you can return OPENED products to best buy? I thought if they were open it was exchange only?
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First HomePod Pre-Order Customers Get Charged as Speakers Prepare for Shipment
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you can return OPENED products to best buy? I thought if they were open it was exchange only?
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Yes, it's probably already a HP mini, just not in name. Per Apple, measurements are only 6.8" high X 5.6" wide. If someone wants to tangibly get a sense of that, take a roll of paper towels and cut it at 6.8" high. Pull off enough sheets to get it down to 5.6" wide. There's the size. Tiny.
Quality of sound- particularly bass- typically benefits from "bigger" instead of "smaller" (yes, there are other factors so take that as a generality). If we want to imagine a future sibling before we've even got to hear this one, we would be more likely to get better sound from a "maxi" instead of a "mini." Or jettison the sub out to a separate HP Sub product.
A smaller HP future product might be Apple's cut at a Dot-like product, assuming Siri is smart enough here to justify packaging the "smarts" separate from the speaker.
They certainly do have a great business model, I dissagree that they don’t do better technology (just look at Face ID i love it much better than Touch ID) the reason I’m in the Apple ecosystem in a VERY BIG way (iPhone X, Mac’s, iPad, Apple TV and Apple Watch as well as now HomePod) is because the iPhone is in my opinion the best, most reliable smartphone on the market, the same with my iPad Pro, Mac and Apple Watch (iMac and MacBook Pro).
I think Apple have built a great ecosystem with great products that also work brilliantly well with each other. That’s just my opinion and experience so far.
If this homepod was portable that would be nice. I do use our portable bluetooth speakers when camping sometimes. Though our trailer does have speakers. I guess I could run an extension cord to the trailer though no ideal. Would airplay from my phone work if I have all the music downloaded to my phone but don't have a wifi connection?
Or when sitting on our patio at home. Though I often just crank the stereo in the house and open the windows.
But to use it portable I need it to support music over bluetooth.
Or when sitting on our patio at home. Though I often just crank the stereo in the house and open the windows.
But to use it portable I need it to support music over bluetooth.
Maybe they just don’t have negative things to say? Everyone knows it should have AirPlay 2 and Stereo support from the get go, but it doesn’t. If it sounds good and Siri works wel with Apple Music then that’s what it is.
You’ll make your own judgment on it.
You can run it on anything that qualifies as a computer - anything that will run NodeJS. I run it on a $10 raspberry pi.
If you want your smarthome devices to work in HomeKit this is how you do it. Saying Amazon supports more smarthome products out of the box is technically corrrect - if you consider downloading plugins from the internet out of the box, but homebridge has far more plugins than the Echo does.
So HomeKit essentially supports many more devices than any other platform (though calling Google Home or Amazon Echo a smarthome platform isn't correct at all - they are very basic compared to HomeKit).
If you're satisfied with the limited nature of the Echo then that's great - but if you're interested in customization and device support Apple is your best bet here. Home Automation used to be more of a hobby for technical people than a mainstream concept, but Amazon and others have dumbed it down to the point that anyone can get basic functionality out of it - which has its positives and negatives.
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Whole house audio can be a delight. Have a party and a crowd big enough to spill over into other rooms can all be enjoying the audio at the same time. I'm set up for this for years now. Getting some music seamlessly playing all over the house and out on the pool deck is terrific.
You've probably experienced this in commercial places- like a Mall- for up to your whole life. As you move through the Mall, the same music is playing everywhere, rather than being limited to only a single location with one speaker.
I'm not sure. At my house with my stereo you have no problem hearing the one stereo in family room, kitchen or outside, the places where everyone gathers. No need for multiple speakers.
I guess if people were divided up to completely opposite spaces not socializing with each other, and depending on the layout of your home, then maybe.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
The difference is that the further one gets from the main speakers, the less sound they can hear. And slip into another room or step outside on a deck and ears may barely hear the sound any more at all. Whole house audio in every room will bring a relatively consistent volume of sound to everyone (if one wants to use it like that).
