Amazon Echo Club

[OtinG]

I finally bit the bullet and got a Fire TV Cube 2nd generation. I had been using the Fire TV 3rd generation (the pendant one that is shaped like a diamond and is between a box shape and a stick in size). It was getting a bit dated and the idea of more storage, less overheating, and faster ethernet finally tempted me enough to get the newer Cube.

Setup was blazingly fast. Since it was connected to ethernet I didn’t have to go through the WiFi setup stuff, so that saved time. At the end of setup it asked if I wanted to restore the Cube with the preferences and apps I had on the Fire TV 3rd gen pendant, I chose yes, and very quickly it finished doing that which saved me a lot of time having to do it manually.

I mentioned overheating of the pendant Fire TV. I’m not sure if that ever happened, but the smaller enclosure it has means less ability to dissipate heat than the larger enclosure of the Cube. Plus the Cube sits far enough away from the TV and soundbase that it doesn’t pick up heat from them. The pendant Fire TV plugged into the back of the TV or soundbase so it was always being exposed to a lot of heat from both. Since mine was plugged into the soundbase along with my TV and Roku, there was also the possibility that it could receive and/or cause interference from/with them. So having a Cube far enough away from heat sources and other connections should keep these issues from occuring.

I also mentioned faster ethernet. Well I need to explain. Both pendant and Cube support 10/100 ethernet speed with the dongle connector. I have 200 Mbips speed so WiFi was faster than 100 Mbips ethernet, but less reliable. However I saw a video on the internet where a guy used a micro USB OTG adapter plugged into the Cube 2nd gen micro USB port with a USB 3.0 to 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Internet Adapter attached to it to allow faster ethernet connections than the ethernet dongle included with the Cube. I already owned both of those extras so I tried it and I’m getting 230 Mbips speed to the Cube. BTW, my USB OTG adapter is only USB 2.0, so that limits it to 480 Mbips, but I only have 200 Mbips service so no problem there.

Just installed the Cube 2nd gen, but so far it seems much faster than the old pendant and it runs the latest Fire OS 7.x so that is a plus too.

[mlewis78]

I have that Fire TV Cube (bought in March). It's been good, although sometimes I have to restart it by unplugging (when the remote won't do anything and I can't get to the settings).

I returned the Fitbit last week. I used it for at least two weeks and it stopped giving me sleep data after the first three nights. It doesn't give me my steps walked when I am just walking in the apartment and I wasn't thrilled with the data of the walks or indoor biking that I set start and stop for.

[John F]

Anyone get the latest Echo (4th gen)?

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

I have that Fire TV Cube (bought in March). It's been good, although sometimes I have to restart it by unplugging (when the remote won't do anything and I can't get to the settings).

I received the Fire TV Cube 2nd gen on this past Monday, so I’m only a few days in with it. But I too have started having the occasional freeze with black screen. This mostly occurs when pausing the streaming while in the Netflix app. If I pause a Netflix stream and keep it paused long enough for the screensaver to activate, then try to restart the stream, I sometimes get a blank screen with the Cube totally frozen. The only other freeze I’ve encountered with the Cube was when attempting to view an OTA recording from my Fire TV Recast.

Pushing buttons on the remote have no effect. I have my Cube connected to one of three HDMI input ports on my soundbase, and my soundbase is connected via its HDMI output port to my TV which is basically being used only as a monitor. The TV is 12 years old and doesn't have WiFi or apps. My Roku and TV or connected to the other two HDMI input ports on my soundbase. So the soundbase is the actual hub through which I control what gets streamed to the TV. My remotes can all turn on/off the TV and whichever streaming device they are connected to using the power button. So far I’ve been able to use the power button on my Cube's remote to toggle off the TV/soundbase/Cube, then I toggle them back on and the freeze is corrected.

I’ve only encountered three freezes so far, two with Netflix and one with the Recast. The Netflix app on the Cube seems to be a bit wonky at times. The Netflix app on my TV works better. So the Netflix app might be causing the freezes, but I’m not sure. I never had it freeze on my older Fire TV which used Fire TV OS 6. Since the Cube uses Fire TV OS 7, there might be some issue with 7, or perhaps Netflix hasn't made the proper updates for 7. No clue. I think the issue is likely FW or app software related though, and I doubt it has to do with the Cube's hardware. As for the Recast, it periodically acts up and doesn't want to stream/delete/open OTA recordings. I've had those issues, though rarely, on my other Fire TVs from the past, so those issues are likely Recast issues rather than Cube issues.

On a good note, I use Philo to stream cable-like TV channels. Philo is pretty flaky at times on the TV and the older Fire TV pendant. I haven't used the Roku in months, so no clue how it is on the Roku. But on the Cube 2nd gen Philo is working flawlessly.

Originally Posted by mlewis78

I returned the Fitbit last week. I used it for at least two weeks and it stopped giving me sleep data after the first three nights. It doesn't give me my steps walked when I am just walking in the apartment and I wasn't thrilled with the data of the walks or indoor biking that I set start and stop for.

I never had a Fitbit, but I have a Garmin Vivosmart HR which is similar. It never even gets close to an accurate step count. I think that is because arm swings count as a step. I swing my arm around quite a bit, even when sitting at my desk and doing computer related stuff, so I get highly exaggerated step counts. Fortunately I don’t even care to track steps, so no big deal, but it would be for someone who wanted to track them. The sleep data is fairly accurate though, and the pulse rates and breathing rates are accurate, and those are what I’m mostly interested in.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by John F

Anyone get the latest Echo (4th gen)?

