# Fire TV Stick: First Impressions



## Betsy the Quilter

Opened up. It has a sleeve (upper left), the Fire TV Stick and remote in a little tray, and underneath the quick start guide, the USB cable, batteries and HDMI port extender.


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## SeymourKopath

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Opened up. It has a sleeve (upper left), the Fire TV Stick and remote in a little tray, and underneath the quick start guide, the USB cable, batteries and HDMI port extender.


Thanks for that peek inside the box.  I have a quick question (to start): How long is the USB cable? Thanks again.


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## Betsy the Quilter

SeymourKopath said:


> Thanks for that peek inside the box.  I have a quick question (to start): How long is the USB cable? Thanks again.


The USB cable, which plugs into the provided power adapter (updated my OP to include that), is just shy of 5 ft (60 inches) long by my measuring, including ends.

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter

OK, the Stick comes with an HDMI extender if your HDMI port is hard to reach.  I didn't use mine, but it's a handy thing to have.  I may plug my extended into a different TV down in the studio that may be more difficult to reach so that I can move the Fire TV between the two TVs if I need to.

You plug the Stick into the port and then, using the USB cable and adapter, into a power source.  Change to the input for the HDMI port you used.  The Stick is 2 1/4" long and 1 5/8" wide.

Install the batteries in the remote.  (These steps are in the Quick Start guide that comes with your device.)  The remote has a five-way controller (circle for selecting up, down, left, right and an OK/select button in the middle.  It also has a back, home and menu button and rewind, play/pause and fast forward buttons.  It's similar to the Roku remote I have.  It's about 4 1/4 inches long, 1 1/8 inches wide.

On screen, you should see the Fire TV Stick splash screen.  Then, it will look for the remote and ask you to press the play/pause button on the remote to be connected.

Next, you will need to connect to your WiFi network using the onscreen keyboard.  You use the five-way controller ring to move among the letters and press button in the center of the ring to say "OK" and select the letters.  Pretty straightforward.

Once it connects to the network it will tell you it needs to update the software.  After a bit, I got a message that it could not install the software and to unplug the USB power cable for a few seconds.  

I unplugged, counted to ten, plugged it in again and started over.  Splash screen, press button on remote, it connected to my network. 

Finished download, installed, device restarted (you get messages onscreen telling you all this), software finished installing.  It asked me to select my network again and enter the password again.  Except that this time, I didn't finish entering the password before it connected, so perhaps I could have just waited to see if it connected to the network.  I did notice that the onscreen keyboard was slightly different than the first time, so that's part of the new firmware.

A cute video giving you the overview of the Fire TV Stick options plays.

So, you get to the home screen.  Along the left side is a column with various categories of content--video (you can watch the introductory video again from here), games, music, photos (that's a summary, it's more detailed).  Once you select a category, you can see the content under that category.  There's a separate menu item for Prime Video and then various categories of video available on Amazon--TV, movies, etc.  You can rent video, or buy it using the device.

I don't know if this is the same menu/home screen you get on Fire TV.  Perhaps Leslie or someone else that has both can weigh in.

The only thing so far that I can see that allows a download is games.  Some of the games apparently require the Amazon game controller.  I haven't tried any games yet, after the one I tried last night required the game controller.

The music works quite well; it shows the music in your Amazon library, Prime Music or purchased and you can select individual songs or start an album playing at the beginning. The music will keep playing if you go back to home to look at other options.  On the songs I tried, the lyrics would appear on the screen when I had the music in full screen mode.  When it finished the song, it automatically advanced to 

I'm very happy with my Stick so far---very easy to use.  I fell asleep last night playing with it so I haven't done much with the games (other than try one that it said I needed the controller for).  I'm playing some Dylan music while I explore, in prep for the concert we're going to next Tuesday.  Did I mention he's from Hibbing, my mom's hometown?

So, if I can get the voice remote for my Fire tablet so I don't have to have two more remotes in addition to my tablets that are on the table anyway (one for changing the input and the Stick remote).

More as I play with it.

Looking forward to hearing others' first impressions!

Betsy


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## SeymourKopath

Betsy, thanks for the first impressions report. It's going to be tough waiting till mid-January for mine to come. Maybe they'll show up in stores for the holidays.

Would you mind doing a quick experiment for me to confirm the lack of downloading capability on the Stick?

First, on your Fire tablet, go to Prime Instant Videos and find a movie or tv show that has the download icon. No need to download it. Just make sure it *can be* downloaded.
Then, on your TV with the Stick installed, find the same movie or tv show and see if it has the download icon. If it does, select that icon and see if it does, in fact, download. If it doesn't have the download icon, then that pretty much confirms that we can't download videos to the Stick, even though the same video can be downloaded to a Fire tablet.

Thanks. I really appreciate it.


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## Betsy the Quilter

OK, will check.  Didn't see any download icons in Video though they were prominent in apps. And there was no mention of download capability of anything but apps in the user guide. 

Doesn't mean it won't be added at some point in the future.

I'll do the specific check you've asked for in a little bit.


