Amazon Fire Stick for dummies. (That's me)

[usd2bmd]

So I have seen the commercials for Amazon Fire Stick and I have to be honest that I don't really know how it works. (or Chromecast or Apple TV for that matter)

So I am hoping someone can explain it to me.

Does it come loaded with channels that you have to pay to subscribe to? Are any of the channels free? How much of what is currently on TV can we watch if we were to get one and what channels would we need to subscribe to?

Are there any channels that we could get that would provide current sports? Hockey, Football and baseball in particular.

thanks again.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

We got ours this week and we are in love with it. My husband and I are in our early 50s and this pushes the limit of our understanding of technology, but we don't have to understand it to enjoy it!

We took it out of the box and went by the directions, which are basically, plug one end of the electric cord into the fire stick and the other into an outlet/surge protector, insert the fire stick into the hdmi3 space on your TV, change the tv input to hdmi3, and sign into your home's wireless internet. It comes on automatically with a brief tutorial.

We are Amazon Prime members and there is A LOT of free programming through that, and if you have Netflix or Hulu+ you can sign in through the fire stick (on your TV screen). I also have a paid Pandora account and you can stream it through the fire stick, too. All of these you don't have to hunt for, they are app options you just click on.

We have cranky DSL for our internet, and not the fastest speed (it's not available where we live) and I was concerned that it wasn't consistent or fast enough to accommodate the fire stick, but we've had zero problems so far.

I think this will completely change the way we "buy" TV. It's so ingrained with my husband and I that we need to subscribe to channels and tape what we want to see on the DVR, and I'm pretty sure that's mostly unnecessary anymore. We're really excited about it!

Another plus: if you pause the TV, after some time a screen saver automatically starts with the most beautiful landscape pics from around the world. Just gorgeous!

I am not sure about the sports options - there are some but it's not my interest so I haven't investigated.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'd like to know too. What's all the hype?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We got ours this week and we are in love with it. My husband and I are in our early 50s and this pushes the limit of our understanding of technology, but we don't have to understand it to enjoy it!

We took it out of the box and went by the directions, which are basically, plug one end of the electric cord into the fire stick and the other into an outlet/surge protector, insert the fire stick into the hdmi3 space on your TV, change the tv input to hdmi3, and sign into your home's wireless internet. It comes on automatically with a brief tutorial.

We are Amazon Prime members and there is A LOT of free programming through that, and if you are Netflix or Hulu+ you can sign in through the fire stick (on your TV screen). I also have a paid Pandora account and you can stream it through the fire stick, too. All of these you don't have to hunt for, they are app options you just click on.

I think this will completely change the way we "buy" TV. It's so ingrained with my husband and I that we need to subscribe to channels and tape what we want to see on the DVR, and I'm pretty sure that's mostly unnecessary anymore. We're really excited about it!

Another plus: if you pause the TV, after some time a screen saver automatically starts with the most beautiful landscape pics from around the world. Just gorgeous!

I am not sure about the sports options - there are some but it's not my interest so I haven't investigated.

So what does it really do?
We are also Prime members and can stream programming on our TV already. We also have Netflix.
So what am I missing out on by NOT having a Fire Stick?
Will it mean we can get rid of our multi-room DVR through Verizon FIOS?

I would SOOOO love to kiss them (and their big fat bill) goodbye.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

So what does it really do?
We are also Prime members and can stream programming on our TV already. We also have Netflix.
So what am I missing out on by NOT having a Fire Stick?
Will it mean we can get rid of our multi-room DVR through Verizon FIOS?

I would SOOOO love to kiss them (and their big fat bill) goodbye.

I can only speak from my experience - we have Dish, just a receiver with DVR, and are supposed to be able to stream through it, but it doesn't work with any consistency. I don't know if we will be able to completely do away with Dish because we want to be able to access local channels. I worry that sports are going to be an issue too - my husband watches college and pro football and basketball, and MLB.

I have no idea whether it's possible to plug the internet directly into a TV and get any programming. As I said, this is at the edge of my comfort zone. So I *think* the fire stick is the bridge between the internet and the TV? I do like that it plugs directly into the back of the TV so there's nothing showing.

I hope that helps! I'll come back and post when we live with it longer. We're going away for a week as of Christmas eve, and once we come back I'm going to start the free month of Netflix and Hulu+ and really see what we can do (and how much we can do away with Dish).

 

[ptlycloudy]

I was interested in whether it could be used at a hotel for long stays. My husband has an unlimited hot spot with his work computer so I think it could work.

 

[marmalade]

I was interested in whether it could be used at a hotel for long stays. My husband has an unlimited hot spot with his work computer so I think it could work.

It will work anywhere that has a HDMI port and wifi.

 

[elgerber]

It will work anywhere that has a HDMI port and wifi.

