I got one of them Amazon Box things..

[Adam]

And, yes.

It doesn't seem to function much differently than my Sony blu-ray player from 2009 in regards to streaming, but for those without a streaming device, it's nice and compact (except for running the power cord to it). I like that the remote is RF. I haven't tried any games, yet.

 

[j_garcia]

I notice the stick doesn't have the voice command remote, which I have used a lot already, I don't search through that menu I just say what I want to look at, with background noise and people talking it still gets it everytime... Pretty impressive, applie siri needs to figure out how amazon got that voice recog to work..

You can order the voice command remote separate and connect it to the stick, OR you can download the phone app and it has the voice function also.

 

[ImcLoud]

And, yes.

It doesn't seem to function much differently than my Sony blu-ray player from 2009 in regards to streaming, but for those without a streaming device, it's nice and compact (except for running the power cord to it). I like that the remote is RF. I haven't tried any games, yet.

The stick has a power cord? Are you serious?

Edit I just actually looked at it in its entirety, dammit.. it has a wallwart, that sucks, I may just cancel the order for the stick and get the boxes...

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I got my stick using usb power from wifi router. You maybe able to power the stick from usb port on TV itself

 

[zieglj01]

Erased

 

[j_garcia]

I got my stick using usb power from wifi router. You maybe able to power the stick from usb port on TV itself

It says to only use the wall wart for proper voltage. The USB port from the TV may work though. I used the wart. The included cable isn't long enough though...

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

It says to only use the wall wart for proper voltage. The USB port from the TV may work though. I used the wart. The included cable isn't long enough though...

I agree. It MAY work. That's exactly what I said before.
Early on playing with Stick I saw the effects of insufficient power,however I noticed none of these issues (or warnings) powering Fire stick from my ac66r (used as bridge/range extender).
YMMV

 

[ImcLoud]

I can run the power, but the problem is I will have to take down the tv everytime I want to switch it to another tv, I changed my order to a single unit, I will see how it is then go from there. I can buy a sony smart dvd for almost the same price... Another option is buy multiple power supplies and then have them all plugged in and run the wire to the side of the tv... I don't know why I am even worrying about it, I would never move them around, also another reason just to go with the box... When it gets here in a couple weeks Ill have a better idea...

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I can run the power, but the problem is I will have to take down the tv everytime I want to switch it to another tv, I changed my order to a single unit, I will see how it is then go from there. I can buy a sony smart dvd for almost the same price... Another option is buy multiple power supplies and then have them all plugged in and run the wire to the side of the tv... I don't know why I am even worrying about it, I would never move them around, also another reason just to go with the box... When it gets here in a couple weeks Ill have a better idea...

I have no idea what are you talking about. Stick needs power input like any other computing device. HDMI port Does not provide power. Every single streaming gadget/stick needs a separate power feed.

The benefit of stick is NOT lack of power input, but smaller size and price vs full size Fire TV. If the price or the size is not of concern to you - might as well go with more powerful FireTV.

Also Sony's units are not match for FireTV (or stick) due to lack of sideloading support - which is huge deal.

 

[Adam]

Also Sony's units are not match for FireTV (or stick) due to lack of sideloading support - which is huge deal.

For people who just want to use the streaming capabilities, though, the Sony's are essentially the same. I have a 2009 Sony blu-ray player, and the streaming between it and the Fire TV Stick are equivalent to me.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

For people who just want to use the streaming capabilities, though, the Sony's are essentially the same. I have a 2009 Sony blu-ray player, and the streaming between it and the Fire TV Stick are equivalent to me.

Fair enough I guess. I'm sure there are some smaller differences like FireTV supports Dolby Digital Plus, Amazon Prime and HBO Go, however I highly prefer my local "dvd backup" streaming, it's not all free, but it's better value for me.

 

[Adam]

Fair enough I guess. I'm sure there are some smaller differences like FireTV supports Dolby Digital Plus, Amazon Prime and HBO Go, however I highly prefer my local "dvd backup" streaming, it's not all free, but it's better value for me.

Good point on HBO Go - I don't know if the newer Sony's have that or not. That is a nice touch if you have that service. My Sony does DD+ and Amazon Prime, though. It doesn't do games , but I think each product has some capabilities that the other doesn't. Well, like playing blu-rays.

 

[ImcLoud]

I have no idea what are you talking about. Stick needs power input like any other computing device. HDMI port Does not provide power. Every single streaming gadget/stick needs a separate power feed.

The benefit of stick is NOT lack of power input, but smaller size and price vs full size Fire TV. If the price or the size is not of concern to you - might as well go with more powerful FireTV.

Also Sony's units are not match for FireTV (or stick) due to lack of sideloading support - which is huge deal.