I certainly have some powerful speakers such that I could crank it up in the main room and be able to hear something playing through them from anywhere in the house. But the further you get from them, the "volume" will seem less. And if I crank it up loud enough to reasonably reach the distant rooms, it may be unpleasant for those in the main room. Whole home audio somewhat addresses that- the relative volume level can be about the same in all rooms.
Again, think about the Mall music example. Conceptually, the mall could install a very powerful speaker somewhere and crank it up super loud to reach all "rooms" in the mall. But those nearby would probably be deafened by such volume while those at the extremes might barely be able to hear a sound. So the Mall leverages whole "house" audio to make the music seem about the same volume throughout the entire mall. Nobody is deafened and nobody can barely hear it. Everybody gets about the same experience.
I certainly have some powerful speakers such that I could crank it up in the main room and be able to hear something playing through them from anywhere in the house. But the further you get from them, the "volume" will seem less. And if I crank it up loud enough to reasonably reach the distant rooms, it may be unpleasant for those in the main room. Whole home audio somewhat addresses that- the relative volume level can be about the same in all rooms.
Again, think about the Mall music example. Conceptually, the mall could install a very powerful speaker somewhere and crank it up super loud to reach all "rooms" in the mall. But those nearby would probably be deafened by such volume while those at the extremes might barely be able to hear a sound. So the Mall leverages whole "house" audio to make the music seem about the same volume throughout the entire mall. Nobody is deafened and nobody can barely hear it. Everybody gets about the same experience.
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Something that's more "portable bluetooth" speaker size. Something for a small bedroom, or to take with you to the park for a picnic. Maybe less than half that size. I understand it wouldn't be able to produce the same sound, and that's not their market, but maybe we can see something more portable in the future.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
It's really small now- see post #78 and fake one right now with a paper towel roll. I think most of the pictures are tricking our eyes into thinking it may be as big as a bucket. It's not. The pic in post #64 should paint a good picture for those that don't want to saw off a roll of paper towels. While not quite the height, a jumbo roll of TP is not a bad size approximation either.
If we're already going to start dreaming about a future HP, our ears would probably be happier with a bigger one instead of a smaller one... unless- perhaps- Apple jettisons the sub (bass) portion out to it's own accessory. Then the main one could probably shrink a lot by offloading the bass to an entirely separate speaker
If we're already going to start dreaming about a future HP, our ears would probably be happier with a bigger one instead of a smaller one... unless- perhaps- Apple jettisons the sub (bass) portion out to it's own accessory. Then the main one could probably shrink a lot by offloading the bass to an entirely separate speaker
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The HomePod Will likely be a product where the return period will be exercised. Mainly because there are the unknown factors if the consumer will like or appreciate the sound and what the HomePod has to offer. Also, some might be able to purchase the HomePod for slightly cheaper with open box items for those who have returned the HomePod.
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So don't buy one? I think this thread is probably targeted at people who have bought one and are getting excited about their new toy(s)...
Indeed, there are at least 5 other threads where you can find people bitching about their own personal problems with the device. Let people here be happy.
Mine is charged but still In Progress, fwiw.
Depends on the product. Some specifically state only unopened returns (like drones).
Saw the headline: "First HomePod Pre-Order Customers Get Charged ..."
First thought: Now even customers have batteries in them?
First thought: Now even customers have batteries in them?
Probably the most controversial speaker ever.
So many people getting bent out of shape because they think everyone else should care about and agree with their opinion of this speaker.
So just like every other Apple product ever, then?
You would need some kind of wifi network but it shouldn't need internet access. Airplay is audio streaming over wifi but peer-to-peer instead of server-to-client like chromecast so it doesn't need internet access to work, both devices do need to be on the same network.
Yeah, I'm there with you. For one, I already have several good speaker systems. I love my music, but don't really need a speaker to talk to. Keep all of my music on my mac and iOS devices. Don't use Apple Music. Kids use Spotify. For the price it simply doesn't offer me anything that I can get for less, or do better for the $350.
Not saying it doesn't make sense for other people, but definitely not the thing for me, and I own some version of virtually everything that Apple has made. Phone, iPad, iMac, MBPros, MacMini's as server and HTPC, Airports, Accessories ad nauseam...
This just doesn't trip my trigger.