Amazon Echo - anyone have one?

Skillmister · 1 Dec 2017 at 08:11

Just switched around to have my Dot in the bedroom and then Echo in whatever room I'm DIYing at the moment for music. Dot speaker is acceptable for my sleep timer'd Classic FM on a night

Microphone doesn't seem to pick up my voice as well as the Echo though, took 3 Alexa's to turn off my alarm this morning.

Robert · 4 Dec 2017 at 09:38

Looking to get a second gen echo...pretty sure it'll have been asked a thousand times, but is it worth going Google Home vs echo?

scratch · 5 Dec 2017 at 09:05

Skillmister said:
Microphone doesn't seem to pick up my voice as well as the Echo though, took 3 Alexa's to turn off my alarm this morning.

That surprises me as I picked up a Dot on Black Friday and can literally whisper commands to it from the other side of the room 5 metres away.

Skillmister · 5 Dec 2017 at 11:19

scratch said:
That surprises me as I picked up a Dot on Black Friday and can literally whisper commands to it from the other side of the room 5 metres away.

Sounds like mine could be faulty then. I pretty much had to shout at it this morning!

the-evaluator · 5 Dec 2017 at 11:26

But the Dot probably isn't making a noise loud enough the wake you up at the same time as you're whispering at it.

the-evaluator · 5 Dec 2017 at 11:26

Skillmister said:
Sounds like mine could be faulty then. I pretty much had to shout at it this morning!

Mine are the same. All 5 of them. I've stopped using them for alarms or timers.

D3K · 5 Dec 2017 at 11:27

Anyone noticed a change in Alexa's "OK" response? She sounds very flat compared to the previous tone.

the-evaluator · 5 Dec 2017 at 12:26

Yes. I thought it sounded very downbeat when turing on the lights yesterday evening.

Kenai · 5 Dec 2017 at 22:29

Picked up a bunch of Ikea smart bulbs, they connected to the Plus no problem and can change brightness and from cool white to warm white but Alexa can't set it to a colour yet it seems (yes they are colour bulbs not just white bulbs

)

edit - nvm, i was confused by the colourful circle on the box, they all only change to different temperatures of white, that'll be why they're cheaper than hue

Nikumba · 6 Dec 2017 at 09:30

Kenai said:
Picked up a bunch of Ikea smart bulbs, they connected to the Plus no problem and can change brightness and from cool white to warm white but Alexa can't set it to a colour yet it seems (yes they are colour bulbs not just white bulbs)

edit - nvm, i was confused by the colourful circle on the box, they all only change to different temperatures of white, that'll be why they're cheaper than hue

The colour bulbs are available normally have to ask for them, but they only come with the little remote thing at the moment, but should be sold on their own next year

One More Solo · 14 Dec 2017 at 13:10

Can Alexa include connecting to a bluetooth speaker as part of a routine? The regular speaker is fine for most stuff but for listening to music in the living room I was going to create a routine of:

Switch AV input to aux (which has bluetooth receiver attached)
Connect Alexa to the bluetooth receiver

Martynt74 · 14 Dec 2017 at 15:59

The Echo Show is down to £130 now. I wonder if this is due to one of the main features (youtube) being removed?

The wife wanted the regular Echo for Christmas which i bought, but wondering whether i should return it for the show.

Flibster · 15 Dec 2017 at 14:55

There has been several 2 Echo Shows for £160 offers around recently too. £80 each is extremely good.

I now have 2 echo shows, one for the kitchen and one for the bedroom *with the camera obscured...* But they are presents for the other half.

Martynt74 · 15 Dec 2017 at 15:00

Wow, where have you seen those? I've not seen anything that cheap and for an extra £30 i'd much rather have 2!

Only previous deals i've seen were 2 for £300

pepp77 · 15 Dec 2017 at 15:06

One More Solo said:
Can Alexa include connecting to a bluetooth speaker as part of a routine? The regular speaker is fine for most stuff but for listening to music in the living room I was going to create a routine of:

Switch AV input to aux (which has bluetooth receiver attached)
Connect Alexa to the bluetooth receiver

Do you have a harmony. If so I have an activity on mine called Bluetooth, which turns my amp onto the bluetooth input, and as my dot is paired with it it autoconnects.

One More Solo · 15 Dec 2017 at 15:21

I have a Harmony but my amp hasn't got a bluetooth input so the bluetooth receiver is always on. Unfortunately the amp doesn't have a USB plug I could plug the receiver into either. It's a bit of a faff but I could connect the receiver to a smart plug I suppose.

pepp77 · 15 Dec 2017 at 15:23

Buy a new amp?

One More Solo · 15 Dec 2017 at 16:24

£20 smart plug versus potentially several hundred pound amp...

Lumeycom · 2 Jan 2018 at 16:44

Wondering if anyone could help with whether mrs alexa could do the following (I've not got one but I'm thinking it might solve an issue)

If I was to create a specific calendar with all my shifts in it could my wife ask it "What is bob working on 24th September" for example?

Martynt74 · 2 Jan 2018 at 16:47

I think the way to do it would be to create a work calendar and sync that to Alexa. Then your wife could just say

"Alexa - What's on my calendar on 24th September"

And she'd go through all the events, as my wife does that with her calendar.

What's currently annoying me is that you can't allocate the units to multiple groups. So if i have a group for downstairs for music playback, i can't then add those units to a "Entire House" group