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## CegAbq

Seymour - I'm supposed to get my Stick today and I'm wondering the exact same thing. 
I only have the original Fire so cannot d'l any Prime content that I haven't rented or purchases, so I'm really hoping I can d'l to the Stick.


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## Betsy the Quilter

While I'm looking at the possibilities of downloads on my Fire HDX for Carol and SeymourKopath, I noticed that it now says on Movie pages "Watch on TV Stick"  below the Watch Now (which would allow watching on the current device).  If you tap on the main part of the "Watch on TV Stick" button, it'll start playing immediately on the TV Stick.  And there's a dropdown menu button on the right that gives you options to Buy and watch on a device or Fire TV.

Back in a bit with more...

Betsy


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## SeymourKopath

CegAbq said:


> Seymour - I'm supposed to get my Stick today and I'm wondering the exact same thing.
> I only have the original Fire so cannot d'l any Prime content that I haven't rented or purchases, so I'm really hoping I can d'l to the Stick.


CeqAbq, The X Files tv show episodes can be downloaded to my Fire HD. That would be an example to check to see if it can be downloaded to the Stick. Thanks for testing this.


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## Betsy the Quilter

SeymourKopath said:


> CeqAbq, The X Files tv show episodes can be downloaded to my Fire HD. That would be an example to check to see if it can be downloaded to the Stick. Thanks for testing this.


I tried downloading a movie I own, Gladiator. These are the screens on my Fire HDX and on the TV screen using Fire TV:

The first one clearly shows I can download the movie I own to my HDX.










The second one has no download options, though it clearly recognizes I own it (see upper right hand corner). Tapping "Watch Now" starts the video onscreen.










I also checked some TV shows that I downloaded to my HDX to take to England with me in September, so I know they worked. (And I checked, I can still download them to the HDX.)

Here's the screen for one of the episodes on Fire TV:










There were more watch options shown in the above pic. Selecting that brings up this screen, still no download options:










Since last night, I've been looking through all the information online and all of the screens on the Stick and the only thing I've seen any mention of downloading are games. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think so. 

Now, if one can download to a Fire, presumably one could then mirror them to the Stick.

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter

To mirror, (menu options as on my Fire HDX):

Go to settings (swipe down from top to get menu bar)

Select Display and Sounds (down a little ways on the menu)

Select Display Mirroring.

If your Fire TV is plugged in and connected to your network, you should see it listed under Devices.  Tap on that and you'll get a message that it is connecting and the TV screen will say that mirroring is about to start.

Betsy


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## SeymourKopath

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I tried downloading a movie I own, Gladiator. These are the screens on my Fire HDX and on the TV screen using Fire TV:
> 
> The first one clearly shows I can download the movie I own to my HDX
> 
> The second one has no download options, though it clearly recognizes I own it (see upper right hand corner).
> 
> I also checked some TV shows that I downloaded to my HDX to take to England with me in September, so I know they worked.
> 
> Here's the screen for one of the episodes on Fire TV:
> 
> There were more watch options shown in the above pic. Selecting that brings up this screen, still no download options:
> 
> Since last night, I've been looking through all the information online and all of the screens on the Stick and the only thing I've seen any mention of downloading are games. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think so.


Bummer. Thank you very much for checking that out. Maybe down the road, a future firmware update will add the downloading capability. One can always hope.



> Now, if one can download to a Fire, presumably one could then mirror them to the Stick.


True. But my hope was with downloading to the Stick I could free up space on my Fire for other stuff, like Spotify music downloads.


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## CegAbq

SeymourKopath said:


> Bummer. Thank you very much for checking that out. Maybe down the road, a future firmware update will add the downloading capability. One can always hope.
> True. But my hope was with downloading to the Stick I could free up space on my Fire for other stuff, like Spotify music downloads.


Yeah, real bummer. I was hoping to be able to travel with Prime movies on the Stick that I hadn't purchased.

I think I remember that when the Fire HDs were first released, one could not download Prime content and then when the HDXs were released, Amazon allowed dl to the HDs as well but not to the original Fires.
So maybe they could decide to let movies be dl'd to the Stick eventually.

Ah well. Overall, it remains to be seen what use I'll have for this. As someone else said (maybe Ann) - the 2 that I ordered could well wind up being presents.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Bear in mind, at 8GB, there's not much storage for videos, even if you use SD quality.  Maybe enough for a few videos at SD.

Betsy


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## Daniel Cane

Yes. I would think it's for apps and buffering.


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## CegAbq

Totally think I have too many gadgets  .
Got my Fire Stick today and set it up this evening. (And yes, thank goodness for the Android Remote app).
To be honest  I haven't done a lot with it - just initial intro and looking around a bit, checked out my AIV watchlist, list of new Prime video content, etc.
Everything worked great and was easy to set up. (Still a bit bummed that I can't d'l some video content.)

BUT … my home has 2 smart TVs and a TiVo. I get all of the content from the Smart TVs that is available on the Stick. The TiVo has a partnership with Xfinity/Comcast (which is my ISP) and I can get everything that Xfinity offers on the smart TV that is connected to my TiVo box.

