Meta Portal

Vandle · 18 May 2022 at 07:43

Anyone got one of these? Did a search on here and couldn't find anything.

My mate was showing me a Meta TV Portal made by Facebook. Little camera type thing sits on his TV and he can use WhatsApp with it for video calls to his TV. It also tracks you around the room and auto zooms much in the same way as the old Xbox Kinect used to on Skype (which worked brilliantly). Does anyone have any experience with one? Seems very expensive for what it is but will be good for calling my family in the UK, parents are old and use Whatsapp for video calling and getting them to change will be close to impossible.

However after looking at the site there is actually an all in one system that I think could replace my echo show with a 10" screen for not much more than the camera on its own. Anyone used one of those? I have a echo show now on the top floor of my house and find it next to useless except for showing me who is at my front door. Seems Portal does this too as well as allowing you to use it as a photo frame - something the Echo promises but cant get it work. I don't use Alexa much and don't have Prime.

Jimbeam3678 · 18 May 2022 at 17:57

My concern would be having a camera and mic made by Facebook in your living room.

tres · 18 May 2022 at 21:39

Family have one, they like it, works well with WhatsApp video calling

Vandle · 19 May 2022 at 00:47

Jimbeam3678 said:
My concern would be having a camera and mic made by Facebook in your living room.

Yeah I get that. I don't think it would be any more intrusive than the Echo show would it? I have FB on my phone in any case that listen to me and suggests adverts based around what my conversations are which I seem to have grown into being ok with. Which is absurd really.

Anyone found a use for an Echo show??

Jimbeam3678 · 19 May 2022 at 12:27

I could be wrong but for me it comes down to to trust, for me I would if I would order the main players from most trustworthy to least trustworthy Facebook would be at the bottom

tres · 19 May 2022 at 23:00

Vandle said:
Yeah I get that. I don't think it would be any more intrusive than the Echo show would it? I have FB on my phone in any case that listen to me and suggests adverts based around what my conversations are which I seem to have grown into being ok with. Which is absurd really.

Anyone found a use for an Echo show??

Hasn't that been disproved multiple times?

Terminal_Boy · 3 Sep 2022 at 14:21

Anyone using a Meta Portal 10”?

How easy was it to set up?

Looking at one to keep in touch with the wife’s elderly parents as her dad already has a WhatsApp account on his iPhone and so does the rest of of the family.

Just want it for the video calling and it appears to be a lot less faff than the Echo Show which requires everyone to have Alexa apps.

Vandle · 4 Sep 2022 at 02:12

Terminal_Boy said:
Anyone using a Meta Portal 10”?

How easy was it to set up?

Looking at one to keep in touch with the wife’s elderly parents as her dad already has a WhatsApp account on his iPhone and so does the rest of of the family.

Just want it for the video calling and it appears to be a lot less faff than the Echo Show which requires everyone to have Alexa apps.

Yeah I ended up getting one. Dead easy to set up if you already have whatsapp. Works brilliant for video calls. That’s all I’ve managed to do on it though, not managed to put any photos on or link it to my ring doorbell yet but that’s mostly due to my issues with my amazon log in.

Rroff · 4 Sep 2022 at 02:28

tres said:
Hasn't that been disproved multiple times?

It has... but personally I still call BS - occasionally I've had the Facebook app or Netflix app installed with microphone permissions (usually I don't) and started seeing ads for specific products or brands, etc. which I never do normally, after being part of or around conversations about those products or brands. Far too often to be coincidence.

Terminal_Boy · 4 Sep 2022 at 09:53

Vandle said:
Yeah I ended up getting one. Dead easy to set up if you already have whatsapp. Works brilliant for video calls. That’s all I’ve managed to do on it though, not managed to put any photos on or link it to my ring doorbell yet but that’s mostly due to my issues with my amazon log in.

Thanks, that’s all I need it for!

Vandle · 4 Sep 2022 at 23:04

Terminal_Boy said:
Thanks, that’s all I need it for!

No probs. The set up is quite nifty as you can select which contacts you display or hide, meaning that if you have that one mate that sends absolute filth to you via whatsapp then it wont show up for the wife or kids to see