Amazon Echo

wutang112878

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Has anybody here paired their Echo with their Harmony remote? I haven't set this up yet but would like to try it.
I'd be very curious about this too. I have the Harmony remote and somehow my wife cant always get it to work even though there is a 'help' button. If somehow Alexa could intervene it would be wonderful.
 

locknload

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Anyone have an experience with the Google Home? Seems like a straight competitor but since I'm more tied into the google ecosystem than amazons it may make more sense.
 

bohous

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I'd be very curious about this too. I have the Harmony remote and somehow my wife cant always get it to work even though there is a 'help' button. If somehow Alexa could intervene it would be wonderful.
Which remote do you have? I'm pretty sure you need the hub to work with Alexa.
I downloaded the skill (app) last night but it tells me I need to run a software update from Harmony. The reviews on the app are not great. It sounds like it is a bit limited and might take some tweaking to make sure Alexa understands your commands. I'm mostly curious to know if she understands the difference between "Turn on TV" to mean "Power On the TV" vs "Start the Watch TV Activity", or if she knows to switch to the Roku input when I ask to Watch Netflix. Even if it can do simple things like switch inputs or power toggle devices it could be a help for the wife/kids when the remote falls out of sync for an activity.
 

jercra

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Anyone have an experience with the Google Home? Seems like a straight competitor but since I'm more tied into the google ecosystem than amazons it may make more sense.
I have a Google home that I use in my office (WFH). While it is tied into the Google ecosystem it doesn't really matter. It's an inferior device to the Echo in almost every way with the exceptions that it has much better search and much better voice recognition. Other than that, the integrations with other components are very small, the microphones are not as good, the speakers are not as good and in general the interface is not as good.

That being said, depending on your plans, it's a fine device that's significantly cheaper and can handle most basic tasks that Echo can handle. But, if you want to listen to 98.5 The Sports Hub, well, you can't on Google Home and you can on Echo. Google Home can't find the Tune In station while Echo can. It's just one of the small ways things just work with Echo but don't with Home. Oh, and don't open Google Music on your phone or computer to search for something because it will stop playing on Google Home. It sees it as another stream. Echo does not have this problem with Amazon Prime Music.

One thing Home has over Echo, and why I had high hopes, is that it has multi-room music sync. You can play the same song synced on multiple Homes. I only have one so I never tried it and I don't know how that will work unless you subscribe to Family plan for Google Music.

There is also one really annoying thing and that's that the wake word is "Ok, Google" for Home. If you have a Google phone in the same room as your Home, every time you issue a command both devices will listen. Only one will fulfill the request but it's annoying as hell to have your phone beep and reply every single time you use it. You can use "Hey, Google" too but at least for me that's not as intuitive. I'm well trained I guess. Hopefully they allow custom wake words someday.
 

wutang112878

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Which remote do you have? I'm pretty sure you need the hub to work with Alexa.
I downloaded the skill (app) last night but it tells me I need to run a software update from Harmony. The reviews on the app are not great. It sounds like it is a bit limited and might take some tweaking to make sure Alexa understands your commands. I'm mostly curious to know if she understands the difference between "Turn on TV" to mean "Power On the TV" vs "Start the Watch TV Activity", or if she knows to switch to the Roku input when I ask to Watch Netflix. Even if it can do simple things like switch inputs or power toggle devices it could be a help for the wife/kids when the remote falls out of sync for an activity.
I've got the Harmony 650 and I didnt think that would work with Alexa, I was just wondering what the real capabilities of the HUB & Alexa are. I was looking at the Logitech website and it had the examples like 'Watch Cable' and it seems like you can program it so that you it treats it just like an activity. But the commands it cites are just the switching between modes, I didnt see a single command like 'Turn channel to 852'. Or within say the Amazon TV, can you say 'Search for House of Cards'.

I also couldnt figure out how the HUB connected to the devices, it just seemed to indicate which devices its compatible with. Take my TV, it has wifi capability, so can the HUB connect via wireless and I can completely control it without the remote? I think so but I wasnt completely sure. I had the same issue when I got the 650, I had an idea of how it worked but I wasnt crystal clear on how it worked.
 

bohous

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I've got the Harmony 650 and I didnt think that would work with Alexa, I was just wondering what the real capabilities of the HUB & Alexa are. I was looking at the Logitech website and it had the examples like 'Watch Cable' and it seems like you can program it so that you it treats it just like an activity. But the commands it cites are just the switching between modes, I didnt see a single command like 'Turn channel to 852'. Or within say the Amazon TV, can you say 'Search for House of Cards'.