Now that one can also access Prime videos on Android tablets (of which I have too many), then I'm having to think about what the Stick gives me over the other "thingys". One thing I can think of is if I'm travelling somewhere & am with other people who also want to watch something, I could connect the Stick to their TV and access the content while away from home. … However, one of my high-resolution tablets has an HDMI-out port, so that could just be connected up instead of the Stick.

But I've got 2 daughters who might be able make some use of the Stick (Son already has a Chromecast).

We'll just have to see. But, again, I do think I have too many gadgets  .


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## Ann in Arlington

CegAbq said:


> Totally think I have too many gadgets .
> Got my Fire Stick today and set it up this evening. (And yes, thank goodness for the Android Remote app).
> To be honest I haven't done a lot with it - just initial intro and looking around a bit, checked out my AIV watchlist, list of new Prime video content, etc.
> Everything worked great and was easy to set up. (Still a bit bummed that I can't d'l some video content.)
> 
> BUT ... my home has 2 smart TVs and a TiVo. I get all of the content from the Smart TVs that is available on the Stick. The TiVo has a partnership with Xfinity/Comcast (which is my ISP) and I can get everything that Xfinity offers on the smart TV that is connected to my TiVo box.
> 
> Now that one can also access Prime videos on Android tablets (of which I have too many), then I'm having to think about what the Stick gives me over the other "thingys". One thing I can think of is if I'm travelling somewhere & am with other people who also want to watch something, I could connect the Stick to their TV and access the content while away from home. ... However, one of my high-resolution tablets has an HDMI-out port, so that could just be connected up instead of the Stick.
> 
> But I've got 2 daughters who might be able make some use of the Stick (Son already has a Chromecast).
> 
> We'll just have to see. But, again, I do think I have too many gadgets .


You can also access Prime videos via the TiVo -- I've done so. So, like you, I'm not sure what good, really, the stick will be. I've not even taken it out of the box yet, actually. I'm thinking of giving it to the Boy for Christmas -- but he's got an old TV so I'm not sure it would even work. I don't know that he does much movie watching and I know he's got hundreds of thousands of songs on his iThings and via Pandora and Spotify. 

Ah well. . . . it was only $20. I'd actually be amenable to selling it -- call it $25 to cover what it costs to mail it to you -- if anyone would prefer NOT to wait until January.


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## Leslie

I am sorry if this is a really dumb question but...can you plug the Fire Stick into a HDMI port on a computer and have it work? Or does it have to be connected to a TV?

L


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## Daniel Cane

I like it, but there's one big flaw. The remote. It is so small that I have a hard time with it. I thought it was just me, but my wife has trouble too and her hands are small.

Anyone use the other remote with it? Is it bigger? Think it would be worth buying?


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## The Hooded Claw

Daniel Cane said:


> I like it, but there's one big flaw. The remote. It is so small that I have a hard time with it. I thought it was just me, but my wife has trouble too and her hands are small.
> 
> Anyone use the other remote with it? Is it bigger? Think it would be worth buying?


I'm not one of The Elect who has a Fire Stick (sounds like a black powder rifle!). But my understanding is that you can use an app on most recent Kindle Fires to control it. And probably some smart phones, but I don't know specifics.


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## Dragle

I finally had time today to set mine up and I like it!   I added PBS and the History Channel apps-- I only subscribe to very basic cable with just the network stations, so it's great to have access to more channels for free. I haven't looked yet to see what all others are available as they are mixed in with a bunch of games. Might be easier to search Amazon with the browser on my computer than to keep scrolling through everything on the TV.

As for the size of the remote, it's fine for my hands (average sized).  I haven't looked into getting the Fire remote app yet. If someone gets it, please post if it's worth getting.


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## Ann in Arlington

Leslie said:


> I am sorry if this is a really dumb question but...can you plug the Fire Stick into a HDMI port on a computer and have it work? Or does it have to be connected to a TV?
> 
> L


If I was understanding correctly, it has to be a TV.

But I could be wrong . . . . . I admit I didn't read very closely once I'd decided it wasn't something I needed.


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## Ann in Arlington

The Hooded Claw said:


> I'm not one of The Elect who has a Fire Stick (sounds like a black powder rifle!). But my understanding is that you can use an app on most recent Kindle Fires to control it. And probably some smart phones, but I don't know specifics.


Yes there's a 'remote Fire Stick' app . . . . .different one for Fires and for android phones. App for iThings coming, apparently.


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## Leslie

My FireTV Stick arrived today. I am sitting here and looking at the unopened box.

I have a Fire TV that I like, and use quite a bit. Is there anything the Stick can do different from the TV?

I will admit, I was one of the impulse $19 buyers and now I am wondering what I am going to do with this. At the moment, we only have one TV set up in the house. However, my daughter will be coming home from college soon and it might be worth it to set up a second TV with the Stick for her to use (and not take over our space all the time).

Comments and thoughts are welcome!

