Does anyone have an Amazon Fire Stick?

A $25 spurge, you big spender, you!

I like mine a lot. Besides the Prime TV offerings, I access my Netflix, Hulu and TCM content through the Firestick menu.

OP I have one , they are great if your TV is not web enabled, also you can stream you tube, netflix , sling , hulu and a ton of other apps on it . I love mine

Old cheap ass!

I already have andriod TV and after an update, it told me I could ask my tv anything. like what's the weather etc. i am already connected to youtube etc.

I disconnected my TV from the internet cause it was slowing down my iPad which I often have on while watching TV. So what does this magical fire wand do?

Please explain slowly as if you were talking to a 2d grader. TIA.

Put Kodi on it and watch anything.

I was shopping recently myself and the Amazon stick was the highest rated (currently have a Roku). I am waiting however until the new Alexa fire unit comes out.

I got one as a gift, much prefer Roku which is also on sale on Amazon this week.

Interface is just much better

Yes OP I have one and it burns like a motherfuck.

Fire TV Stick is better than the Roku stick.

Second the Kodi- Look on youtube for instructions

Fire stick? We're not talking about a match are we?

Asking for a friend.

Roku is better, has more apps

Chromecast is better

Not if you have an iPhone

Chromecast sucks.

There's no remote control

You sound poor, OP.

Go with a Chromecast, it's only $35 and you can stream anything from your computer or phone with it.

R17, your Android phone can essentially be your remote control with a Chromecast.

Roku is number one in sales by far.

over half of all streaming player sales in the United States are Rokus.

What is Rokus?

It streams movies, r23.

My friends have the Kodi thing and it seems great, but I feel like I'd need to take a class on how to make it work. Also, seems illegal, no?

It’s illegal. It’s stealing.

The Roku Streaming Stick is the fastest 1080p streamer available, offers the widest selection of content and the best interface, search, and user experience. The only major service missing is iTunes, but Apple doesn't open that to anyone. And when new services launch, Roku is typically among the first—if not the first—to offer support. It has a great search feature that organizes content by price, helping you easily find the least expensive source, and you can customize the look of the interface to place your favorite apps at the top.

do you need to subscribe to netflix,hulu etc. to use them on the fire stick?

yes

Fire stick can be easily hacked to find current movies to steam for free

That’s immoral

I have all three: Fire Stick, Roku, and Chromecast. I only use the Chromecast to stream from my laptop or Chromebook to the TV. The other two are better for things like Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. I think the Roku is more customizable and has more available apps. The Fire Stick works pretty well with Plex, which lets me stream my porn from my desktop downstairs into my bedroom upstairs. Although with the volume of porn I have, it sometimes gets overwhelmed and reboots at "key moments."

I have one. I like it. I have apple TV too. I use them both. I saw the $25 deal and bought another one for downstairs. Firestick has movies/shows apple tv wont and vice versa.

Kodi is not illegal because you only stream the content as opposed to downloading. It's a fine line for sure, but legal.

OP here, got my Fire Stick a few days ago and I love it.

It will next to useless, after Dec 16th if (when) they repeal net neutrality

OP again, YouTube will no longer be available on the Firestick starting January 1st. Damn.

It’s totally worth it. You can put Kodi, TerrariumTV and Stremio to stream torrents.

There are videos on YouTube on how to set your fire stick/tv up with Kodi, TerrariumTV and Stremio. If your going to use these apps make sure to get a VPN. IPVanish works on the fire stick/tv there’s an app you can download, but it’s not free.

[quote]OP I have one , they are great if your TV is not web enabled

If he thinks $25 is splurge he does NOT have a web enabled TV.

I don't have the Fire Stick. I've got Roku and a very happy with it. It's very easy to use. I access Netflix and other channels on it.

I have it and bring it when I travel so that I can plug it into hotel TVs and can watch movies and NBA league pass games. Love it. Great deal.

I bought it for my mother. They had this very good deal of a 32 inch flat screen and the Fire stick came with it as a bonus. Not a well known TV but surprisingly good. The whole thing $110. Totally worth it.

[quote]I have it and bring it when I travel so that I can plug it into hotel TVs and can watch movies and NBA league pass games.

I've found that this only works when you have good wi-fi connection in your room. Sometimes the free wi-fi provided by hotels is worthless for anything more than just reading emails and surfing the web. Forget about streaming video.

OP here. I love my firestick.

You can transmit stuff from your computer to your tv with Chromecast?

Yeah, but it's not always reliable, R46. If you want access to the Amazon Prime lineup, then you can't use Chromecast.

Google and Amazon are in a pissing contest right now. The loser is the customer.

They've been in a pissing contest for several years, R48, mostly because Google wants full access to Amazon customer information in exchange for access to its APIs.

Yeah, but it's at the point where they're actively blocking content from one another. You can't get to YouTube directly from Amazon devices any more.

R50 - What devices can you get to youtube direcktly - aside from your phone? BTW it's one extra click.

Well, you can through a browser but yes, you're right. According to former colleagues of mine who work at Amazon, there were two initial stumbling blocks to getting the Amazon Video app into the Google Play store:

1. Google wanted full access to all Amazon customer data. Anytime you do anything on any app that Google authorizes, the data is almost always made available to Google. So Google would know which videos Amazon customers were watching and would have access to other data that Amazon doesn't give anyone access to.

2. Google wanted app royalties based on the assumption that Amazon Video was the full value of Amazon Prime, even though that's just a small part of the benefits that come with Prime. Amazon, of course, said no.

Things escalated from there, affecting other devices and other apps. Amazon for a time stopped selling both Apple TV and Chromecast, then started selling them again, then stopped selling them again. What I've heard is one-sided, of course, but if what my friends are telling me about Google's demands, I'm with Amazon on this.

Could you use the Chromecast to browse the web?

You have to browse the web on your computer, tablet, or phone, then "cast" what's on your screen to the TV.

Or you can search on any app on the FireStick.

I don't have a computer. That's why I need to do it on the TV?

r56 Do you have a smartphone or a tablet?

I have a rotary phone. What's a tablet?

If you don't have a cell phone, tablet, or computer, forget about a Chromecast; they don't even come with a remote control.

You might be able to use a Fire Stick without a computer, but I'm pretty sure you need something to set it up with initially.

And it goes without saying that NONE of these devices works without a broadband internet connection.

Roku is best

They don't work with dial up?

I have both a roku and a fire stick. The roku is easier to use, but requires line-of-sight for its remote. The fire tv does not require line-of-sight so is easier to place and it is also more customizable - and the apps that are missing are usually available through kodi.