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Should I order the Echo Dot

petitepedal

By petitepedal
in The Café

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team scooter Baroudeur

team scooter

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Our son bought us one a few years ago. I actually use it more than I thought I would. I use it mostly for music/SiriusXM. But also news/threating weather updates, package deliveries, etc, etc. And just to see if she's still listing, I just asked her "Alexa, whos the black private Dick whos a sex machine to all the chicks?"

Shaft...

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maddmaxx Flahute

maddmaxx ★

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I like mine but I have a number of Kasa smart plugs that Alexa can control.  The new generation 3 seems much nicer, quicker and more correct than the older versions.  

1.  I use it every morning to turn on a group of lights when I say Alexa Good Morning.  Womaxx uses it as her alarm clock complete with Alexa Snooze.  This season we have a group Turn On Christmas that lights all the decorations.

Music is good.  Ask for an artist and Alexa usually provides.  Weather.  A short synopsis of the news while you're making your coffee.  The only thing I object to are "Notifications" which are often reminders that I bought something from Amazon and I might like to buy it again (like cat food)

Oh, and cooking timers.........Alexa set a 15 min timer.

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Kirby Flahute

Kirby

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I love my Alexa Echo.  I have a sirius subscription, so I use it to listen to sirius.  I also use it for podcasts and the local music shows Sheep_herder sometimes recommends. 

Since I've been working from home, I use the alarms feature to remind me of calls, and I use the timer function when I'm making tea. 

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Tizeye Baroudeur

Tizeye

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I have one Alexa device, a Sonus soundbar with Alexa built in. Played with that function when setting up, but haven't used it since - even to change volume. I just grab the remote. Haven't added speakers in other rooms, so voice command for specific rooms is not an option.

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shotgun Pack Fodder

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We have many of them throughout the house. Smart outlets for lights and fans, smart switches and smart dimmer switches for outdoor lights. If you plan to listen to music with decent sound, get the echo and not the echo dot. Although, I do have a 3rd gen echo dot mounted on the ceiling of my garage that sounds better than nothing.

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Kzoo Flahute

Kzoo

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3 minutes ago, dennis said:

You should get one. Turning on the lights is one of the most difficult things I do everyday.

This morning I wanted to listen to music. I had to walk 8 steps and turn the stereo on. It damn near killed me. 

I may be wrong but I'm sensing a bit of sarcasm here.

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Randomguy Flahute

Randomguy

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2 hours ago, petitepedal said:

Hmm..I live alone..maybe we would have a conversation

I think they are kind of cool, but beware that the smaller the unit, the worse they sound.  Bigger ones sound much better.

I got a free google home mini from Spotify.  I didn't use it much because I didn't have proper wifi at the time (was using a hotspot) and gave it to my parents when I visited last year.  My mom uses it a lot for music (it 'shares' my spotify account and my dad can't figure out how to add spotify to his phone), so I know what she is listening to.  She will say things like "Play Mozart" or "play Janis Joplin" (strange, huh?) and likes it fine for that.

But go bigger so it sounds good is what I would advise, but the small ones are ok for a background-type sound.

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Razors Edge Flahute

Razors Edge ★

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27 minutes ago, dennis said:

You should get one. Turning on the lights is one of the most difficult things I do everyday.

This morning I wanted to listen to music. I had to walk 8 steps and turn the stereo on. It damn near killed me. 

RIGHT!  From my intense study of death stats, most occur near the home (if not actually IN the home).  Folks are wise to shift risks as much as possible.

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groupw KOM / QOM

groupw

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We have an Echo Dot I received as a Christmas present along with a smart outlet and smart light bulb. My router at the time couldn’t coordinate Alexa and the devices. I run the devices through my phone app. 
I liked Alexa for listening to NPR in the morning, but we have a niece named Alexa. Any mention of her triggered eavesdropping. We moved Alexa out of normal conversation range, but even sounds on the TV would trigger it. We unplugged it until I want to play with it again

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maddmaxx Flahute

maddmaxx ★

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8 minutes ago, groupw said:

We have an Echo Dot I received as a Christmas present along with a smart outlet and smart light bulb. My router at the time couldn’t coordinate Alexa and the devices. I run the devices through my phone app. 
I liked Alexa for listening to NPR in the morning, but we have a niece named Alexa. Any mention of her triggered eavesdropping. We moved Alexa out of normal conversation range, but even sounds on the TV would trigger it. We unplugged it until I want to play with it again

You should know that you can change Alexa's name to what you want it to be.  Any safe word you wish.

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Kirby Flahute

Kirby

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10 hours ago, petitepedal said:

Hmm..I live alone..maybe we would have a conversation :D

One other use is you can sync it with your phone and make calls by voice command.  Or you can set up an app to have it alert emergency contacts.  This may not sound important, but if you fall and can't reach a phone, it can be a safety feature.  People tend to laugh at the "I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial, but I know someone who went through something like that and it was pretty awful.

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Longjohn Flahute

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1 hour ago, Kirby said:

People tend to laugh at the "I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial, but I know someone who went through something like that and it was pretty awful.

My wife did that one time. I was bringing her home from Pittsburgh where she had just had a big blast of radiation to her brain tumor. I had a prescription to pick up for her but she didn’t want me to stop. Just take me home she said. I drove her home and got her in the house and into her recliner. Then I had to drive back into Mercer to pick up the prescription. The pharmacy said they didn’t have any prescription for her, what is the name of the drug? I called my wife to get the name of the drug and she didn’t answer. I told the druggist I had to go. I got home and asked her if she was ok before I even got up the stairs. She said no. She had to use the bathroom and fell on the way out and dropped her phone. She couldn’t get back up. By the time I got back home she had crawled to her chair. I got her situated in her chair just as the druggist called and said they had her prescription. This was all before her health got really bad.

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petitepedal Flahute

petitepedal ★

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9 hours ago, dennis said:

You should get one. Turning on the lights is one of the most difficult things I do everyday.

This morning I wanted to listen to music. I had to walk 8 steps and turn the stereo on. It damn near killed me. 

My holiday lights are on timers..5:45 am red tree comes on..6am hallway tree goes on..a few minutes later..the living room tree goes on..

 

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