Amazon Echo Club

[tubemonkey]

I purchased a Show 5 today. I should get it sometime Thursday. So much for 2-day Prime delivery.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I purchased a Show 5 today. I should get it sometime Thursday. So much for 2-day Prime delivery.

Don’t be surprised if it arrives a day or two early. I think they do the CYA thing when they estimate delivery date. I often get 2 day deliveries in one. I would be very surprised if they didn’t have gillions of Show 5s pre-stationed at warehouses all over the globe, including Seattle.

[dandelioncottage]

I see the Echo Input is a Prime Deal today. Is anyone using one and, if so, do you recommend it? I assume I talk to it, just like my Dot?

I have a desktop charging unit on my counter for my iPad, Kindle, etc. Would I be able to plug in the Echo Input there? Anything else I should know?

Thanks for any advice.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by dandelioncottage

I see the Echo Input is a Prime Deal today. Is anyone using one and, if so, do you recommend it? I assume I talk to it, just like my Dot?

I have a desktop charging unit on my counter for my iPad, Kindle, etc. Would I be able to plug in the Echo Input there? Anything else I should know?

Thanks for any advice.

I don't own an Echo Input, but looking at the specs I see it requires a 5W power source that plugs into a standard micro-USB port on the side of the Echo Input. Most modern smartphones and small devices and tablets (except for Apple) use a standard micro-USB charging/power port. At 5W it is a fairly low power source, lower than the Dot generation 2 which used a 9W power source, and most modern smartphone power sources which use a micro-USB cable would likely work. If your desktop charging unit can put out 5W and can be used to run a micro-USB cable to the Echo Input, then it should work. I think the Echo Input comes with a power supply that you can use to plug into an AC outlet.

The Echo Input works just like a Dot except it doesn't have a built in speaker. You use your own wired or BT speaker. The Echo Input does not have volume buttons, so you must control the volume via voice commands. Other than that, think of it as a Dot without a built in speaker.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I don't own an Echo Input, but looking at the specs I see it requires a 5W power source that plugs into a standard micro-USB port on the side of the Echo Input. Most modern smartphones and small devices and tablets (except for Apple) use a standard micro-USB charging/power port. At 5W it is a fairly low power source, lower than the Dot generation 2 which used a 9W power source, and most modern smartphone power sources which use a micro-USB cable would likely work. If your desktop charging unit can put out 5W and can be used to run a micro-USB cable to the Echo Input, then it should work. I think the Echo Input comes with a power supply that you can use to plug into an AC outlet.

For the less-electricly-inclined, check your desktop USB charger label for an output of 1 Amp (1000 mA) or more. If it can charge a power-hungry iPad, you're almost certainly OK.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by OtinG

The Prime Video channel BritBox is on sale for $3.49/month for the first three months, then it goes up to the normal price of $6.99/month. That’s half off for three months. Offer only good for those Prime members who don’t already have the channel.

I didn’t check on other channels but I bet they have some more good deals for channels you don’t already subscribe to.

If you get the channel, can you use it on your Roku or must you only use it on a Firestick?

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by Tarana

If you get the channel, can you use it on your Roku or must you only use it on a Firestick?

You can use it on any device that allows you to stream Amazon Prime Video. It is an add-on channel to Prime Video. So it works on Roku through the Prime Video app. You do need an Amazon Prime membership though.

[DiapDealer]

Other than using multiple Amazon accounts (or switching profiles), has anyone come up with a workaround to limit the devices that are accessible to any one echo device in a multi-echo home? Without such a feature, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to come up with unique names for devices that are simple to recall and handy enough to use effectively. Having to say, "Alexa, turn on the ceiling fan in the upstairs guest room," or "Turn on the basement TV (as opposed to the two different bedroom TVs), or turn on the endtable-lamp-on-the-left-side-of-the-living-room-sofa is just bit tedious.

Ideally, I'd love to be able to say, "Alexa turn on the lights" and have it work only for "the lights" that have been assigned to that unit. Having to refer to yourself in the third person ("Alexa, turn off Doug's bedroom light") when you have multiple bedrooms with multiple people using multiple echos registered to the same Amazon account) is a bit weird.

[issybird]

DiapDealer's got a major logistical issue; I have two minor irritants that I'd like to resolve if possible, because irritating.

I hate how Alexa will end up a conversation by saying something fatuous like, "Have a good morning." She's a machine. We're not engaging on a personal level. Can this be turned off?

Similarly, more and more frequently she'll answer a question and follow it up with something along the lines of, "Other customers have also asked, 'Is the moon really made of green cheese?' Would you like to know the answer?"

Uh, no. If I wanted to know the answer, I would ask. What I want is for you to shut up once you've answered what I did ask, and not offer up something else you think I'd like to know. It takes longer for her to pose her stupid follow-on questions and for me to say "No," than it would for me to ask it myself. If I wanted to know. Which I don't.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by issybird

I hate how Alexa will end up a conversation by saying something fatuous like, "Have a good morning." She's a machine. We're not engaging on a personal level. Can this be turned off?

I'm not sure how it might affect "conversations" with Alexa, but have you tried turning on "brief mode"? It's under Settings->Alexa Account->Alexa Voice Responses in the Alexa app.

[John F]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Other than using multiple Amazon accounts (or switching profiles), has anyone come up with a workaround to limit the devices that are accessible to any one echo device in a multi-echo home? Without such a feature, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to come up with unique names for devices that are simple to recall and handy enough to use effectively. Having to say, "Alexa, turn on the ceiling fan in the upstairs guest room," or "Turn on the basement TV (as opposed to the two different bedroom TVs), or turn on the endtable-lamp-on-the-left-side-of-the-living-room-sofa is just bit tedious.