L


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## SeymourKopath

I picked up the Fire TV Stick from Best Buy this morning. Interesting experience there. I had ordered it last night for pick-up at the store today. I went to the designated service counter and the gentleman took my info and handed me my order. Nice and easy, right? As I'm walking around the store, I took a closer look at the package and realized I had been given an Amazon Fire TV (the separate box device)! I'm sure I could've walked out the store with it, but I wasn't going to do that, so I went back to the counter and ended up with the Stick I had ordered and paid for.

Next, I wanted to see where the Sticks were stocked. Found them near the wall display of TVs. In a stand-alone cardboard display with Amazon Fire TV Stick all over it were almost 50 units (I counted them). Then I got to thinking ... suppose every Best Buy in the US got 50 Sticks. I just checked and Best Buy has just over 1000 stores in the US

(http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MjYwMDUyfENoaWxkSUQ9LTF8VHlwZT0z&t=1).

That means Amazon sent Best Buy about 50,000 Sticks to sell from Day 1, while making individual customers wait almost 2 months if they wanted to get it directly from Amazon. That doesn't sit well with me.

On to the device itself. My wife and I found the battery compartment on the remote incredibly difficult to open so we could put the batteries in. We pushed and pulled and squeezed and prodded and finally got it open when she stuck a fingernail into the seam on the back of the remote while simultaneously pressing in both sides. I think I know my way around electronics pretty well, but this was ridiculous. Maybe we got a bad piece.

Got home, plugged it into the tv, plugged in the usb cable and the ac adapter, turned on the tv and voila. The remote was recognized immediately. Our home network was identified immediately and after entering our network password, it started downloading a software update. When that was done, it automagically rebooted and after entering our network password again, played a silly orientation video. Once that was done, it was time to get down to some serious testing.

First thing was registering the device. A simple matter of entering our Amazon login credentials.

Downloaded the PBS and Crackle apps and played a few videos from them with no issues. Went to Prime Instant Videos next. I'm not crazy about how the Watchlist is not separated between Movies and TV the way it is on my Fire HD. It's all one jumble. That got me looking into the two ways to start a video on my Fire and watch it on my TV.

The first method is called Mirroring. The instructions in the User Guide tell me to look in my Fire HD's settings > Display & Sounds and tap on Display Mirroring. Well, my Fire HD doesn't have a Display Mirroring for me to tap on, so this method won't work for me. At least for now. Seems like this technology is not supported on my old dinosaur. 

The second method is called Second Screen. This method is limited to displaying Amazon Instant Video movies or TV shows or photos and personal videos. This method worked well.

I would prefer to use Mirroring since it sounds like *anything* on the Fire's display can be mirrored on the TV, not just AIVs, photos and personal videos. Oh well.

Music played with no issues. Both Prime Music and my personal selections that I had uploaded to the cloud.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with it so far, despite some early hiccups. It's nice that our dumb tv has now been upgraded to a smart tv with the addition of the Stick.

I'll try to answer any questions about the user experience that are posted here.


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## Betsy the Quilter

A couple things---

Perhaps you got a bad remote--I was able to open mine to put batteries in by just pushing on the battery case back with my thumb and it opened quite easily.

And for those that buy from Amazon, the Stick comes pre-registered to your account, so I didn't have to register it, though it seems to me it might have asked me if I was me. 

I'm glad to see the remote app is now available--downloading it now!

And yes, Mirroring shows anything on the Fire's screen.  In fact, once the device connects via Mirroring, you see the settings screen on your TV.

Oh, and I enjoyed the video. 

Betsy


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## CegAbq

SeymourKopath said:


> ... found the battery compartment on the remote incredibly difficult to open so we could put the batteries in. We pushed and pulled and squeezed and prodded and finally got it open when she stuck a fingernail into the seam on the back of the remote while simultaneously pressing in both sides. I think I know my way around electronics pretty well, but this was ridiculous. Maybe we got a bad piece.


I had the exact same experience with the battery door on my remote. Thought I was going to damage/scratch the plastic/break the door trying to get it open.


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## Dragle

I had just as much trouble getting the battery cover off!   I think it'll be easier next time though, now that I broke its spirit.    

It automatically dl'd and installed the update, and it did ask if I was me and wanted to use my account or if I wanted to register to a different account. 

I like this much better than how I've been streaming by connecting my tablet to the TV.  I didn't realize how much I'd like this thing, and I haven't even checked out all its features. 

After playing with it, I was marveling at where we are tech-wise these days, remembering back when I got my first computer and connected to Compuserve on a 300 baud modem.  I could keep up with reading the text as it appeared and crawled across the screen.


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## Toby

The Fire TV App that I downloaded was only for Android devices. Which App did you use that works?


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## Betsy the Quilter

I think it was updated...it's still the only one I see...



Betsy


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## ireadbooks

Yes, Toby, it's the same app but it's been updated to work on the Fire. 

Posting from my shiny new Nexus 7


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## booklover888

I couldn't get the battery cover off, either. DH did it somehow.

He has tested the Fire Stick more than I have. He says it is nowhere as good as his Roku 3. (I reminded him he's not supposed to compare it to that). Tonight will be the true test (comparing it to the Ruku Stick) when we watch the live stream pay per view on the WWE network.


