Amazon Echo Club

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Only 114 days and 32 minutes until my Echo arrives.

For me, the pendulum is swinging back in the direction of "What am I thinking? I don't need this!" I have plenty of time for another pendulum swing, though, since my order won't ship till May.

Do I really need to say "play such-and-such music" when I can find the same tracks from my phone? And in fact sometimes I don't know what I want to listen until I browse and something catches my eye.

I don't tend to make lists and set reminders now with my phone apps, so I don't think the Echo would make me start doing those things. I think the demos with Echo answering questions are fascinating and very cool, but would I really use that capability? I don't generally need to know the height of a mountain or the date of some event, but when I do, I need it to be sourced and verified.

So someone convince me--why do I need Echo?

[WT Sharpe]

Oh, I KNOW I don't need it, but I'm completely consumed with the "gee-whiz" factor. I can't wait to ask her to "Open the pod bay doors please, Alexa."

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Oh, I KNOW I don't need it, but I'm completely consumed with the "gee-whiz" factor. I can't wait to ask her to "Open the pod bay doors please, Alexa."

Well, I'm using "need" in the broadest sense--would it be something I could really enjoy using and playing with, or something I would look at and think "I wasted a hundred bucks that I could've spent on books."

[tubemonkey]

To me, the single most important reason to own the Echo is it's ability to use voice commands to play music and change stations without the need of another device.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

To me, the single most important reason to own the Echo is it's ability to use voice commands to play music and change stations without the need of another device.

Other than the coolness factor, I'm not sure that's enough for me--even if audiobooks are added. Of course, I would like to be one of the cool kids ...

[mlewis78]

No one needs it. I considered it a completely frivolous purchase, but I love it! I'm using it right now for local radio, since I was too lazy to turn on my stereo.

I like to use the app on my laptop for choosing music. If I have a long voice request, Alexa doesn't understand or offers to play samples from music not in prime. I have the app on my two fires, but since I'm online with my laptop anyway, I find it convenient to use this one.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Other than the coolness factor, I'm not sure that's enough for me--even if audiobooks are added. Of course, I would like to be one of the cool kids ...

I don't consider it a cool device per say. It does have a beautiful design, but its key features are great sound and voice command.

By way of background, I used to be very into stereo systems and had high end components. Now my idea of a stereo system is a streaming radio device plugged into a pair of powered speakers. So depending on my location, it's either my PC plugged into a pair of desktop speakers or a mobile device plugged into the same speakers or a smaller one. Now I gravitate to the Echo more and more.

The beauty of the Echo is that it's a self-contained stereo system - speakers and streaming radio player wrapped into one beautiful package; and portable enough to take from room to room.

The Echo is my stereo system.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

No one needs it. I considered it a completely frivolous purchase, but I love it! I'm using it right now for local radio, since I was too lazy to turn on my stereo.

I like to use the app on my laptop for choosing music. If I have a long voice request, Alexa doesn't understand or offers to play samples from music not in prime. I have the app on my two fires, but since I'm online with my laptop anyway, I find it convenient to use this one.

I use the PC app whenever I'm in a channel surfing mood; especially when listening to local radio. It's much quicker than using voice commands.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

No one needs it. I considered it a completely frivolous purchase, but I love it! I'm using it right now for local radio, since I was too lazy to turn on my stereo.

I like to use the app on my laptop for choosing music. If I have a long voice request, Alexa doesn't understand or offers to play samples from music not in prime. I have the app on my two fires, but since I'm online with my laptop anyway, I find it convenient to use this one.

Thank you, mlewis78! You have made me realize I do need the Echo!

I like to sleep with an Internet radio station playing new age music, but sometimes I have the volume turned just a little too loud. This means (oh, the horror!) I have to physically get out of bed and walk several steps to turn the volume down! Oh, sure, I could sleep with my Bluetooth keyboard near at hand, but fiddling around with the keyboard in the dark is dangerous. I could easily hit the wrong combination of keys and accidentally purchase a shipment of uranium ore from Amazon that ends up killing everyone in the house, not to mention the mailman who delivers it!

Yes, I definitely need Alexa's help in ensuring scenarios like that never play out for real.

[mlewis78]

I finally got the bluetooth connection to work between my Echo and laptop. Now if I watch certain tv shows/movies that I can only get on my laptop, I'll get the sound on my Echo instead of hearing it through awful laptop speaker or having to wear headphones.

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

I finally got the bluetooth connection to work between my Echo and laptop. Now if I watch certain tv shows/movies that I can only get on my laptop, I'll get the sound on my Echo instead of hearing it through awful laptop speaker or having to wear headphones.

Glad you were able to get a bluetooth connection between your laptop and Echo!

We have used Echo as a speaker when watching Amazon Prime movies. We use this Amazon HDMI Adapter for Fire Tablets (4th Generation) to watch movies on our TV from the Fire HD6, and connect the Fire to Echo via bluetooth. It works great as long as Echo isn't too far from the Fire.

[mlewis78]

I watch Amazon prime instant from a fire tv connected to my TV. But I was going to watch certain British TV shows and movies (not on netflix nor Amazon prime) on my laptop. However, this morning I am somehow not connected. I cannot find my way to the same bluetooth page on my laptop where I would connect or check on the connection. There is something in "devices" that says my Echo is paired, but when I click on a video on my laptop, the sound is coming now from the laptop.

Maybe Amazon Help could solve this for me, but not time right now.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

There is something in "devices" that says my Echo is paired, but when I click on a video on my laptop, the sound is coming now from the laptop.

Being paired is not enough; you also need to be connected. In settings, tap the speaker you want, then wait for it to say connected before it'll play from that speaker.

[mlewis78]

I don't see settings on my laptop. I went into control panel and found devices where my Echo is listed as paired (there is an icon along with printers and other devices). Can't find the bluetooth manager on the laptop any more (that was where I orginally connected it. Now that it is one of my devices, I don't see how to connect. I clicked on the Echo icon but nothing happens.

I have also right-clicked on the icon. That shows the options, including removing the device, create shortcut, properties and troubleshoot. When I click on troubleshoot it doesn't find anything.

To clarify, my laptop says settings at the top and then control panel, personalization, PC info and help. I've gone into control panel and can see devices (including the Echo) on the devices screen. If I tap on that, nothing happens. It doesn't have a way to choose a speaker, and it plays audio from my laptop with the built-in laptop speaker.

[DreamWriter]

Within the last few days, Echo's firmware updated to version 2249.

From Amazon Echo Software Updates:

In addition to bug fixes, the latest software version for Amazon Echo (2249) includes a new and enhanced feature:

Additional voice commands for Shopping and To-do Lists
You can now review items on your Shopping and To-do Lists with your voice. To learn more, go to Manage Your Shopping & To-do Lists.

It's nice that Amazon announced a specific improvement.