if this Fire TV Box is worth purchasing. What are the benefits other than not having to plug my laptop into my TV (which isn't really an inconvenience)? Also, what is the difference between the $99 Fire TV and the $39 Fire TV Stick?

I can tell you my experience and you'll have to decide if it would be worth it.

My internet is 6 Mbps peak and the video is almost always crystal clear. My TiVo goes to my HDMI 2 on my tv and the fire goes to my home theater which goes to HDMI arc input 1 on my tv. When I sit down I click select on the fire remote and the TV switches to the Fire. I hold down the voice button on the remote and say a program name like star trek voyager and it is displayed immediately on my TV with the last episode I watched highlighted. I select play and in less than a second the episode is playing. If It's a program on Hulu the display says watch now on hulu plus and I click select and it starts playing. almost immediately.

I don't know if you use prime music but it's a really nice feature. I push the voice button and say Alexa play the cooking with classical playlist and within seconds it starts playing. You can create your own playlist or choose music (individual songs and albums) from the prime music library.

I commented a little on Alexa and maybe it's from watching all the shows and movies like star trek, 2001, and eureka but it really is fun. My wife was in the kitchen and I was watching a show and she said we need lettuce so I pushed the voice button and said alexa add lettuce to my shopping list and she did. She got a doctors report and was reading it in her easy chair and didn't know what something was so I said alexa what is lumbado and alexa told me. It's really convenient.

It could be in the end that if connecting your computer to the tv before watching a program isn't too inconvenient than it may not be worth it but I already had streaming with Tivo and for me the performance improvement, tens of seconds for Netflix to load and virtual keyboard to find specific programs, was worthwhile.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I think a nap would be a better use of my time since I already own the new fire and am thrilled with it.

This is called the Ragu Effect. Anyone who likes Ragu does so because they've never tasted anything better. Hence the term, Ragu Effect.

PC magazine did do a review of it and gave it an editors choice award with the promise of a comparison to Roku's 4K box when they get one.

By Will Greenwald
Amazon's new Fire TV media streamer takes the powerful performance of the first Android-based Fire TV and ups the ante with ultra high-definition (4K) video support and Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. The updated Fire TV retains its broad support for apps, games, and services while keeping the same $99.99 price tag, easily earning our Editors' Choice for media streamers.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2455886,00.asp

PC Magazine is paid for their reviews.

Merry Christmas

 

[YosemiteSam]

I have the original. Much more flexible than Roku.

Your beer belly is showing.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I can tell you my experience and you decide.

My internet is 6 Mbps peak and the video is almost always crystal clear. My TiVo goes to my HDMI 2 on my tv and the fire goes to my home theater which goes to HDMI arc input 1 on my tv. When I sit down I click select on the fire remote and the TV switches to the Fire. I hold down the voice button on the remote and say a program name like star trek voyager and it is displayed immediately on my TV with the last episode I watched highlighted. I select play and in less than a second the episode is playing. If It's a program on Hulu the display says watch now on hulu plus and I click select and it starts playing. almost immediately.

I don't know if you use prime music but it's a really nice feature. I push the voice button and say Alexa play the cooking with classical playlist and within seconds it starts playing. You can create your own playlist or choose music from the prime music library.

I commented a little on Alexa and maybe it's from watching all the shows and movies like star trek, 2001, and eureka but it really is fun. My wife was in the kitchen and I was watching a show and she said we need lettuce so I pushed the voice button and said alexa add lettuce to my shopping list and she did. She got a doctors report and was reading it in her easy chair and didn't know what something was so I said alexa what is lumbado and alexa told me. It's really convenient.

It could be in the end that if connecting your computer to the tv before watching a program isn't too inconvenient than it may not be worth it but I already had streming with Tivo and for me the improvement was worthwhile.

Thanks for the review. I ordered the $99 one. My girlfriend and I both work in speech technology so we find Alexa/Echo interesting. I think Alexa and not having to plug in our laptop is worth the $99. Plus hopefully the picture quality is good. We had issues when streaming Amazon Instant Video in Google Chrome. It works pretty well in FireFox with Microsoft Silverlight though.

 

[CyberB0b]

Your beer belly is showing.

Huh?

 

[YosemiteSam]

Huh?

Yes. I would like fries with that.

 

[morasp]

Thanks for the review. I ordered the $99 one. My girlfriend and I both work in speech technology so we find Alexa/Echo interesting. I think Alexa and not having to plug in our laptop is worth the $99. Plus hopefully the picture quality is good. We had issues when streaming Amazon Instant Video in Google Chrome. It works pretty well in FireFox with Microsoft Silverlight though.

Hopefully you won't be disappointed. I should have told you a few things the Alexa doesn't do on the Fire that the Echo does do. It doesn't do timer/wake up call, news briefings (but it will do your local weather or weather for any city and sports scores), and it won't do the home automation like turn on lights. I asked it to tell me a joke and it said "I couldn't figure out why the ball kept getting bigger... and then it hit me" cracked me up.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Hopefully you won't be disappointed. I should have told you a few things the Alexa doesn't do on the Fire that the Echo does do. It doesn't do timer/wake up call, news briefings (but it will do your local weather or weather for any city and sports scores), and it won't do the home automation like turn on lights. I asked it to tell me a joke and it said "I couldn't figure out why the ball kept getting bigger... and then it hit me" cracked me up.

Haha good stuff. Maybe if I really like it, I'll end up getting the Echo too. But it seems to be enough for my needs at the moment.

 

[CyberB0b]

Yes. I would like fries with that.

Sorry, not getting your jokes.

 

[Seven]

Should have gotten a Roku. Roku own the streaming market. They are so much better than any other offering it's ridiculous. They just released the Roku 4 too.

Return it and order a Roku. Then you can just order an Echo for the goofiness stuff you want.

Sound advice..............

 

[YosemiteSam]

Sound advice..............

Umm, dude. I typed that. I didn't say it so there was no "sound" involved. Well, except maybe keyboard clicking.