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## Daniel Cane

Don't think that app will work with my 1st. generation Kindle Fire. That would be too heavy anyways.
Don't have a smart phone.
The voice remote looks like it is rounded around the back and would be easier to hold. Not sure if that would make it easier to use than the original one.


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## krm0789

Can you only mirror from Fires (not other devices)? I still have a 1/6 ship date & if I see a good deal on a Chromecast in the meantime, I'm jumping ship

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## SeymourKopath

krm0789 said:


> Can you only mirror from Fires (not other devices)? I still have a 1/6 ship date & if I see a good deal on a Chromecast in the meantime, I'm jumping ship


I copied this from the Stick's user guide:

"You can mirror your display most phones or tablets that are Miracast capable. Some capable devices
include:
• Fire phone
• Fire HDX tablet
• Fire HD 6
• Fire HD 7
• Devices running Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) or higher. Performance may vary."

If you have a Best Buy near you, check them out. I purchased my Stick from them last Saturday morning. They had about 50 of them in stock. This morning I cancelled my order with Amazon that had a mid-January delivery date.


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## Betsy the Quilter

It seems to me there was a review of someone trying to mirror with a non Fire device, and it was supposed to be able to but they couldn't quite get it to work.  But that was a few days ago--before the Fire version became available.

Betsy


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## SeymourKopath

I keep bringing up Best Buy. I noticed that they have the Stick on sale today for $24.99. 

I just called their customer service to take advantage of their price match guarantee and will be receiving a credit back to my credit card for the $15.00 difference between the $39.99 I paid on Saturday and today's sales price, plus the 90-cent difference in sales tax.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Yay, Seymour!

Betsy


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## krm0789

SeymourKopath said:


> I copied this from the Stick's user guide:
> 
> "You can mirror your display most phones or tablets that are Miracast capable. Some capable devices
> include:
> - Fire phone
> - Fire HDX tablet
> - Fire HD 6
> - Fire HD 7
> - Devices running Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) or higher. Performance may vary."
> 
> If you have a Best Buy near you, check them out. I purchased my Stick from them last Saturday morning. They had about 50 of them in stock. This morning I cancelled my order with Amazon that had a mid-January delivery date.


Thanks, guys. So maybe my phone but probably not my iPad. I'll wait for now...

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## SeymourKopath

OK, tonight I'm having my first significant issue with the Stick. No Amazon Prime Instant Videos are loading/running via the Stick, although I can run these videos on my Fire HD and, by using Second Screen, show them on my TV. Also, non AIVs, such as PBS programming accessed through the PBS app, are working directly via the Stick.

Anyone else having this problem tonight? Any suggestions what might be causing it, and what I might do to resolve the problem before calling customer support?


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## Betsy the Quilter

I'm not home but will check in about half an hour.  Did you try unplugging and re plugging?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## CegAbq

Haven't used mine since the initial effort.
Had ordered 2 on the sale days (for $19 each). Got the first one, second was due to ship 12/11 - decided to cancel that order.
Will keep the first one around for travelling or for a kid to borrow when visiting.
I think it's a great gadget for someone who has a "dumb" TV with an HDMI port & good WiFi.
(Question - haven't bough a new TV in 3-4 years - can one buy a dumb TV these days?) Don't mean to be snobbish here - just truly wondering. Probably it's like buying a "dumb" phone - can be done - with some effort.

But I will continue to be interested in other's impressions. Did read somewhere someone mentioning using their Chromecast to broadcast other things (music, for example) and not tie up a tablet, so I might be able to explore that idea some.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Yes, it's possible--we have two dumb TVs; one we bought a couple years ago and one we bought this summer.  With all of my gadgets, didn't seem a need to spend the extra money for a SmartTV.

Soon as hubby stops watching CNN, I'll play around with my Fire Stick.

I thought we were supposed to be able to "Fling" to the Stick and then still use the tablet....haven't seen it, don't know if that's "coming soon" or not.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington

So . . . seriously . . . . . I'm not going to be using the one I bought.  I'll be returning it to Amazon unless someone who is waiting would like to buy it.  PM me. 

***No PROBLEMS with it -- it's still in the box it came it -- it just doesn't add anything to what we already have.


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## SeymourKopath

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I'm not home but will check in about half an hour. Did you try unplugging and re plugging?


Unplugging the ac power supply seems to have fixed the problem. Seems like, just as with most of our other electronics, the TV Stick might need to be "reset" every now and then.


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## SeymourKopath

CegAbq said:


> Question - haven't bough a new TV in 3-4 years - can one buy a dumb TV these days?) Don't mean to be snobbish here - just truly wondering. Probably it's like buying a "dumb" phone - can be done - with some effort.


We've had a dumb tv for about 7-8 years. That's what our TV Stick is plugged into now. But we're getting a bright new shiny smart tv on Friday. During my research into tvs I found that many models came in two flavors with the only difference being one was a dumb tv and the other was a smart tv. The difference in price between the 2 flavors ranged from about $30 to $80. For the model we selected, the difference was only $30, so we elected to go with the smart version.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Great!  I had an early problem with the firmware update and the device itself suggested I unplug and plug in.  

