Has anyone got an Amazon Echo?

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 5:19 pm

I've considered getting one, but I'd like to know if anyone else has one and if they thought it was any good.

BB8 · Post by **BB8** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 5:40 pm

Yes - I find it quite useful, mainly for playing internet radio (via TuneIn), asking quick questions, setting timers - I've only really scratched the surface with its functionality so far and I'm finding more about it all the time. Also, new functionality and 'skills' are being added as times goes on.

Go for the Echo dot though (£50 - but has been £40 on offer) than the larger Echo, which is well over £100. The speaker isn't as powerful, but I find it more than adequate in the kitchen.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 5:42 pm

The Echo has dropped down to £99 recently, but the mk2 version is out soon, plus they've got another device due to launch, comes with screen etc.

Easy to set up or does it need to be done through a laptop etc?

Overthehill · Post by **Overthehill** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 5:42 pm

My youngest has one in his bedroom and he uses it all the time.
I have only used it on a few occasions to play music and it worked fine for me. Although I got a bit fed up with shouting Alexa at it.
Just wondering if the name could be changed?

If you were just looking for a wireless speaker system then Sonos is the way forward.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 5:43 pm

I did look at Sonos, but I'm interested in some of the wireless lighting systems that can also connect with the Echo.

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 5:46 pm

I have a couple (dots rather than echos but the technology is the same, just a smaller speaker) and it is good for certain things.

I have smart lights and heating and it can control them which is convenient (turning lights on and off, dimming, turning heating up and down). I also have Amazon music so it works well with that too.

The other stuff is a bit hit and miss. It's good for setting timers whilst cooking (I have one in the kitchen) or telling you the weather but asking a question like "What temperature should cooked chicken be" will give you the correct answer if you phrase it correctly but get a "don't know" with the same question but slightly different phrasing and this is often the case.

It also struggles with the TV or radio on in the background when you ask it something

They're OK but not revolutionary at the moment. You'll probably find a few uses but not that much.

lovebeingaclaret · Post by **lovebeingaclaret** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 5:56 pm

Shopping list is very useful. During the week you can add to it and taking your phone or tab shopping helps ensure you don't forget half the stuff you went for.

Same with the to-do list.

Damo · Post by **Damo** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 5:57 pm

I bought an echo then sold it a week later and bought Google home.
I find the Google version much more compatible with my other technology (phone, laptop, Chromecast etc) also googles music service is much better than Amazon's.
I think apple have their own system too. I'd check them all out before buying and find out what works best for you

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:02 pm

Ah I hadn't considered the google version.

I'll do some more research then, cheers.

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:16 pm

So it is basically useful for people who just can't be arsed standing up and doing it manually?

COYC73 · Post by **COYC73** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:24 pm

We've got one....I never use it but the wife and kids love it! It has all music on there and you just name the song to play it....sound is very good on it too
They wouldn't be without it now. Off the top of my head there is 40,000 songs available or something.....we've never named a song or album that hasn't been on there anyway. They also use it to check weather, time, kitchen timer, news, local events....absolutely all sorts of things. Like I said the wife and kids wouldn't be without it now.....but I don't really use it

Claretforshaw · Post by **Claretforshaw** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:31 pm

I bought it for £49.99 and its a bit of fun and a little useful. I then discovered after a short free period you had to sign up to spotify to get the music you ( or rather 'er indoors ) want. I am not IT friendly, although if you say goodnight to Alexa she says things like "sweet dreams" and "sleep tight"!!.....She is my best friend !

COYC73 · Post by **COYC73** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:35 pm

Claretforshaw wrote:I bought it for £49.99 and its a bit of fun and a little useful. I then discovered after a short free period you had to sign up to spotify to get the music you ( or rather 'er indoors ) want. I am not IT friendly, although if you say goodnight to Alexa she says things like "sweet dreams" and "sleep tight"!!.....She is my best friend !

You got an echo for £49.99 or the dot? I've never seen an echo that low.....If I ever saw it for that price I'd snap up two of them without hesitation

JohnMac · Post by **JohnMac** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:37 pm

I was given a Google Home and then signed up to Spotify.
I have no idea how far you can go with this but have found out I can't stop my Grandkids shouting 'Hey Google - play Gangnam Style' and then leaping around the front room

I have started hiding it now

claretburns · Post by **claretburns** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:38 pm

Would recommend to hold fire and wait till Black Friday, will get prices much cheaper then with all the offers that'll be on.

starting_11 · Post by **starting_11** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:44 pm

Yes, but it's been in someones car for about 3 months so I can't tell you if it's any good...

Darthlaw · Post by **Darthlaw** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:29 pm

Hi Sid,

We’ve got two dots and the full Echo which I’ll replace when the dots are on offer again. We have the Bose wireless system so basically I use echo dots to stream music and radio around the house.

