Amazon Echo FAQ

Tom Cruises Left Nut

Sitting here telling Alexa to turn my lights on and off

Its the little things !!

degsie

cena wrote: »

I can't get my itunes to change to the uk. Got the dot today while in the states

What error are you getting?

cena

when I go to download the app from the uk store it tells my my account is for ireland store

degsie

cena wrote: »

when I go to download the app from the uk store it tells my my account is for ireland store

https://support.apple.com/en-ie/HT201389

https://support.apple.com/en-ie/HT204447

giftgrub

This is in the basket on Amazon, just waiting til payday on Wednesday (last working day of the month b******t, missed out on black friday)

My aim is to start with wireless lighting, the Hue system seems to be the best, do i need to get the full startr kit with the hub? and will i need a seperate smart hub as i add more devices to the network?

mrcheez

giftgrub wrote: »

This is in the basket on Amazon, just waiting til payday on Wednesday (last working day of the month b******t, missed out on black friday)

Would you not buy this on a credit card and then pay off the credit card once payday arrives?

sorry just curious...

giftgrub

mrcheez wrote: »

Would you not buy this on a credit card and then pay off the credit card once payday arrives?

sorry just curious...

Got rid of the credit card a long time ago....

uck51js9zml2yt

Guys do I get a year megaboom to connect to my dot or just buy an echo?

First world problems!

Davy

Sebastian Damaged Herb wrote: »

Guys do I get a year megaboom to connect to my dot or just buy an echo?

First world problems!

Personally I would prefer the echo just because of space and extra cables especially if its going to be stationary. The echo sound quality is decent

uck51js9zml2yt

Davy wrote: »

Personally I would prefer the echo just because of space and extra cables especially if its going to be stationary. The echo sound quality is decent

Thanks. It might come down again tomorrow hopefully. My credit card is in serious trouble as it is:)

mrcheez

giftgrub wrote: »

Got rid of the credit card a long time ago....

ah ok.. just very handy for such situations* (although obviously there's the annual fee to consider)


* as long as you don't spend more than you can afford of course!

bk

giftgrub wrote: »

My aim is to start with wireless lighting, the Hue system seems to be the best, do i need to get the full startr kit with the hub? and will i need a seperate smart hub as i add more devices to the network?

You will need the Hue hub, best to pick one up in a deal on a starter kit, that is the best value for money.

Sebastian Damaged Herb wrote: »

Guys do I get a year megaboom to connect to my dot or just buy an echo?

I've both a full Echo and a UE Boom 2 connected to a Dot.

The sound quality of both is excellent and hard to tell a difference between. Certainly both have no problem filling a room with music. So the trade off comes down to:

Echo:
Everything in one device. Less to go wrong, just works. No extra cables needed.

Boom + Dot:
The advantage of portability, you can carry the boom into the bath, out to the garden, take it on holidays, etc.

jobless

big sky weather skill now available in the uk skills section..... just tried it there...works very well

mrcheez

jobless wrote: »

big sky weather skill now available in the uk skills section..... just tried it there...works very well

oh ya? What's the alexa command?... still have to say "in Dublin" or whatever?

deadl0ck

mrcheez wrote: »

oh ya? What's the alexa command?... still have to say "in Dublin" or whatever?

Looks like it ties into you address in Alexa, which is a pity as that only seems to work for Dublin addresses.....(or at least I couldn't set up my address as I don't have a postcode that anywhere near me)

jobless

deadl0ck wrote: »

Looks like it ties into you address in Alexa, which is a pity as that only seems to work for Dublin addresses.....(or at least I couldn't set up my address as I don't have a postcode that anywhere near me)

no it doesnt, i opened my alexa console and installed the app from there.... after u did that i saw a button that said, 'Link to Account', clicked that and it brought me to the big sky web page..... created an account there with my address (in wicklow) ...

now when i say 'Alexa, ask Big Sky what the weather is' it gives me the weather...

lots of other commands too

deadl0ck

jobless wrote: »

no it doesnt, i opened my alexa console and installed the app from there.... after u did that i saw a button that said, 'Link to Account', clicked that and it brought me to the big sky web page..... created an account there with my address (in wicklow) ...

now when i say 'Alexa, ask Big Sky what the weather is' it gives me the weather...

lots of other commands too

Brilliant - didn't realise that - I'll give it a go so !

givecredit

bk wrote: »

I've both a full Echo and a UE Boom 2 connected to a Dot.

The sound quality of both is excellent and hard to tell a difference between. Certainly both have no problem filling a room with music. So the trade off comes down to:

Echo:
Everything in one device. Less to go wrong, just works. No extra cables needed.

Boom + Dot:
The advantage of portability, you can carry the boom into the bath, out to the garden, take it on holidays, etc.

With the UE Boom its possible to use free Spotify, Google Play, free Pandora, Deezer and so on... connecting you phone/tablet via bluetooth to boom.

mrcheez

givecredit wrote: »

With the UE Boom its possible to use free Spotify, Google Play, free Pandora, Deezer and so on... connecting you phone/tablet via bluetooth to boom.