I have no idea what you have no idea about?
I can't reach behind my tv to unplug the power and replug it, so it will have to be permanent, I wasn't thinking about the power when I bought it because you never see it with the power plug when they advertise it. If its going to be permanent I will just get the box for each tv, not too hard to understand, the price difference is trivial {not percent but in amount}...

I was under the impression you could just plug it in and stream, then move it to another tv or source... I don't know, I like the one I have, I bought 1 stock and 1 more box.... should work for me...

 

[herbu]

An oldie but a goldie...

* Adult Language *

Funny! I have a friend named Dan. Had to list him in my iphone contacts as Diane. Everytime I told Siri to "Call Dan", she said, "I can't find anyone named Diane". Guess she doesn't speak Southern either.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I can't reach behind my tv to unplug the power and replug it, so it will have to be permanent, I wasn't thinking about the power when I bought it because you never see it with the power plug when they advertise it. If its going to be permanent I will just get the box for each tv, not too hard to understand, the price difference is trivial {not percent but in amount}...

I was under the impression you could just plug it in and stream, then move it to another tv or source... I don't know, I like the one I have, I bought 1 stock and 1 more box.... should work for me...

Ok, I think I beginning to understand you now. Well, The stick is somewhat similar to a typical USB Flash disk, which you just plug-in and "magic - the files are just there", but this is where similarities end. In fact Fire TV stick closest relative is a mid-range smartphone. You see - it has processor with built-in video card, it has Ram, flash storage (not typically accessible by user) and most importantly an Operating System which is a fork from Google's android.

It's not really meant to be moved around like usb key. I mean - you don't walk around your home with DVD player all day, right?
It's easy to install since it doesn't take much space, but like I said besides smaller size, price and a bit less capable hardware - it's basically same thing as "bigger" brother - Fire TV.

As for my other post regarding HTPC. This is the box: http://www.amazon.com/Asus-CHROMEBOX-M004U-ASUS-Desktop/dp/B00IT1WJZQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419353014&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+chromebox

It's sold with Google ChromeOS (not same thing as Android), but all the guts are very similar to Intel NUC, which if build with similar components would cost around $350. To make Asus Chromebox work as general purpose PC (for windows or linux) some tinkering is required, but the end result will surpass performance of both Fire TV and Stick by far.

You see - I don't care much for streaming stuff. I vastly prefer my local media. For me solid media player hardware is quite important.

 

[ImcLoud]

I have a lot of TV's in the house, so I figured if I bought a handful of the sticks, when we had guests I could just throw one in which ever guest room they were in and they could use the prime or netflix, since I got rid of 4 of our cable boxes, they upped the price to $17 per box and I found it silly to spend over $800 a year for boxes that would hardly ever be used, 1 of them in the guest room off of the pool house has NEVER been used, I went to unhook it and the power wire was never unwrapped and plugged in, so its been there for 3 years and cost me over $2000 for nothing!!!

Anyway, in the rare case that I need to have something on them tv's I will figure it out then... We have 4 people staying with us from tomorrow to Monday, they are going to use 2 rooms neither of which have cable boxes, so my sons are going to put their cable boxes in them rooms since they hardly ever use them either... It would have been nice to just plug a little stick in there and have something on the screen, but since they wouldn't be here until January anyway its a moot point...

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Ouch for the cable boxes price. I have only one box and I'm on the fence should I get HDHomeRun Prime:
http://www.silicondust.com/products/hdhomerun/prime/

With this box and Zero cableboxes, sideloaded Kodi - you could have live TV on every FireTV box (should work on Fire Stick as well, possible limited to SD on wifi)
Some premium channels would not work on Kodi (HBO and some ESPN events) (but A ok on Xbox360 or windows boxes)
Also for this tuner to work you would need to rent one cablecard from you cable provider - so you'd need 1x rented cable card - typically $2-3/month.
1x HDHomeRun Prime tuner - about $120 one time. FireTV boxes you're already getting anyhow - just need some changes to make it work.
This tuner box has 3 tuners.

 

[Adam]

Cable prices do suck, but...

...in the guest room off of the pool house...

You make it difficult to feel sorry for you.

 

[ImcLoud]

Cable prices do suck, but...

You make it difficult to feel sorry for you.

Yah, thats what my wife says, she does the ole' worlds smallest violin playing my heart bleeds for you, whenever I complain about money... But when ever she makes a comment about how hard her day was or how hard work "used to be" I pull my shirt up and reveal one of the many scars from surgeries repairing joints, reattaching muscles, ect and say "please tell me more about how hard work is"...

 

[herbu]

many scars from surgeries repairing joints, reattaching muscles, ect

Has the hair grown back over your lobotomy scar yet?
Sorry, big guy. Couldn't resist. Have a great first "retired" Christmas!!!