Amazon Echo Club

[wodin]

Amazon device deals

• Amazon Echo Show (2nd gen) + Amazon Echo Dot (3rd gen) + Philips Hue White Smart Bulb for $179.99 at Amazon (list price $229.99).
  Amazon Echo Dot (3rd gen) for $29.99 at Amazon (list price $49.99).
  Amazon Echo (2nd gen) for $64.99 at Amazon (list price $99.99).
  Amazon Echo Plus + Philips Hue White Smart Bulb (2nd gen) for $119.99 at Amazon (list price $149.99).
  Amazon Fire TV Stick 1080p Media Streamer for $29.99 at Amazon (list price $39.99).
  Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Media Streamer for $39.99 at Amazon (list price $49.99).
  Amazon Fire TV Recast (500GB) Over-the-Air DVR for $189.99 at Amazon (list price $229.99).
  Amazon Fire HD 8 (16GB, Ads) for $59.99 at Amazon (list price $79.99).
  Amazon Fire HD 10 (32GB, Ads) for $119.99 at Amazon (list price $149.99).
  Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2018, 8GB, Ads) for $99.99 at Amazon (list price $129.99).
  Amazon Kindle (Latest Model, Ads) for $69.99 at Amazon (list price $89.99).
  Amazon Kindle Oasis (8GB, Ads) for $199.99 at Amazon (list price $249.99)

[OtinG]

The last few days Amazon has definitely been pushing deals on a lot of their Alexa devices and package deals. I guess they want to maintain that top valued company status!

I wish they would add support for surveillance cameras without requiring Cloud services. My cameras can be connected to a Cloud, but I choose to save a ton of money by saving the video and photo feeds locally. Cloud services are so expensive, and in my opinion unnecessary when you can set your cameras to record locally in a loop. In other words, when they run out of memory storage they start recording over the oldest files, much like a black box in the aviation industry. It would be great if Alexa devices, especially Fire TV, would let me view camera feeds directly from my cameras via my WiFi, but they don't. You have to use a Cloud service to view them. I notice that the cameras Amazon tries to bundle with Alexa devices do not even have the capability to record locally, they only record to a Cloud. All of my cameras can record locally or to the Cloud. Fortunately my cameras have apps for computers, smartphones, and tablets that let me view the feeds, but it would still be nice to view them on a Fire TV.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I wish they would add support for surveillance cameras without requiring Cloud services.

F'in'-A, Bubba (now that you know what that means...).
Cloud is nice option, but it needs to be an OPTION, not a requirement.

Local storage of ebooks and audio, and movies and DVR content and such is important, but for security and privacy stuff, it's CRITICAL.

Do folks really want some low-bid stranger's server in China monitoring their home??

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by ApK

F'in'-A, Bubba (now that you know what that means...).
Cloud is nice option, but it needs to be an OPTION, not a requirement.

Local storage of ebooks and audio, and movies and DVR content and such is important, but for security and privacy stuff, it's CRITICAL.

Do folks really want some low-bid stranger's server in China monitoring their home??

Totally agree with the security stuff. I'm always a bit nervous using any Cloud service. Plus I really don't like the hidden cost factor. Hey buy our cameras and enjoy streaming your video to these devices." Then people get the camera and sadly realize they can only stream it if they pay more $$$ every month for a Cloud service. That is stated in the fine print of course, but judging from a lot of the reviews it is clear that a lot of people didn't read the fine print! The cameras that Amazon pushes with their Echo devices don't even have internal storage capability, so you cannot even get the images and videos off of the SD Cards because they don't have them. It pays to do your homework and get cameras with internal storage and local streaming capability via your own WiFi/Ethernet.

[wodin]

On the other hand, I want off site storage so when my computer is stolen I still have the videos.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by wodin

On the other hand, I want off site storage so when my computer is stolen I still have the videos.

It's not the other hand. If you CHOOSE cloud storage, great. The problem is when it the only option.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by ApK

It's not the other hand. If you CHOOSE cloud storage, great. The problem is when it the only option.

The cloud is not the only solution for OSS, only the most convenient. And there is no such thing as the "only option", there are always options. It's a matter of what I'm willing to invest.

[ApK]

You seem to be missing the point. More and more manufactures are NOT offering local storage as an option in more and more products. We think that's bad. Especially in security and privacy related stuff.

Any desire you or anyone else might have to use the various OSS options (cloud, Iron Mountain, whatever) has nothing to do with that. We're not saying they should take away the options that meet your needs, we're saying they are wrong to have removed the option that meets ours. (It was ALL local before The Cloud).

And I'll add that if you want OSS, having a local removable media option gives you another choice of rotating the media and storing it off site...so you are definitely on the same hand.

One Of Us! One Of Us!