Glad you got it working, by the time we got home and hubbby went to bed, I was too tired to play.

Betsy


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## cinisajoy

Yes they still sell dumb TVs and stupid phones.    Though in a recent survey of 13 people,  there were 12 smart phones and one stupid phone.  That is what my husband calls his phone.  He loves it.
He uses it for calls only.


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## Dragle

I had something interesting happen with the FireTV stick yesterday.  

Background info: My TV and internet are both on cable. I have a fairly new router with the usual 2.4GHz band and also a 5GHz band, which I hadn't set up since my laptop and older tablet couldn't use it, but the TV stick can use it and the 2 bands don't interfere with each other, so your other devices still get all the 2.4G bandwidth while you watch TV on the 5G band. 

Problem: yesterday I set up the 5G band network and connected to it with the TV stick. It worked great, shows would start playing immediately and smoothly without seeing any buffering.  So then later I was watching regular cable TV and every minute (or every 2 minutes? I looked at the clock and it was always at the same Seconds reading), I got interference with pixelation and sound interruption for a second or two. It was like that all day, no matter what channel I put it on.  I went into the Stick settings and told it to go to sleep mode, though I know the guide says it keeps checking for updates even while in sleep mode.  And the TV glitches continued anyway.

Work-around: So, last night I told the TV stick to "forget" the 5G network and it re-connected to the regular 2.4G network.  The problem stopped immediately and didn't return, so I feel sure it was the FireTV stick doing something. My Fire HD8.9 can connect to 5G so I did that and used the internet while the TV was on and there was no interference.  So maybe the Stick being plugged directly into the TV has something to do with it? Scratching head. 

Anyone else using the stick on a 5G wifi connection on your cable modem, having any problems?


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## Toby

I haven't gotten my stick yet, but I'm getting nervous about using it with all the problems mentioned here. Also, I haven't had a chance yet to read all about it as I just got my email today from Amazon, but do you have to have the stick plugged into an outlet for the stick to work?


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## Betsy the Quilter

Toby--

just reread the thread and I don't really see many problems.  I haven't had any with mine; setup overall went smoothly.  There was one problem with accessing Prime Videos but unplugging and plugging it in resolved that.  

Dragle's 5G issue is kind of unusual...but I think if you just let your Stick install on its own, you'll be fine.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington

I was thinking what Betsy said: I don't see too many real problems shared. 

You do need POWER for the thing, to answer your other question. The Zon recommends plugging it into a wall outlet, but some have said the USB port on their TV provides enough power to run it. You also, it seems, need a wifi network -- it can't be connected with an ethernet cable.


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## CegAbq

Ann in Arlington said:


> I was thinking what Betsy said: I don't see too many real problems shared.
> 
> You do need POWER for the thing, to answer your other question. The Zon recommends plugging it into a wall outlet, but some have said the USB port on their TV provides enough power to run it. You also, it seems, need a wifi network -- it can't be connected with an ethernet cable.


The power from my TV was not enough to power the Stick - but that isn't a "problem" - just part of my TV (which is a 26-inche-Vizio purchased 3years ago).


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## Toby

Thanks!  I'll stop worrying. If my TV doesn't charge the Stick while it's plugged in, & I can't find an outlet nearby the TV to plug it in to charge, can I just take out the stick from the TV & plug in elsewhere to charge?


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## CegAbq

Toby said:


> Thanks! I'll stop worrying. If my TV doesn't charge the Stick while it's plugged in, & I can't find an outlet nearby the TV to plug it in to charge, can I just take out the stick from the TV & plug in elsewhere to charge?


I don't think it's a matter of charging it up - I don't think the Stick has any power of its own. So either your TV can power it through the HDMI port or you have to plug in the AC adapter - my TV's HDMI ports don't seem to have enough (probably not even any) power for the Stick, so I had to use the AC adapter.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Toby said:


> Thanks! I'll stop worrying. If my TV doesn't charge the Stick while it's plugged in, & I can't find an outlet nearby the TV to plug it in to charge, can I just take out the stick from the TV & plug in elsewhere to charge?


As CegAbq says, you have to have it plugged in, it's not chargable.

There must be an outlet close enough to the TV to plug the TV in, right? Even before the Fire Stick, I used a power strip to plug my TV into, as I don't want a power surge to take my TV out. If you're not using one, I recommend it. And then you could plug the Stick in, too. The power cable that comes with the Stick is plenty long--just short of five feet, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Betsy


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## Toby

Thanks Betsy, that's a great suggestion. CegAbq, thanks.


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## CegAbq

Just found this review on Gotta Be Mobile 
It's a pretty good review.


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## Toby

Thanks for the link! I haven't had time to try mine yet. At least now, I get a felling for what to expect.


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## luvshihtzu

I finally got my Fire Stick today and have spent the last three hours trying to open the back of the remote and put in the batteries.  My husband (a computer repair person) kept telling me I was doing it wrong, but he couldn't do anything with it.  I finally used a knife blade to open it just enough so I could slide the thicker upper knife top in and it finally pushed the tiny latch (in the middle) down and the case popped open.  Later, when I get over my anger with the opening the remote, I will try the Fire Stick out on my Sony HD Plasma TV.  Wonder how many people are going to send this device back to Amazon with the opening the remote problem.