I have found a lot of hotels will not let you hook up to them. You can plug in but it won't allow access to the hdmi port on the screen. I have tried at 2 or 3 hotels where it wouldn't work, so it would depend on the hotel.

 

[kristenrice]

We bought it so the kids could take it with them on their weekly sleepovers at the grandparents' house. We currently stream through the Wii on our main TV, but the Fire Stick allows us to stream on the bedroom and/or basement TV's as well.

 

[missnic]

I've done a decent bit of research on this myself..

All of those devices essentially make a 'dumb' tv into a smart tv. So, if you have an older tv that doesn't have a wifi connection, or apps on it, plug one of the streaming devices into it and you've got access to Netflix, AmazonPrime, Hulu, etc. However, you will still have to pay for any of those accounts. I don't believe that any of them come with any free content.

If you're looking for current television shows, I would subscribe to Netflix. They have the largest, most current library, and it's only $8/month. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that you'll find many sports via streaming, unless ESPN or something has an app?

One other thing to consider is control of the device. The Fire Stick and the Roku box come with a remote. Chromecast has to be controlled via a smartphone or tablet app.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I've done a decent bit of research on this myself..

All of those devices essentially make a 'dumb' tv into a smart tv. So, if you have an older tv that doesn't have a wifi connection, or apps on it, plug one of the streaming devices into it and you've got access to Netflix, AmazonPrime, Hulu, etc. However, you will still have to pay for any of those accounts. I don't believe that any of them come with any free content.

If you're looking for current television shows, I would subscribe to Netflix. They have the largest, most current library, and it's only $8/month. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that you'll find many sports via streaming, unless ESPN or something has an app?

One other thing to consider is control of the device. The Fire Stick and the Roku box come with a remote. Chromecast has to be controlled via a smartphone or tablet app.

Thank you for explaining. So basically it's a mini version of a streaming device. We already have either Blu-ray players that stream, xbox360s in the kids rooms and a smart TV in the living room.
The only use for this I can see is if we really wanted to stream on our little kitchen TV, which is very unlikely, or like pps mentioned, for travel if the hotel's TV allows.

I don't really feel the need to buy one.

 

[xlxo]

I have the Roku...

Some thoughts...

• pay attention to your monthly internet cap if there is one.... If you use the device a lot, you might find yourself hitting a cap.
• those devices have tiny antennas... if your TV is located a significant distance to your router... your phone, tablet, and laptop will work... but the streaming sticks are too weak to work reliably
• when you use the streaming sticks, is there anyone else in the house on the internet? Are they watching Youtube or other videos online? That can mess up the streaming stick.

 

[tasha99]

I have the Roku...

Some thoughts...

• pay attention to your monthly internet cap if there is one.... If you use the device a lot, you might find yourself hitting a cap.
  [*]those devices have tiny antennas... if your TV is located a significant distance to your router... your phone, tablet, and laptop will work... but the streaming sticks are too weak to work reliably
• when you use the streaming sticks, is there anyone else in the house on the internet? Are they watching Youtube or other videos online? That can mess up the streaming stick.

I have found the opposite--no problem using my Firestick in the back of the house, but not a good enough signal for my computer. I finally put in a range extender a few days ago. We also haven't had any trouble with multiple Internet users watching video on different platforms simultaneously.

 

[puffkin]

All our TV's are Smart TV's in our house so these devices are basically useless to us. But if you don't have a smart tv or streaming device it is pretty useful and from what I can tell, the interface is pretty user friendly.

 

[gofordrew]

One thing I will say about ChromeCast is that there is NO remote with it or availible to buy. It's all controlled by your phone and I hated that. Exchanged for the amazon fire stick and LOVE it. We use it mostly for Netflix

 

[mousefansmom]

I bought 3 of these for Christmas gifts...and I think I may keep one myself. This was a helpful overview of what they do...thanks everyone!

 

[crazycatstacy]

I was interested in whether it could be used at a hotel for long stays. My husband has an unlimited hot spot with his work computer so I think it could work.

We just tried to use it in a hotel when we were on vacation. The hotel internet was not fast enough for streaming but if he has his own hot spot maybe that would work. Initially we thought we could not access the HDMI info on the remote to turn it on so we bought a universal remote but then we ended up figuring it out on the tv.

 

[UCFGrad01]

I just bought a Fire stick and am waiting for it to ship. I read in the description that they're working on releasing an update that will allow you to use the stick in places (like hotels) that have captive internet - meaning that you're taken to a specific website to sign into the free signal. So I think it's coming at some point, which would be a nice feature.

I have an older TV that still works well and everyone compliments the nice picture on it, so I bought the stick to be able to stream Netflix and stuff on the screen rather than using my ipad to watch those things.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I wanted one, but they were sold out until January. Maybe I will get one anyway, for DH to use on his business trips. (long term stays sometimes in condos)

 

[jpeppers]

I wasn't supposed to get mine until January but got it about a week ago!