I also couldnt figure out how the HUB connected to the devices, it just seemed to indicate which devices its compatible with. Take my TV, it has wifi capability, so can the HUB connect via wireless and I can completely control it without the remote? I think so but I wasnt completely sure. I had the same issue when I got the 650, I had an idea of how it worked but I wasnt crystal clear on how it worked.
The Hub essentially converts your remote signal from IR to RF. As you said, Alexa's abilities are limited so you would still need a physical remote. The hub also allows you to use your phone/tablet as a remote but I don't recommend it as your daily driver. I will say that going from the 650 to the Harmony Smart Control was a huge step up from the 650 for me. There is no Help button but you don't need it. It's much more dependable switching between activities and power toggling devices. Also, if Alexa and Harmony continue to update and improve the integration it could be a game changer.
 
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wutang112878

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Thanks for the info! I think I'm going to hold off and see where the integration goes. If it gets to the point that Alexa can do everything the remote does, then I'll probably take the plunge.
 

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My mother, who isn't the best gift giver, got me a Dot for my birthday (a few weeks after I bought myself a Sonos speaker) and we really enjoy it and get a lot of use out of it even with the Sonos.

We liked the Dot so much that on Black Friday when Amazon was selling them for $40 bucks we bought six of them for our dads and brothers (who are the hardest to by gifts for.) Its a really terrific holiday gift.
 
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allstonite

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People who own the Dot, how is the speaker on that? I see people here hooking them up to other bluetooth speakers. I was thinking about getting this for my mother since she like trying out my Echo. She's no audiophile so it doesn't have to be great but is it good enough for her to listen to audio books or podcasts while she works in the kitchen? Thanks!
 

AlNipper49

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I mean it's probably OK enough for an audio book. I'd honestly just get the echo though, the speaker is really nice and it carries super well
 

bohous

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People who own the Dot, how is the speaker on that? I see people here hooking them up to other bluetooth speakers. I was thinking about getting this for my mother since she like trying out my Echo. She's no audiophile so it doesn't have to be great but is it good enough for her to listen to audio books or podcasts while she works in the kitchen? Thanks!
It doesn't even has to be a Bluetooth speaker. It has an aux-out port so you can just connect it to any speaker or clock radio with an aux-in using a 3.5mm cable.
 

wutang112878

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I've been using it to listen to music while I work and its sounded fine. As far as volume power goes, I dont even have it on the max volume to listen to music so unless she is hard of hearing this should be fine.
 

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The sound quality on the Dot is roughly equivalent to that of a cheap clock radio. It's fine for spoken word content, as long as you're not trying to listen to it from too far away. I wouldn't use it to listen to music, but if you're OK with a small radio speaker's sound quality, you should be fine with the Dot.
 

dirtynine

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Does any Echo owner here worry about, basically, all the audio in your home being captured and processed by a third party? I know we all have phones that could potentially be doing the same thing, but the sense of creepiness/paranoia around something always intentionally listening to my in-home conversation is the one thing that keeps me from diving in.
 

locknload

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Looks like MassSave has Nest thermostats rebated down to $99 until the 12th. Once I get those installed I bet thats the thing that tips me over to actual buying an echo.
 

B H Kim

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Does any Echo owner here worry about, basically, all the audio in your home being captured and processed by a third party? I know we all have phones that could potentially be doing the same thing, but the sense of creepiness/paranoia around something always intentionally listening to my in-home conversation is the one thing that keeps me from diving in.
Well, as I said at the very beginning of this thread:

Siri is only on and listening when you activate it. Echo is always on and always listening and potentially sending data and information to a company whose continued financial existence depends on identifying stuff you might like to buy. Maybe it's just my paranoia, but there's no way I would want this in my house.
Of course, I bought one last year and haven't given the privacy concerns a second thought.

As it happens, I was listening to a tech podcast on my drive home tonight and one of the hosts said that he checked to see if the Echo was sending anything to the internet when it wasn't triggered and he said he found no evidence that it was.
 

bowiac

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I've tried monitoring this with the Google WiFi app (which lets me see which devices are using up/down bandwidth), and it doesn't seem to be sending anything when it's not triggered.
 

jercra

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Just to follow up on Google Home vs Echo after using the Home for a couple of weeks... Maybe Google will get this stuff right eventually but for now, Google Home is junk compared to Echo. Basic functionality like playing music is horrible. So far today it's just decided I'm done listening to music about 30 times. Once it decides that you can't resume whatever playlist you were listening to. It's hard to explain but it's just so clunky and half implemented that it makes almost no sense to go Home over Echo. In other words, it's a first gen Google product.
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Liking the Dot for some silly little things. e.g..: plans changed last minute and I had to get up early on Sat, but forgot to set an alarm on my phone/ipad. Rolled over in bed; "Alexa, set alarm for 6AM".