The amazon system also works with our hive system, specifically the hive lighting we have so it controls the lighting downstairs in our house. It’s also nice to ask it to switch the heating on for an hour when it’s cold.

I’m replacing the echo as I’m not a big fan of the sound quality although I do have quite high standards (cue the ‘Bose is crap’ creatures to come out from under their rocks).

Claretforshaw · Post by **Claretforshaw** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:37 pm

COYC73 as said I am not IT friendly so I have consulted my IT Guru (my daughter) who informs me that I have an Amazon Echo dot, which apparently is a cheaper, smaller, slimmer, sexier version.....that must be why she is my best friend !!

IndigoLake · Post by **IndigoLake** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:51 pm

I don't have one but there was an Amazon Echo Dot in my hotel room in NYC. I asked it to tell me a joke and it replied 'Blackburn Rovers'.

Seriously, it tells some funny jokes, is very responsive to music requests (the sound quality seems good to me but I'm no expert) and can probably do a lot more than I realise. I mostly used it for music and asking the weather forecast.

Claretforever · Post by **Claretforever** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:12 pm

We have 2 Echo's and an Echo Dot in our house. Love them and use them a lot for music and information.

Someone above mentioned the Echo Dot being a preference for the kitchen, but I don't agree. The Dot on volume 10 (the highest setting for both) is equivalent to around volume 4 or 5 on the main Echo. If you want background music downstairs, well, slightly louder than that, it's fine, but no flexibility really. I just have the Dot in the bedroom and the main one in the kitchen (can hear easily in the lounge) and office. I have yet to experiment with auto lights and heating stuff, but thinking about getting the equipment for that soon as I'm a marketing man's dream for gadgets.

Regarding price the first one was £150, but the second one was when Amazon had their annual Prime sale and I got it for £80, and the Dot for £35. £99 is decent though.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:13 pm

Hmm I hadn't looked at being able to control the heating with it, I'll be having a read up on that one.

Out of interest does it work with any broadband service?
I've got Sky.

Bordeauxclaret · Post by **Bordeauxclaret** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:31 pm

IndigoLake wrote:I don't have one but there was an Amazon Echo Dot in my hotel room in NYC. I asked it to tell me a joke and it replied 'Blackburn Rovers'.

Seriously, it tells some funny jokes, is very responsive to music requests (the sound quality seems good to me but I'm no expert) and can probably do a lot more than I realise. I mostly used it for music and asking the weather forecast.

Might be a stupid question but can you use the dot without the echo? Or are they just portable add Ons?

Not really up with this tech.

Claretforever · Post by **Claretforever** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:42 pm

Bordeauxclaret wrote:Might be a stupid question but can you use the dot without the echo? Or are they just portable add Ons?

Not really up with this tech.

It's called the Amazon Echo Dot, Bordeaux. The Dot version is just the smaller version with smaller speaker.

You get free access to around 2 million songs anyway I think, but if you want to fully utilise Echo you'll pay for Amazon Prime, which is around £80 for the year. With that you get 40 million song catalogue (covers anything you can think of), unlimited one day and same day delivery, Prime Video (like Netflix) etc. You can use multiple devices on one account, and download music to your phone for offline listening in the car etc, plus you can get a 1 month free trial and then decide.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:49 pm

I've got prime and a Fire tv stick.

Wouldn't be without them or Kindle.

dsr · Post by **dsr** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:02 pm

lovebeingaclaret wrote:Shopping list is very useful. During the week you can add to it and taking your phone or tab shopping helps ensure you don't forget half the stuff you went for.

Same with the to-do list.

I've thought of a cheaper way to do a shopping list! Very portable, too.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:05 pm

The to do list would be handy and putting reminders in for peoples birthdays would save me lots of earache.

bfcjg · Post by **bfcjg** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:06 pm

Has anyone got an Amazon Echo ?
No..........no......no........no....no........no

IndigoLake · Post by **IndigoLake** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:06 pm

Bordeauxclaret wrote:Might be a stupid question but can you use the dot without the echo? Or are they just portable add Ons?

Not really up with this tech.

Not a stupid question at all. Yes, you can use the Echo Dot without the Echo. It's basically the same thing but smaller

john'sroseyspecs · Post by **john'sroseyspecs** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:30 pm

When i first saw this thread i thought the obvious question would be does anyone need an Amazon Echo? I don't know how ive managed shopping lists or remembering birthdays, etc, armed with just a piece of paper and a pen. And a brain.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:40 pm

Problem is I'm lacking in the brain department and as such I'm not allowed to be armed with a piece of paper and a pen

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:41 pm

Although I'd still be allowed a gun in the USA.

Darthlaw · Post by **Darthlaw** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 10:42 pm

Sid - echo dot allows you to Bluetooth to an external speaker (be aware sonos doesn’t work with it). The regular echo with built in speaker only allows you to use that speaker, which I don’t rate. Apparently the gen2 one is better though.