Don't phones/tablets run out of battery? And don't you need to press a button on the phone in order to speak to it?

Currently when I have a shower I can shout to the dot in the next room to change the tune (of course I can jump tunes from the bluetooth shower speaker too, but if I want to change the playlist say) ... killer app for me

Plus I have music playing 12 hours a day.. no battery wastage.. only 2W of power to run so costs €4 per year to leave it playing music 24 hours a day.

bk

mrcheez wrote: »

Don't phones/tablets run out of battery? And don't you need to press a button on the phone in order to speak to it?

You can leave your phone and Boom plugged in. My Boom is used plugged in most of the time, just goes wireless for the bathroom use.

The Boom has a button on it that you can press to talk to Siri or Google Assistant if you have it connected to your iPhone/Android phone and then you can tell them to change the playlist, etc. (iPhone needs to be using Apple Music to do this).

Unfortunately this very useful feature doesn't seem to work with Alexa on the Dot. I hope Amazon add this functionality, it would be very useful.

mrcheez

bk wrote: »

You can leave your phone and Boom plugged in.

Ah but when you want to use your phone away from the plug but continue playing music for hours that's where the dedicated always-on device is better.

bk wrote: »

The Boom has a button on it that you can press to talk to Siri or Google Assistant....

Unfortunately this very useful feature doesn't seem to work with Alexa on the Dot. I hope Amazon add this functionality, it would be very useful.

Yeah my Bluetooth speakers have a mic on them as well for answering phone etc. Would be great if I could speak to Alexa through this without shouting in the bathroom

givecredit

mrcheez wrote: »

Don't phones/tablets run out of battery? And don't you need to press a button on the phone in order to speak to it?

Currently when I have a shower I can shout to the dot in the next room to change the tune (of course I can jump tunes from the bluetooth shower speaker too, but if I want to change the playlist say) ... killer app for me

Plus I have music playing 12 hours a day.. no battery wastage.. only 2W of power to run so costs €4 per year to leave it playing music 24 hours a day.

All the above is great. Similar to my setup. I am just saying that for anyone that does not want premium spotify or Amazon Music, The Boom will play the free versions.

bk

mrcheez wrote: »

Ah but when you want to use your phone away from the plug but continue playing music for hours that's where the dedicated always-on device is better.

Sure, but that is why you can also connect the Dot to it (or chromecast audio) and have the music play via those, independent of your phone.

The point is that it gives you options and flexibility. Those options may not be useful for you, but some people likely find them very handy.

mrcheez

givecredit wrote: »

All the above is great. Similar to my setup. I am just saying that for anyone that does not want premium spotify or Amazon Music, The Boom will play the free versions.

bk wrote: »

Sure, but that is why you can also connect the Dot to it (or chromecast audio) and have the music play via those, independent of your phone.

The point is that it gives you options and flexibility. Those options may not be useful for you, but some people likely find them very handy.

Sorry I misread the original post, I thought the argument was about why you could just use your phone instead of an Echo.

bk

mrcheez wrote: »

Sorry I misread the original post, I thought the argument was about why you could just use your phone instead of an Echo.

I think the conversation started out on the advantage of a Dot + Boom versus just the Echo.

givecredit

mrcheez wrote: »

Sorry I misread the original post, I thought the argument was about why you could just use your phone instead of an Echo.

I would not survive without my 3 dots not. But I also like to listen to the free Pandora and my own uploaded music on the free Google play every so often.

Some might like the free spotify too.

georgewickstaff

Hi all,

Have ordered an echo dot and Anker speaker so we are sorted. Will be very handy for kitchen, timers, Spotify and Radio (although flakey I understand).

My dad is quite elderly and while he has a Samsung tablet, it is all beyond him. He was really taken with my daughters Beats Pill and Spotify during the summer. He couldnt believe how good it was and he said he wished he could use it..

For any of you with experience of using the device, is there a lot of trouble shooting? He would really enjoy saying 'Alexa, play John McCormack on Spotify' and it working.. I have a family Spotify account, can sort play lists for him so that is taken care of.

My wife is against the idea of getting him one but if he just uses it for Kitchen timers and Spotify I think it would be fabulous. Does his Samsung tab have to be on all the time to use it? Is it communicating with the app constantly?

Many thanks

degsie

Just tried 'Alexa, play John McCormack on Spotify' and 'It's a long way to Tipperary' played

georgewickstaff

degsie wrote: »

Just tried 'Alexa, play John McCormack on Spotify' and 'It's a long way to Tipperary' played

Thanks so much! Is it easy to get it to play a Spotify Playlist? Or does Spotify just pick a random Artist song and play?

Appreciate your help! I'm quite excited for him about this!

givecredit

georgewickstaff wrote: »

Does his Samsung tab have to be on all the time to use it? Is it communicating with the app constantly?

Many thanks

No need for tablet to be on. It is not communicating with it.

Your Dad will just have to say "Alexa play Paddy Reilly" or "Alexa Play fields of athenry by Paddy Reilly" or "Alexa play the life of paddy reilly"

Very family friendly.

For Playlists just say "Alexa play (name of playlist)"