The HomeDepot.com glitch is still working, but better yet the sale price is now $40, so three Dots for $69 after the $50 discount IF you can find it while it's in stock. At that price, we ordered a dozen, and will give them out as cheap holiday gifts.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Sucks, can't find them in stock anywhere near me.

And why do you keep calling it a 'glitch', its an advertised sale.

Price Valid : 12/01/2016 - 01/01/2017
Receive $50.00 off of your order when you purchase an Amazon Dot, a Caseta Smart Bridge Kit and a Caseta Dimmer Kit! Add all 3 products to your cart and at checkout $50.00 will be deducted from your order total. The applicable item numbers are the Amazon Dot #300449977, Caseta Smart Bridge Kit #205582770 and the free Caseta Dimmer Kit #206754146. Make your home a Smart Home!
Edit: never mind, I'm a dummy, I see why you're saying it's a glitch.
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Keep checking back, both promotions are supposed last until Jan 1. They've come back into stock several times over the past week, you just have to luck into them. (at first I tried using Check4Change, but it kept getting hits when nothing that I highlighted had changed)

Anyone know which traffic service Alexa currently uses for its Navi? March 2015: “Traffic information is provided by HERE, a Nokia company.” But a lot can change in 20+ months.

EDIT: wow, appears the Dot is unavailable for shipping from many major retailers right now. Guess that $40 price point hit the sweet spot.
 
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uncannymanny

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Just moved into our new place and got the Dots setup, bt shower speaker, Nest, about 7 Insteon smart dimmers and a dozen Hue bulbs. Have a few other random things connected. I had been waiting to go all out until we got into a new place.

This setup -- with IFTTT triggers -- is really life changing. "Alexa trigger bedtime" -- lights in the entire house go down, thermostat drops about 3-5 degrees, tv and stuff go off. "Alexa trigger movie" dims all lights, turns on tv etc for movie watching. Have a lot of situational stuff like this and it's so nice to be able to do it from anywhere in the house.

"Bedtime" is huge because now I don't have to run around before bed turning things off (and the thermo turns down because it's too hot when you're under a comforter but too cold if set that way before bed). Looking at some heating for the bathroom that I can turn on before I get out of bed to eliminate cold tile during the winter.

BT speaker in the shower is crucial. I get into the shower in the morning, "Alexa connect to speaker and listen to WFAN" and on it goes while I shower (I can't stand the EEI morning crews so I listen to the FAN).

Haven't gotten to writing my own Skills yet, but I'm digging into that after the holidays.
 

Tim Naehrings Girl

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I bought a echo dot and echo tap for my husband for Christmas because I thought the tap would be a good speaker for the dot, but now I am thinking that it's basically two systems, which is fine because I will have one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom. Does anyone have the tap?
 

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I bought a echo dot and echo tap for my husband for Christmas because I thought the tap would be a good speaker for the dot, but now I am thinking that it's basically two systems, which is fine because I will have one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom. Does anyone have the tap?
Yeah my wife got one at a conference. It's definitely two systems and you don't want it, even though the speaker is better you need to hold down a button to talk into it.

I mean it's not horrible but the entire point of it is to be able to yell at it to do stuff (which is does awesome).

I keep mine in the bedroom. It's not bad because it's on my nightstand but I really really like the Echo/Dot better
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Unfortunately, the whole point of the Tap is that it's portable/battery operated. And I'm assuming that the Dot and Echo draw a considerable amount of power just sitting there, waiting to be called. So to make the Tap's battery last, no way no how can it be voice activated.

The skill I'm dreaming about is getting E-Dispatch on it.
 

Hank Scorpio

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I was thinking of getting between two and four Dots, bathroom, living room, maybe office and kitchen... already have an Echo in my bedroom.

What capabilities does the Dot lack versus an Echo?
 

Scott Cooper's Grand Slam

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Does anyone have a recommendation for a speaker to pare with a Dot?
I'm a sucker for Bose. I know it's got a rep as overpriced and overproduced, but the Bose signature makes Spotify, MP3, Pandora and other digital music (which is probably what you're playing through the Echo) sound great. Most Bose have aux ports for the Echo. Some SoundTouch models have Bluetooth so you can pair the Dot directly without an aux cable.

You also can't go wrong with Sonos, but I prefer Bose.
 

uncannymanny

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Have to note that these might be the first devices that are not totally annoying to connect with Bluetooth. "Alexa [dis]connect speaker." Done.
 

AlNipper49

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Does anyone have a recommendation for a speaker to pare with a Dot?
It depends where it is. You can find great deals on soundbars sometimes. I mount most of my speakers (unpowered of course) so usually go with a $50 AMp from Amazon and whatever speakers work in a room. You can get some very nice bookshelf speakers for cheap.