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## CegAbq

luvshihtzu said:


> Later, when I get over my anger with the opening the remote


YEP!!! It was a b**ch to get open for me.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Wow...I know people have said they had problems...I must have been lucky...

Betsy


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## KindleGirl

One of mine opened with just a little trouble, the other took about 10 minutes of constant trying. I thought it was just me. Glad to know I'm not as dumb as I felt.


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## Leslie

My daughter came home from college yesterday (for good--she's finished, hooray!) and happened to mention that she has heard the Fire TV stick is great. HINT HINT. Since I still have the $19 one I bought sitting here unopened, I quickly wrapped it and put a label on...another Christmas gift taken care of.

Go me!

L


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## booklover888

I was not satisfied with my Fire TV Stick, so I sold it and ordered the Fire TV box. I do like the interface and the remote.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Booklover, what did you not like about the Stick that the Fire TV box does?  Just curious, as I don't have a Box.

Betsy


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## booklover888

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Booklover, what did you not like about the Stick that the Fire TV box does? Just curious, as I don't have a Box.
> 
> Betsy


Well I also have a Roku stick. Both of them have issues that the Roku 3 does not. So I think having a box with better specs is the way to go for streaming media.

For the Fire Stick, the issue was the WWE Network. It quit showing videos. The Roku Stick shows them but sometimes stutters and repeats. The Roku 3 runs it flawlessly. So comparing the specs of the Fire Box, I expect it will work flawlessly, too. My DH is a lifelong fan of WWE so it is important to have a device that will stream the live matches and the videos without issues.


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## Betsy the Quilter

booklover888 said:


> Well I also have a Roku stick. Both of them have issues that the Roku 3 does not. So I think having a box with better specs is the way to go for streaming media.
> 
> For the Fire Stick, the issue was the WWE Network. It quit showing videos. The Roku Stick shows them but sometimes stutters and repeats. The Roku 3 runs it flawlessly. So comparing the specs of the Fire Box, I expect it will work flawlessly, too. My DH is a lifelong fan of WWE so it is important to have a device that will stream the live matches and the videos without issues.


Thanks! Yes, not much point to using a device that won't show the content you want to watch.


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## Andra

So we set up our Fire TV Stick last night.  It was pretty easy, especially since we also have several Chromecasts in the house.  The video welcome was a little annoying, but short enough that I didn't walk out of the room.
What was especially neat for us was discovering that we could get to our Plex server via the stick.  That is HUGE because to use it with the Chromecast requires a phone or tablet and then you don't have decent controls over whatever you are watching.  That is, if you pause a show, it might not come back up or it might be in a different place when you come back.  Based on very limited testing last night, it looks like the Plex is implemented better and is more user-friendly with the stick.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Andra said:


> So we set up our Fire TV Stick last night. It was pretty easy, especially since we also have several Chromecasts in the house. The video welcome was a little annoying, but short enough that I didn't walk out of the room.
> What was especially neat for us was discovering that we could get to our Plex server via the stick. That is HUGE because to use it with the Chromecast requires a phone or tablet and then you don't have decent controls over whatever you are watching. That is, if you pause a show, it might not come back up or it might be in a different place when you come back. Based on very limited testing last night, it looks like the Plex is implemented better and is more user-friendly with the stick.


I must be the only one who liked the video welcome. 

What's a Plex server? Off to do research....

Betsy


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## LauraElizabeth

I am impatiently waiting for UPS to bring my Fire Stick today. Why I am so impatient I do not know as the original ship date was Jan 15th.....then a couple of days ago they emailed to say it was shipping early.

I have been using a dongle to mirror AIV and Netflix from my Fire HDX...I ordered the Fire Stick so I can use my Fire and watch something at the same time.


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## booklover888

So far, the Fire TV BOX is working great with the WWE Network. No issues at all. I'm glad I made the swap!


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## CegAbq

Betsy the Quilter said:


> What's a Plex server? Off to do research....
> 
> Betsy


Besty, I'd be very interested in learning about your research; I'm trying to figure out what the hardware requirements are? Specifically would I need another computer or just a large-capacity external hard-drive.


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## LauraElizabeth

My Fire Stick did finally arrive last night.
It was very easy to set up.
I was sick today and it got lots of use as I was in bed all day watching movies.
I used it with Amazon Instant Video, Netflix and Hulu+...all went well.
I loved using the voice feature via the app on my Fire.


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## Betsy the Quilter

booklover888 said:


> So far, the Fire TV BOX is working great with the WWE Network. No issues at all. I'm glad I made the swap!


Yay! Thanks for reporting back. Glad it's working great.

Betsy


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## Andra

CegAbq said:


> Besty, I'd be very interested in learning about your research; I'm trying to figure out what the hardware requirements are? Specifically would I need another computer or just a large-capacity external hard-drive.