[OtinG]

Indeed, for example, those Nest cameras Amazon pushes as a combo deal with Echo devices do NOT have built-in storage, nor can they be attached via ethernet to a DVR. So the only option you would have with them Wodin is to use the Nest Cloud or purchase another brand of camera. You indeed have the option to purchase a brand like Amcrest that can store on the camera or on a DVR via ethernet connection, but you cannot make a Nest camera, or many other brands, use local storage because they don't have local storage. BTW, the Amcrest cameras don't store on your computer, they store on SD cards within the camera. You can download that to your computer, but you don't have to.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by ApK

...
(It was ALL local before The Cloud).
...

For me much of it still is, with emerging technologies my it's my decision if I want it enough to jump in the cloud for it. With Alexa and IoT I made that decision. For home security and video surveillance I decided no thanks.

Originally Posted by ApK

...
And I'll add that if you want OSS, having a local removable media option gives you another choice of rotating the media and storing it off site...so you are definitely on the same hand.
...

My OSS solution is a private cloud. Granted it still has to rely on the internet for layer one transit, but it doesn't reside on someone else's servers. But it does have real time backup, so I'll have a nice video of the perp grabbing my computer.

My vulnerability is if he/she's smart enough to pull my mains, thus shutting down my system. But then I'll have a nice video of my power panel getting opened.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by wodin

For me much of it still is, with emerging technologies my it's my decision if I want it enough to jump in the cloud for it. With Alexa and IoT I made that decision. For home security and video surveillance I decided no thanks.

As responsible and involved consumers we should also make sure manufactures know what we want and what we're willing to spend money on, not just passively accept whatever garbage they choose to push on us, in a Steve Jobs-like way, like we're just sheep with disposable income.

[ApK]

We have the Wink/Alexa Halo lights in our new kitchen now. It's very cool!*
I also took advantage of the recent device sale combined with a trade in of my old Kindle Fire Gen 2, and got a new HD8 with Show stand for the kitchen. Bluetooth paired it to our kitchen Echo 2 for the better speaker, and it's a nice setup.

The only thing that doesn't work well is sharing Wink Scenes across both the profiles in our household. Between that and the fact that Amazon's own is the only brand of Smart Plug I've encountered that can't be shared across Amazon's own household mechanism, it makes me think that OtinG's most curmudgeonly comments about Bezo's Bozos are right on the money.

ApK

* Or warm, depending on what color temperature we're in the mood for! :-)

[OtinG]

A storm took out my Charter/Spectrum internet connectivity yesterday. Now I have a lot of pricey, heavy paperweights around my house as Alexa is even more stupid than ever when she has no internet, plus I've had to relearn how to work light switches.

I thought they added some functionality that did not require a WiFi connection, but I guess not. The mere utterance of her name brings up a red ring and a lot of verbage, but no action...

BTW, I'm using my iPhone as a personal hotspot and have it tethered to my MacBook Pro to have internet connectivity via a T-Mobile cellular connection. Still waiting on Charter/Spectrum to show up and fix their internet service.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by OtinG

A storm took out my Charter/Spectrum internet connectivity yesterday. Now I have a lot of pricey, heavy paperweights around my house as Alexa is even more stupid than ever when she has no internet, plus I've had to relearn how to work light switches.

I thought they added some functionality that did not require a WiFi connection, but I guess not. The mere utterance of her name brings up a red ring and a lot of verbage, but no action...

BTW, I'm using my iPhone as a personal hotspot and have it tethered to my MacBook Pro to have internet connectivity via a T-Mobile cellular connection. Still waiting on Charter/Spectrum to show up and fix their internet service.

Only the Echo Plus (with the built in hub) has some local control features, I believe.
My Wink Hub supposedly has local control for lighting and lock products, which is better than nothing, so in the event of an outage, I can at least control the lights with my phone app, but not Alexa. This is important for my kitchen lights, because, unlike the GE Link bulbs we have elsewhere, the Halo lights don't always revert to "on" when you flick the power switch, they remember their last state.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by ApK

Only the Echo Plus (with the built in hub) has some local control features, I believe.
My Wink Hub supposedly has local control for lighting and lock products, which is better than nothing, so in the event of an outage, I can at least control the lights with my phone app, but not Alexa. This is important for my kitchen lights, because, unlike the GE Link bulbs we have elsewhere, the Halo lights don't always revert to "on" when you flick the power switch, they remember their last state.

I just tried my Echo Plus and it does give a blue ring and knows what time it is. I did not test further though. I do know that it won't control my Kasa Smart Wi-Fi LED Light Bulbs though, however I can control them via their Kasa app w/o internet as long as WiFi is working. But these bulbs use their own built-in hubs rather than the Echo Plus's hub.