Amazon FireTV Stick announced

[Sydney's Mom]

My stick had a shipping date of 1/12, but I got an email that it shipped today. Should be her on the 24th. But I will be on vacation for the next week and a half, so if you live near me, pick up one for free!

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

My stick had a shipping date of 1/12, but I got an email that it shipped today. Should be her on the 24th. But I will be on vacation for the next week and a half, so if you live near me, pick up one for free!

If it's UPS You can call UPS and have them deliver it to a friend's house. I think it's $5 to do that. If it's the Postal Service you can put a hold for them hold your mail till you get back for free.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by Blossom

If it's UPS You can call UPS and have them deliver it to a friend's house. I think it's $5 to do that. If it's the Postal Service you can put a hold for them hold your mail till you get back for free.

My neighbors will pick it up for me. Last year, I bought $600 worth of yarn (a garbage bag full) and the business had promised to hold it until after Christmas. Saturday night, my neighbor brought it over! We used to come home late Saturday, so having the post office hold it wouldn't work (we like to go through it before starting back at work). But this year, we are coming back on Friday, and the post office in our little village is open on Saturday mornings! Great idea-thanks Blossom!

Merry Christmas,
Debra

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by ApK

No ac needed for my chromecast, fire TV stick or laptop. I have no idea what an ac adapter might be needed for.

In the comments it was posted that if the HDMI output is not 5V that you would need the AC cord. Some devices are fine and some do not output the power level. One device stated that did not output the required 5V is the Directv Genie.

I think mine should work fine. A Sony DVD player and either my Fire Stick or my Roku 2.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

If anyone is looking for a great 3D/Blu-ray/DVD player with wi-fi and full streaming ability, Amazon just dropped its price on the Sony BDP-S5200 by another $10, it's down to $79.00 right now. I have the S5100 and love it, and just ordered an S5200 for the other TV.

In regard to DVD players, I strongly recommend that you choose one that meets your needs that is "region-free." I have purchased many DVDs from Amazon UK whose Region 1 equivalents are not made.

Here's a Sony currently available for only $35.00.
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Multi-Reg...ee+dvd+players

[ApK]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

In regard to DVD players, I strongly recommend that you choose one that meets your needs that is "region-free." I have purchased many DVDs from Amazon UK whose Region 1 equivalents are not made.

That is the sort of feature that I think people would know if they needed.
Do you think many folks shopping for a streaming-enabled BD player in Region 1 are going to be better off forgoing all that and getting a region-free DVD player in case one day they may buy an import?

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

In regard to DVD players, I strongly recommend that you choose one that meets your needs that is "region-free." I have purchased many DVDs from Amazon UK whose Region 1 equivalents are not made.

Here's a Sony currently available for only $35.00.
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Multi-Reg...ee+dvd+players

I'm someone that does buy the occasional DVD from other regions, but I have an older Philips that I was able to make region-free and it also plays PAL as well as NTSC. I'm spoiled and need streaming included now as well though, and that in a region-free Blu-Ray DVD player is in the $200+ range. And a pain to purchase in the US. Some players though have simple hacks that can make a player region-free usually just by entering certain sequences in the remote. If I could find a good Blu-Ray DVD player with streaming at a good price, that would definitely be my first choice. If you never have PAL (or NTSC if not in the US) or DVDs from other regions, there's no sense worrying about having it.

I do at least now know the differences between the S5200 and last year's model S5100. The 5200 is about 2/3 the size of the 5100, that part is nice. The 5200 does not have any front display, the 5100 does. The 5200 only has 1 USB port, the 5100 has 2 (one in the back I use for Blu-Ray downloaded content, and one in the front). The Amazon Prime interface is a bit different as well on the 5200, I like the 5100 better in that regard. I don't really use any other service to notice differences in them, but I imagine it's very possible they have changes as well. The 5200 allows you to mirror content from your smartphone, the 5100 does not have this ability (something I never use anyway, anything worth viewing on the TV is worth keeping and is transferred to my PC). But it's a pretty solid player for the price, I'm very happy with it.

[reise]

A friend purchased one for me @ $19. Seems to be okay, although my usb port on my 2 year TV is woeful underpowered. Had to use the AC plug to power it and the stick gets warm after 30 minutes. Not yet ready to replace my apple tv. May take advantage of the 30 day prime trial.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by reise

Seems to be okay, although my usb port on my 2 year TV is woeful underpowered. Had to use the AC plug to power it and the stick gets warm after 30 minutes.

Are HDMI ports generally powered? I never thought they were.....

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

Are HDMI ports generally powered? I never thought they were.....

Yup. Version 1.2 and later.
5V 0.05 amp

Not enough for a streaming stick but clearly enough to power a smart switch.

[Shades]

Originally Posted by reise

A friend purchased one for me @ $19. Seems to be okay, although my usb port on my 2 year TV is woeful underpowered. Had to use the AC plug to power it and the stick gets warm after 30 minutes. Not yet ready to replace my apple tv. May take advantage of the 30 day prime trial.

If the Fire Stick is anything like Chromecast, then the body of the stick is used to dissipate heat. It will get hot.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Shades

If the Fire Stick is anything like Chromecast, then the body of the stick is used to dissipate heat. It will get hot.

I use the extender cable it comes with which is keeps it from getting hot if you just connect it directly to the TV it gets really hot quickly.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by reise

A friend purchased one for me @ $19. Seems to be okay, although my usb port on my 2 year TV is woeful underpowered. Had to use the AC plug to power it and the stick gets warm after 30 minutes. Not yet ready to replace my apple tv. May take advantage of the 30 day prime trial.

USB standard is 0.5A and the fire stick probably draws closer to 1A. Not that your USB port is underpowered, but that the stick (and many other devices) draws more than the standard allows.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by twowheels

USB standard is 0.5A and the fire stick probably draws closer to 1A. Not that your USB port is underpowered, but that the stick (and many other devices) draws more than the standard allows.

You can plug it into a usb port for power as well? I didn't know that!

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Yup. Version 1.2 and later.
5V 0.05 amp

Not enough for a streaming stick but clearly enough to power a smart switch.

I believe that you're confusing USB and HDMI. The question was about HDMI. If I remember correctly, the HDMI spec doesn't include power, that would be MHL.

I also think that you messed up the current spec as 0.05A is nothing. The basic USB spec allows for 0.5A (except for some newer extended specs like USB PD).