We have a Synology NAS device on our network. I think it has several terabytes with mirrored hard drives. I will try to get better explanation and specs from DH if you want.


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## CegAbq

Andra said:


> We have a Synology NAS device on our network. I think it has several terabytes with mirrored hard drives. I will try to get better explanation and specs from DH if you want.


Thanks. I'm mainly trying to understand the setup. I'd love more info - but I don't want to trouble anyone if all I really need to do is google and read, read, read.


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## Dragle

Just an update on my Fire stick problems with the TV.  I've had to resort to removing it from the TV when I'm not using it.  When plugged in it keeps interfering with the TV signal, causing pixelation and audio cut-out once or twice a minute.   Using the little HDMI extender connector that came with it seems to help decrease the frequency and intensity of the interference, but the only way to completely eliminate the problem is to disconnect it from the TV.


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## CegAbq

Dragle said:


> Just an update on my Fire stick problems with the TV. I've had to resort to removing it from the TV when I'm not using it. When plugged in it keeps interfering with the TV signal, causing pixelation and audio cut-out once or twice a minute.  Using the little HDMI extender connector that came with it seems to help decrease the frequency and intensity of the interference, but the only way to completely eliminate the problem is to disconnect it from the TV.


That's interesting to hear; I haven't used mine much because I was trying to decide whether I'm gifting it and I've got a smart TV plus a TiVo, so I haven't really needed it here at home. Had been thinking that if I used it, it would probably be for traveling and going to other folks houses.


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## Tripp

I got mine just before Christmas and because I was so busy, I didn't have much time to try it out.  I had similar problems getting the back off the remote (glad I wasn't the only one).  I found the introductory video annoying as well.  

So far, I am loving it.  We have the Chromecast stick on the TV downstairs and the Fire stick in the TV upstairs.  Because both sticks exclude some content the other has, I feel like we have the best of both worlds.  

I have not tried my music yet, but will probably test it out today.  I have some wireless headphones connected to the upstairs TV, so should be able to use those and work around the house.  

Has anyone noticed that the soundtrack and the image is not always in sync?  It has happened to me a bit, but I will notice later that the sound would "catch up" and all was on track.  It is a little complaint and except for that, I am very pleased with it.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Dragle said:


> Just an update on my Fire stick problems with the TV. I've had to resort to removing it from the TV when I'm not using it. When plugged in it keeps interfering with the TV signal, causing pixelation and audio cut-out once or twice a minute.  Using the little HDMI extender connector that came with it seems to help decrease the frequency and intensity of the interference, but the only way to completely eliminate the problem is to disconnect it from the TV.


I keep mine in all the time and haven't had this kind of problem. (Although I do get some audio cutouts, but it's usually just after I've started playing a recorded program on my FiOS DVR; not sure I can tie it to the Fire Stick. Have to disconnect the stick and see.

I have a Vizio TV with only two HDMI ports; one on the bottom and one on the side--they're not close together. Don't know if that makes a difference. Do you have a different port you can try it on, Dragle? The fact that the extender helps makes me wonder if changing the location (if you can) would help.

Betsy


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## Dragle

I did try it in the other HDMI port and still had the issue, but the two ports are right next to each other.
I finally contacted CS about it, and they are sending me another one. They aren't sure if it's defective or if there is a "compatibility" problem with my TV.  He did say that he wasn't aware of anyone else having this problem.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Let us know if the new one makes a difference!

Betsy


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## Dragle

Update: I got the new stick today and set it up.  It still had the exact same problem.  I found a setting in my TV's menu where you could tell it to turn off any ports not in use 10 seconds after switching inputs. I turned that setting on, but it didn't seem to help. Tried both HDMI ports again.

My brother stopped by later and he fiddled with it.  One thing that helped was when he held the stick, connected via the little short cable, out away from the TV and thus away from the cable input connector.  I got out the duct tape and taped it up toward the top of the TV so that it was held as far as possible away from the cable input and that seems to have pretty much eliminated the problem.  I'm thinking I might get a longer HDMI extension cable so I can move it even further away, but I'll wait and see how well it does like this.

So it wasn't that particular Fire stick.  It may be my TV (a Panasonic) not having good shielding between inputs, or just the configuration of how they are laid out, or maybe even the power supplies being plugged into the same strip (can't test that unless I find a long extension cord).


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## HappyGuy

Mine has shipped. Yay! Due in Friday.


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## MagentaSunset

_Ours is due to arrive on 1/6 (date moved up from 1/9). We love the Fire TV box. We have had zero issues with it and set-up was a snap. _


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## D/W

_(No longer free as of Feb. 2)_

This Kindle e-book is FREE today: Amazon Fire TV Stick Made Easy: A comprehensive step-by-step user guide for Amazon's Fire TV Stick.


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## Toby

Thanks! I'm Glad that I checked this thread tonight.


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## CegAbq

DreamWeaver said:


> This Kindle e-book is FREE today


Thanks a bunch. I saw it listed in another place but not one where it gave the price - so I hadn't checked it out. Usually I just read lots of forum talks about tips and tricks - but it will be nice to have something in one place.


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