If you just want something better than the Dot Speaker you could always pair a Bluetooth one and just keep it plugged in, then you'll also have a travel speaker
 

Drocca

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So, last question. Why would we get an Echo and a Dot? I understand that the Echo has a good speaker. But my Wife, when I was explaining that the Dot didn't really do anything new for us (we already have a good record player stereo system set up and Spodify, radio in the kitchen for NPR, clocks for the time and alarm), she said "what if we got an Echo to go with it? What would that do? Don't they connect?"

And I said, let me research that.
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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So, last question. Why would we get an Echo and a Dot?

And I said, let me research that.
Not sure if your operative word there is "why" or "and".

As Nip mentioned, the ONLY difference between the Dot and the Echo is the Echo's built in speaker (so it's also taller). AFAIK, they are exactly the same apart from that. ( personally: I dont see that speaker in the Echo as being worth another $100-120 to me)

AFA the Dot (or Echo) not doing anything new for you: it voice activates all the chores you listed.

Full disclosure: I'm approaching my use of the Dot as having paid $23 for it. I don't know that I'd be so enthused if I'd paid the MSRP of $50.

(and if anyone needs an inexpensive bluetooth speaker, expect Marshalls to have a ton of them on clearance. Some of them went to clearance as early as the beginning of Dec. I picked up a decent shower speaker for $22 that orig hit the floor at $40.)

EDIT: do they connect? Tho they operate on the same wifi network in your home and are tied to the same Amazon acct, they act independently of each other. IOW, if you play a particular album or set the timer on the Dot, the music and the timer will NOT carry over to the Echo. And as was pointed out upthread: if you're in voice range of two (or more) Alexa's, they determine which unit you are closest to and just that unit takes your command/prompt/skill.
 
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Drocca

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Thanks that's awesome info. I hate my shitty little Brookstone Bluetooth speaker so I'll be on the lookout at Marshalls.
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Thanks that's awesome info. I hate my shitty little Brookstone Bluetooth speaker so I'll be on the lookout at Marshalls.
It takes only 30 seconds each day to check Best Buy's DotD. They sale-price their Insignia line way down on a regular basis. Their entry level BT speaker goes to $10 every 10-14 days. And a few days ago, they had an Insignia BT soundbar (as in, a TV sound bar) for $29, but they also had a ton of open box for ~$17-18 that people were scooping up and using as regular stereo speakers)
 

cgori

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It takes only 30 seconds each day to check Best Buy's DotD. They sale-price their Insignia line way down on a regular basis. Their entry level BT speaker goes to $10 every 10-14 days. And a few days ago, they had an Insignia BT soundbar (as in, a TV sound bar) for $29, but they also had a ton of open box for ~$17-18 that people were scooping up and using as regular stereo speakers)
Yea, if you want a sound bar, many of them are also BT speakers. There's a couple on woot right now (not quite as good a deal as Omar's above) so just keep poking around.
 

AlNipper49

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My recommendation parallels that of OWN. Keep your eyes on Slickdeals and Techbargains and you can get a really really nice portable BT speaker that will be a good travel companion, sound awesome and still cost less than a full Echo.

I use my two echos in places that I really don't want to fuck with additional speakers. My default recommendation for most would be Dots. I use a Dot in my office where I already had speakers, for example
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Echo ain't no rat, but the water meter is singing like a canary:

"Police say Bates had several other smart home devices, including a water meter. That piece of tech shows that 140 gallons of water were used between 1AM and 3AM the night Collins was found dead in Bates' hot tub. Investigators allege the water was used to wash away evidence of what happened off of the patio."
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Found this $25 entry level smart plug that specifically says it works with Alexa without a hub:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Iris-120-Volt-White-Smart-Plug-Works-with-Alexa/1000135207

Put two into your cart, throw in a nut or bolt to push the total over $50, buy a $15/50 coupon off ebay for 99c (cheaper if you buy soon-to-expire codes in quantity): works out to $18 each.

EDIT: just installed an Iris outlet for use with Alexa. Since it's my first smart home device, more detailed instructions would have been nice. But once I figured out what to do, it seems well worth $18 since it appears optimized for Alexa. (annoying features: setting up the Iris acct requires full contact info like name, address, phone, etc., and really pushes the $10/month premium service on you; and it doesnt search for a wifi network, you have to type in the network manually.)
 
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locknload

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My Alexa showed up today. So far its main use is the kids asking it wikipedia questions. One annoyance so far is that I can't get it find 98.5 on the tune-in. Works on my phone so I know its there. I can get most other stations i search for easy enough. Anyone have to do anything specific to set that up?

Also the voicecasting thing has me looking for a fire, that looks cool as hell. Look up a recipe, send that to my tablet. Awesome
 

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