Ideally, I'd love to be able to say, "Alexa turn on the lights" and have it work only for "the lights" that have been assigned to that unit. Having to refer to yourself in the first person ("Alexa, turn off Doug's bedroom light") when you have multiple bedrooms with multiple people using multiple echos registered to the same Amazon account) is a bit weird.

Would routines help?

It may be tedious to enter them, but I think you could set up routines like: "When I say 'Turn on the lights' from the downstairs echo it turns on the downstairs lights".

Looking at routines quickly, it looks like it is doable?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by John F

Would routines help?

It may be tedious to enter them, but I think you could set up routines like: "When I say 'Turn on the lights' from the downstairs echo it turns on the downstairs lights".

Looking at routines quickly, it looks like it is doable?

I tells me it's "unable to find any supported devices" when I try to setup a routine based on a device. And if I start a new routine based on a voice command, it offers no option to limit the routine to one echo device. I'll have to check it out when I get home from work and see if that makes a difference (though I've had no trouble configuring any of my devices via an internet connection before). Thanks for the idea. At least it's something I haven't tried, yet.

[OtinG]

I tried using Routines, but they were overly complicated to set up and rarely worked well for me. YMMV, of course.

DiapDealer, you might try using Groups. With Groups, you assign various devices to a group. For example, here is one of my Groups:

Group named "Bathroom"

• "Bath Light" is the name of my Dot2 in my bathroom
• "Living Room Lamp" is the name of my LED bulb in a lamp in my bedroom

To turn on/off both "Lamp" and "Bath Light" I say, "Alexa, Bathroom ON/OFF." By using the Group "Bathroom", I can issue this command to any Alexa device in my house and it will work. Groups are not tied to a specific Echo device. If I just want to turn on/off a single smarthome device I can say "Alexa, Bath Light ON/OFF" or "Alexa, Living Room Lamp ON/OFF."

This works pretty well, most of the time. It is way more reliable than using Routines, at least in my experience. I'm not the one to ask the details of setting up Groups though because it has been months since I set these up, I would have to look up the instructions again. But I do remember it was fairly easy and intuitive.

However, I think the key to using any control seems to lie with the names we choose to assign to our smart accessories. Here is what I've found through much trial and error, with error being the major driving force!

Use simple, concise names like "Bath Light", "Porch Light", "Study Light", and "Living Room Lamp". Make sure the name tells you what the smart device is and where it is located. Be consistent in your naming schemes. For example, I used the same [Room Location] + "Light" for my for controllable smart bulb lights.

Now granted I live alone in a relatively small house with only 4 smart bulbs, 1 Dot2, 2 Dot3s, 1 Echo Plus2, and 2 Fire TVs, so it was easier to organize and name everything than it would have been in a larger house with multiple people. But just think it through, outline the devices you want to control and how you control them, then come up with an easy to remember naming scheme, and stick to that naming scheme.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by issybird

DiapDealer's got a major logistical issue; I have two minor irritants that I'd like to resolve if possible, because irritating.

I hate how Alexa will end up a conversation by saying something fatuous like, "Have a good morning." She's a machine. We're not engaging on a personal level. Can this be turned off?

Similarly, more and more frequently she'll answer a question and follow it up with something along the lines of, "Other customers have also asked, 'Is the moon really made of green cheese?' Would you like to know the answer?"

Uh, no. If I wanted to know the answer, I would ask. What I want is for you to shut up once you've answered what I did ask, and not offer up something else you think I'd like to know. It takes longer for her to pose her stupid follow-on questions and for me to say "No," than it would for me to ask it myself. If I wanted to know. Which I don't.

I feel your pain. I do have Brief Mode turned on, but Alexa can still go off on a rant about something I could not care less about. She sometimes goes off on a long winded rant even when triggered by some sound not coming from me! I do wish she wouldn't do that, and I really wish she wouldn't turn into an annoying sales person on occasion too. I have noticed that when she starts a rant I can yell "ALEXA, STOP" and that usually shuts her up. One especially annoying type of rant is when you ask her to play a song, which she eventually does, but occasionally she gets way to chatty about it.

BTW, I think you nailed an important thought about this Alexa control system. Perhaps some people want the "human like interaction" with her, much like HAL 9000 in "2001 A Space Odyssey," or better still, Holly in "Red Dwarf." I'm not one of those people though. I just want to use her as a convenient, hands-free tool to get things done quickly and efficiently. She is NOT human, never will be. To me she is merely a tool. I wish Amazon would give us a setting to turn off the human emulation crap. If I want to interact with live creatures then I'll interact with my two cats, both of whom seem to be smarted than Alexa...

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by OtinG

Groups are not tied to a specific Echo device. If I just want to turn on/off a single smarthome device I can say "Alexa, Bath Light ON/OFF" or "Alexa, Living Room Lamp ON/OFF."

That's the opposite of what I want. I NEED them to be tied to a specific Echo device. I already have groups that I can use from any echo in the house. But I don't WANT the living room echo to be able to turn on the bedroom lights. And I don't want my bedroom echo to be able to turn on the living room tv. I can't have a simple, concise name like "Bedroom Light" because there are multiple bedrooms with different people using using different echos to control the lights. So I either have to use "Doug's Bedroom Lights" or "Sally's Bedroom Lights" (and the people using those Echos in those rooms must refer to themselves in the third-person to turn their lights on/off), or the names must be made unwieldy to differentiate: "Upstairs Bedroom at the end of the Hall's lights" and "Downstairs Bedroom to the East of the Bathroom's Reading Lamp" (as opposed to the Reading Lamp to the left of the Sofa in the Living Room).

What I need is a way for "Bedroom Lights" to only work for the lights in Bedroom A when spoken to Echo A (located in Bedroom A). I don't want Echo B in Bedroom B to be able to control Bedroom A's "Bedroom Lights."