Anyone have any opinions on the Firestick?

[uncledj]

Wife wants to get a Firestick for a friend of hers and her kids for Christmas.

Wife's asking me what I thought, but I know nothing about them, so I thought I'd ask opinions from the knowledgeable folks that hang out here.

Opinions?

[Statussymbol]

we were going to get a firestick for the 19in TV in the bedroom (wife wanted to watch HULU on something besides her tablet) $50.00 or so at Best Buy. But we went with a smart TV instead 32" Insignia for $125.00. Very easy to use. Word of caution though. Needs a very strong WIFI signal. I had to relocate my router closer to the bedroom. Plaster Lat is not wifi friendly.

 

Stat

[RDawson]

Kids playing with Fire sticks burn houses. Or is that matches?

[Midrsv]

I have a couple of Firesticks. They work fine. It turns a regular TV into a smart TV. To get the most out of it, it would help if you have an Amazon Prime account. As more smart TV's are sold I expect the market of Firesticks will go away since the smart TVs I have include an app for Amazon.

 

Dennis

[luvmy40]

Can you run youtube and other internet based services on the Fire Stick?

 

The reason I ask is that my newest smart tv(Samsung,about 6 years old) wont run Youtube any more and the app can't be updated for some reason. I just watch through my PS3 but it is kind of disappointing that the apps on the smart tv expire.

Edited December 11, 2017 by luvmy40

[baylensman]

Fire sticks awesome, you have to hack it a bit and download KODI to get the most out of it. Lots of youtube vids that will walk you through the process.

Just DONT LET THE KIDS PROGRAM IT!!!! THERE ARE XXX OR BLUE CHANNELS THAT VAN BE DOWNLOADED.....

 

I out grew the fire stick and bought a Media box from Amazon. roku, Youtube, netflix, hulu all preloaded.

 

I actually crawled under the house and ran a cat 5 from the router to the box instead of using wifi. I can watch live boxing and soccer from around the world and get all the BBC channels.

 

However, almost daily site repositories around the world are being shut down and other reopening. Some dreck about copyright infringement. I guess people are also boot legging first run movies through the Sticks now so constant security updates.

[camos]

Fire sticks awesome, you have to hack it a bit and download KODI to get the most out of it. Lots of youtube vids that will walk you through the process.

I bought a small smart TV six months ago and was very disappointed with the apps that came with it. Returned it for a not smart version of the same model for over $100 less then bought a media box with KODI preloaded from Amazon for $70. Works way better with a bigger selection of apps and cost a bit less. Win-Win as far as I can see.

 

Never owned a Firestick but heard they can get a bit hot running video through the USB connector so opted for the media box. Have two of them now and they work great.

[baylensman]

I bought a small smart TV six months ago and was very disappointed with the apps that came with it. Returned it for a not smart version of the same model for over $100 less then bought a media box with KODI preloaded from Amazon for $70. Works way better with a bigger selection of apps and cost a bit less. Win-Win as far as I can see.

 

Never owned a Firestick but heard they can get a bit hot running video through the USB connector so opted for the media box. Have two of them now and they work great.

 

Most Smart TV the installed apps are out od date when installed. 4 to 6 weeks sitting in a warehouse in japan taiwan or china. then another 4 weeks on container ship. then anywhere up to additional 12 weeks with customs and shipping to your store, then who knows how long its in stock? So 1/2 year out of date is easy. However upgrading a smart TV apps isn't always easy. Take a bit of Voodoo with the remote, which isn't always in the instructions, but most repair services can hack the remote to access additional on screen menu's not meant for you and me. So every one makes a buck before we get to watch TV!

[camos]

Most Smart TV the installed apps are out od date when installed. 4 to 6 weeks sitting in a warehouse in japan taiwan or china. then another 4 weeks on container ship. then anywhere up to additional 12 weeks with customs and shipping to your store, then who knows how long its in stock? So 1/2 year out of date is easy. However upgrading a smart TV apps isn't always easy. Take a bit of Voodoo with the remote, which isn't always in the instructions, but most repair services can hack the remote to access additional on screen menu's not meant for you and me. So every one makes a buck before we get to watch TV!

Quite so and that is part of why I decided to go with a dumb TV connected to an Android box running KODI which can be regularly updated and has way more options than any of the smart TV app I have seen.

 

If someone is only interested in connecting to the Amazon service then the Firestick may be an adequate option but the Android boxes are faster and offer more capabilities than the Firestick.