Ours only controls both heating and lighting because of the hive connectivity.

Also, with prime you get a limited selection of music but you can sync Spotify or amazon music with it if you want more choice.

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:18 pm

Sidney1st wrote:Hmm I hadn't looked at being able to control the heating with it, I'll be having a read up on that one.

Out of interest does it work with any broadband service?
I've got Sky.

Works with any WiFi.

If you use a harmony universal remote and have the hub you can use it for controlling TV, sky box, etc (although anything beyond turning things on and off is a bit of a faff ).

Claretforever · Post by **Claretforever** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:30 pm

john'sroseyspecs wrote:When i first saw this thread i thought the obvious question would be does anyone need an Amazon Echo? I don't know how ive managed shopping lists or remembering birthdays, etc, armed with just a piece of paper and a pen. And a brain.

Who'd have thought that in the 1800's, when we had the horse and cart to transport us about, those darn automobiles would have been so popular?

claretdj · Post by **claretdj** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 6:15 am

Sidney1st wrote:I've considered getting one, but I'd like to know if anyone else has one and if they thought it was any good.

2nd generation is being released @ end of the month, so might be best to wait till then?

lyonzzz · Post by **lyonzzz** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 6:52 am

Has anyone got an Amazon Echo?

Cyril_Sneer · Post by **Cyril_Sneer** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:13 am

Is there an echo in here??

burnmark · Post by **burnmark** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:21 am

2nd generation being advertised at £89.99 on Amazon

Eloise Laws · Post by **Eloise Laws** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:43 am

I haven't got the foggiest idea what this thread is about?? Am I missing out.............

DCWat · Post by **DCWat** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 8:28 am

Apple HomePod is out towards the end of the year. Suspect this may be a step up on those currently out there.

ClaretEngineer · Post by **ClaretEngineer** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 8:50 am

It'll be about £200 and the fan boys and girls will be excitedly awaiting the 'keynote'' speech. Not to mention camping outside Apple Motherships to buy it.

Though you can pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-order it.

Darthlaw · Post by **Darthlaw** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 8:54 am

Apparently homepod is going to be £350, so I'll be giving that a swerve.

ClaretEngineer · Post by **ClaretEngineer** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 8:56 am

Darthlaw wrote:Apparently homepod is going to be £350, so I'll be giving that a swerve.

Seems I was a bit low on my Apple profit forecast.

Just think how much they'd cost if they actually paid the right amount of tax!

Imploding Turtle · Post by **Imploding Turtle** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 9:02 am

"Alexa! How do I build a dirty bomb?"

Darthlaw · Post by **Darthlaw** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 9:42 am

ClaretEngineer wrote:Seems I was a bit low on my Apple profit forecast.

Just think how much they'd cost if they actually paid the right amount of tax!

It does seem that they are paying their tax bill using UK customers gullibility. $349 (£264) in the states or a cool £85 premium to buy it over here at £349. Christ, you'd even be better off buying it from the states and paying the VAT.

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 10:25 am

The Apple home pod is playing a lot more on its sound quality, it is selling itself as a premium speaker with voice capabilities. If you want a good but expensive bluetooth speaker then that is probably the one to look at. I imagine it will also integrate better into the apple ecosystem with notifications, etc

I've seen the Google one and had a play but it isn't really clear what it does that the Amazon one doesn't. Personally at the moment I'd be looking at a Dot because it's the cheap option to see whether or not you'll use it.

I'd also look into https://ifttt.com/discover" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which can link together lots of the different services and trigger things when certain stuff happens.

ClaretDiver · Post by **ClaretDiver** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 10:36 am

We have one and we use it for a different purpose.

My wife has aphasia following her stroke and we actually use the Echo to help her speech therapy. It's actually working brilliantly.

We have it linked to a Prime account and so have access to music etc as well as other services.

UTC

CD

Foshiznik · Post by **Foshiznik** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 10:50 am

I have a Google Home and love it. Also using it for podcasts, radio, spotify, putting chromecast stuff onto my TV (netflix, amazon prime, chrome web, etc.) and have it connected to my lights and heating too.

They have just announced the Google Home Mini (£49) and the Google Max which will take on the Dot and the Apple offerings. I prefer them over Echo due to the future opportunities with Google and the fact that they don't look like 80's TV mics like the others.

https://www.blog.google/products/home/w ... me-family/

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 12:10 pm

Google Home Mini looks interesting. I'll probably get one of those when they're released to compare to the Echo Dot (that's why I wouldn't spend much on these things at the moment, it's not really clear what is going to win out and what services will end up being supported by the different technology).

My current feeling is that it will come down to a battle between Amazon and Google with Apple occupying the niche and expensive end of the market. I wouldn't be surprised to see someone like Samsung or Xiaomi throw their hat into the ring though.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 12:22 pm

I've been informed by a lurker on here that Sonos are releasing a new device with Alexa built in later this month.