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So I got the Fire TV yesterday - its a great bit of kit.

I've come to the acceptance that we're never going to have the all in one option available to us, so this will be the best of both worlds.
 
BMox said:
So I got the Fire TV yesterday - its a great bit of kit.

I've come to the acceptance that we're never going to have the all in one option available to us, so this will be the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...

The Amazon fireTv is a great iPhone remote control app for the fire stick. Recommended. Much better than the plastic remote.
 
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BMox said:
So I got the Fire TV yesterday - its a great bit of kit.

I've come to the acceptance that we're never going to have the all in one option available to us, so this will be the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...
I agree. This is why I have 3 streaming devices don't count the PS4 it primary a DVD/BD and game console which is all I use it for. One of them always performs better with one or more apps then the other devices do. Example is that
  1. Apple TV 4th Gen - Hulu (only device I know that plays in 1080p on the new Apple TV) and HBO Go work great but Netflix performs horrible stream sometimes randomly drops down to mud VHS SD under any little congestion load.
  2. Amazon Fire TV 2nd Gen - Amazon and Netflix perform great but Hulu performs horrible buffers mid stream. HBO Go plays fine but the app is slow and sluggish. Starz and Encore Play perform horrible buffers mid stream.
  3. Roku 2 (2015) or Roku 3 - Netflix, Starz and Encore Play perform great but Amazon stream drops and buffers sometimes mid stream.
So there you go that is why I have more than one streaming device.
 
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If you can, don't use wifi with the fire tv. I was having buffering issues and losing wifi more than I wanted to put up with. Wired it to the router and all has been nearly perfect
 
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I bought both the fire TV and the Roku 4. Fire TV is collecting dust for 2 reasons, It's a nice box but, I like the grid layout on the Roku better, and the biggest reason is Fire TV doesn't have Vudu.
 
Hook them both up with this HDMI switch. I have 5 devices with 4 on one switch and the Roku 2 connected directly to the TV.
 
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tonyr6 said:
Hook them both up with this HDMI switch. I have 5 devices with 4 on one switch and the Roku 2 connected directly to the TV.
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It says the Apple TV port interferes with the auto switching. That's annoying since the point of a switch is to avoid changing inputs.
 
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off_piste said:
It says the Apple TV port interferes with the auto switching. That's annoying since the point of a switch is to avoid changing inputs.
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I know but I have not found one switch anywhere that lets you turn off that annoying auto switching. If anyone knows of one I will buy it and try it out.

Also the ATV4 really does not interfere with the switch otherwise. Only if you reboot the ATV4 it will switch inputs but waking it up does not.
 
I asked Amazon for updates on the Amazon Video app and the reply was less promising than the things I was reading last year...
 

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I say at this point forget about this happening ever.


Is it possible to sideload a browser app and watch Amazon Prime via that?
 
leon44 said:
I asked Amazon for updates on the Amazon Video app and the reply was less promising than the things I was reading last year...
Click to expand...

Can't say I'm surprised here given the original source had a much less detailed screen grab than you. I want it to happen, but for whatever reason Amazon/Apple are dragging their feet on the issue. A Roku box is basically a dedicated Amazon player at this point in my living room, I'd love to get rid of it though.
 
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Well, I just canceled my Prime. It was going to renew on the 6th. I haven't been ordering enough to justify it just for shipping so since they won't support the ATV, Bye-Bye. I'm not going to buy an amazon stick for it. Unfortunately they didn't have a survey or a "why are you canceling" box to see why I'm getting rid of it after almost a decade. Hopefully they'll email one.

Seems like company's always bug me with the surveys when I don't care about giving them feedback and never ask when I do...
 
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2010mini said:
Is it possible to sideload a browser app and watch Amazon Prime via that?
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I look occasionally to see if there is an Amazon addon for Kodi.

I think Amazon's DRM make it difficult. I haven't found a Kodi addon that seems to work in the USA... or at least not one that works on the Apple TV Kodi app.
 
DesertDog said:
Well, I just canceled my Prime. It was going to renew on the 6th. I haven't been ordering enough to justify it just for shipping so since they won't support the ATV, Bye-Bye. I'm not going to buy an amazon stick for it
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Really? The fire tv stick is only $40 (and I'm pretty sure it was just on sale for like $20 recently). I've been a big time user of prime shipping for the past 2-3 years, but only over the last few months have a discovered how valuable the prime video and music components are. Basically includes both a Netflix and a music streaming service (as a bonus), at a cost lower than each of those services individually.
 
Mad Mac Maniac said:
Really? The fire tv stick is only $40 (and I'm pretty sure it was just on sale for like $20 recently).
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It's not the money, it's the principle of moving in the wrong direction for my use. The ATV4 has allowed me to stop using any other box since it can do everything that I was using multiple boxes for before (Channels, Infuse, etc.). I like having just the one box to use and do not want to go back to multiple ones and having to switch inputs just for one content type. Especially since the ATV4 is more then capable of handling it. It'd maybe be a different story if there was something it couldn't handle. Amazon's content isn't unique enough either. I can get most of it from other sources. So I'm voting with my wallet.
 
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DesertDog said:
It's not the money, it's the principle of moving in the wrong direction for my use. The ATV4 has allowed me to stop using any other box since it can do everything that I was using multiple boxes for before (Channels, Infuse, etc.). I like having just the one box to use and do not want to go back to multiple ones and having to switch inputs just for one content type. Especially since the ATV4 is more then capable of handling it. It'd maybe be a different story if there was something it couldn't handle. Amazon's content isn't unique enough either. I can get most of it from other sources. So I'm voting with my wallet.
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I get the voting with your wallet, and I too ditched using the Fire Stick. In my family room, I used to have an ATV3 + Fire Stick, now just an ATV4. The bad news is that I doubt Amazon will offer an ATV4 app anytime soon, if ever. The good news is that Airplay works very well. Although other than the Amazon originals, I rarely use it.

Prime shipping on the other hand is priceless to me. I just looked at my account and I placed 135 orders in 2015 and 30 so far in 2016. I would estimate that I paid shipping on fewer than 10 of those 165 orders, all others being Prime 2-day shipping.

I obviously don't know how you used your Prime membership, but hopefully you don't cancel in spite of the great value the shipping could provide.

As a side note, Prime shipping has a very valuable and sort of "hidden" benefit. If you order something on Amazon and pay for shipping, then return the item because you changed your mind (not because of a defect), you would only get credited for the value of the item and not the shipping cost. With Prime including the shipping, you aren't losing that portion of the purchase.
 
jdag, not to mention the straight up deals. WE pay lower prices by a considerable amount. I save a fortune over the course of a year. Now buying virtually all personal items from Prime.
 
2010mini said:
Wait-a-sec.... Didn't Amazon say they were moving away from flash and silverlight to HTML5 recently??
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I can't precisely remember what Amazon said when I tried to play a video but I think it told me to install Silverlight, or use IE or Chrome. I think the browser was a stripped down Safari.
 
Hermes Monster said:
My iPhone is now my go to remote for my LG TV, Apple TV, Kodi, FireStick and Sky box - the rest just sit in the draw (with the exception of the Apple TV usually, because the novelty hasn't worn off yet🙂)
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What app are you using? The biggest reason I haven't used my iPhone to do this is because it took a few apps to do what my Harmony One will do.
 
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