No to Echo 4th gen. I’ve already got a Show 5, Echo Plus 2nd gen, two Echo Dots 3rd gen, and one Echo Dot 2nd gen, so I wasn't in need of any new ones at this time. The only thing that I’ve really heard about it is that the new design focuses the sound in a forward direction rather than in a 360° direction like the Echo Plus 2nd gen and Echo 3rd gen do. One reviewer said he prefers his Echo Plus 2nd gen to the new Echo 4th gen because he likes the 360° sound better. But that is only one opinion, and everyone has their own tastes. I like my Echo Plus 2nd gen, but I haven't heard the new Echo 4th gen so I cannot compare them. Perhaps you can find some Youtube video reviews and comparisons.

[ApK]

A couple of our older echo devices are getting finicky, and a 4th gen...especially if, as OtinG mentioned, is more directional, and may work better when close to a tile wall....might hit the spot.
Would someone mind summarizing the the differences between the 4th Gen Dot and regular echo? What makes the Echo worth 2 twice the price?

ApK

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by ApK

A couple of our older echo devices are getting finicky, and a 4th gen...especially if, as OtinG mentioned, is more directional, and may work better when close to a tile wall....might hit the spot.
Would someone mind summarizing the the differences between the 4th Gen Dot and regular echo? What makes the Echo worth 2 twice the price?

ApK

I assume you want to know what makes the Echo 4 twice the price of the Echo Dot 4.

Echo Dot 4th gen audio: 1.6” speaker.

Echo 4th gen audio: 3.0” (76.2 mm) neodymium woofer and two 0.8” (20 mm) tweeters.

Also the Echo has a built-in smart device hub, the Echo Dot doesn't have the hub.

Is it worth twice the price? I really don't know as I’ve not heard the sounds from either. My Echo Plus 2nd gen is definitely worth twice the price of my Echo Dot 3rd gen because of the hub and much better sound. Granted the Echo Plus 2nd gen originally cost more than twice the amount of the Echo Dot 3rd gen, but the Plus models have been discontinued now and the Echo 4th gen has the hub like the Plus models did.

[John F]

Originally Posted by OtinG

... Perhaps you can find some Youtube video reviews and comparisons.

Perhaps I could, but I don't want to. I'm interested in comments from memers who actually purchased the 4th Gen Echo.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by John F

Perhaps I could, but I don't want to. I'm interested in comments from memers who actually purchased the 4th Gen Echo.

I understand. But on the other hand, if a reviewer has the Echo 4 and is thoroughly demonstrating it, s/he probably knows it as well as most owners.

[John F]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I understand. But on the other hand, if a reviewer has the Echo 4 and is thoroughly demonstrating it, s/he probably knows it as well as most owners.

Be that as it may, I would be interested in members opinions.

[mlewis78]

Sorry if this was already posted, but here are the current deals on Amazon devices:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/browse.h...8-62d57592216e

[Tarana]

Sorry such a late post, but you can get an Alexa plug for $4.99 if you order it from Alexa deals on your Alexa Device. Today only.

I'm replacing the kitchen dot with an echo 4 because the dots just don't understand elderly voices very well. My brother (stroke a few years ago) and my Mom (86) are having increasing problems with getting Alexa to work without repeated commands. Sure, you can have it with the Echo and I do, but it's worse with the dots.

[issybird]

My question is a variant on those above. I want to upgrade my last Echo Dot 2, but I’d like to know if I should go for the Dot 4 or whether I’d be content with the Dot 3 and could save a few bucks.

I’ve got Dot 3s and they’re markedly better than the Dot 2; so my question is whether the Dot 4 is also a noticeable improvement over the Dot 3. I know I don’t like the shape as well, but that’s immaterial if the performance is better. I’ll add that in addition to the typical question-and-answer use, the main use of the new Dot would be in streaming audiobooks.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by issybird

My question is a variant on those above. I want to upgrade my last Echo Dot 2, but I’d like to know if I should go for the Dot 4 or whether I’d be content with the Dot 3 and could save a few bucks.

I’ve got Dot 3s and they’re markedly better than the Dot 2; so my question is whether the Dot 4 is also a noticeable improvement over the Dot 3. I know I don’t like the shape as well, but that’s immaterial if the performance is better. I’ll add that in addition to the typical question-and-answer use, the main use of the new Dot would be in streaming audiobooks.

I still haven't heard, or even seen, the Dot 4 yet, but both the Dot 3 and Dot 4 have a 1.6” speaker and 3.5 mm line out for use with external speakers. The Dot 3 is either top or bottom firing, can't remember which, but the Dot 4 is front firing. So the Dot 3 is probably going to be more omnidirectional in sound whereas the Dot 4 will likely be rather directional. The Dot 3 will be easier to wall mount than the bulkier Dot 4. My guess is that they are likely to be fairly close in sound quality, but until I actually hear a Dot 4 that is just a guess.

FYI, Amazon has a rather good return policy, and all of their devices purchased during the holiday season can be returned up until January 31. So if in doubt, you could try a Dot 4 and then decide whether to keep it.

[ApK]

I just ordered the Dot 4. It says it won't be here till December, but I'll report back. I have an Echo 1, Echo 2, Dot 2, and Dot 3 to compare it to.
It's intended use is to replace the echo 2 in the kitchen, hoping it will hear better when next to a tile wall.
My son does most of the music listening, and says he can't tell a difference between the Dot 3 and Echo 2 the way he uses them, so I saw no reason to try the Echo 4 over the Dot 4.

ApK