Alexa, Echo, or what?

[JTRichardson]

We have the "dot" in the master bedroom and the office, we use those to control the lights in there, even have it set to when we come home past 8:30, when my phone connects to my home Wifi, that the light in the bedroom and the living room come on automatically.

we have an echo show in the kitchen, it's mostly used for timers and some music when we are cooking or hanging out having some drinks. We occasionally use it to see what's going on in our pasture, front yard, and doorbell since it works well with our Blink Camera system. i.e. If I'm cooking and the doorbell goes off, I can ask "Alexa, show me the front door" and it will put the doorbell camera on the screen.

we have been using them for years and never had any real weird experiences. I set them up to remind me 10 minutes before the baseball/football game starts and stuff like that. I think they definitely have their place, but not as useful as some would say.

Overall, I recommend the Alexa products over the google home products (which we had one, and trashed about a year later cause it didn't connect well with our other smart devices) We are currently looking into upgrading our thermostat with the Alexa Thermo to control the AC by voice command, not sure if it's worth it, but if it makes my wife happy, then hey, whatever!

[Burnadell]

Thanks for all of your responses. They are helpful.

[Lost10mm]

I've got both Alexa, Google, and CE in my house. It's all primarily Google/CE, but there's a few Black Friday or Amazon Prime day deals that we got on some Alexa's, and I'll probably keep getting them with those sales.

I have my garage setup with the garage door openers (myQ), security cameras inside and out, and Alexa to spy on me and operate all of my CE plugs/lights. Right now, I go in and say "Alexa, turn on garage" and it turns on my tool box lights, stereo, bluetooth for the stereo, air compressor, fans and holiday outdoor lights. My cameras are always on and they have full coverage from the garage in locations that nobody can tamper with them without being seen. Having the myQ linked to my garage doors also allows Amazon to drop off my packages in the garage, and the security cameras will catch where they put it and if they're drop kicking them into the garage.

We have an Alexa in our sons room along with a plug and a color changing light bulb. That works great to wake him up in the morning and lets him play music that I can monitor from my app.

In the living room, our bedroom, and out back with our gazebo, we have CE indoor and outdoor plugs to allow us to tell Google/Alexa to turn on or off those lights. Out in the Gazebo, we have them hooked up to our TV, fan, and lights.

People are upset that they're spying on you so they know what kind of ads to send your way?? As opposed to what - sending you ads that you wouldn't care about? Either way, you're having ads directed at you. If you're going to preach about how intrusive those devices are, you should follow it up with how you got rid of your cell phone, debit/credit card, and stopped using a computer. Those spy on you just as much, if not more than the Alexa and Google devices. The vast majority of Americans aren't prepared to live the lifestyle that it takes to truly not be monitored every day by the "gubbament" or private sector. I get the concern about people hacking into your equipment so they can personally intrude on conversations or find a way into your home. 100% legit. But worrying about ads or the government tracking you in 2022 is just ridiculous. Either get used to it or lose your cell phone, pay only with cash that you withdrew from the bank in person, get off the computer, and stop going to the city.

[Burnadell]

Thanks, 10mm. That is kin of my thinking on “spying” or intrusion. I don’t have to. Much longer on this earth, so I don’t care. I am weighing the benefits/negatives, and being a GadgetFreek I will probably try one. Don’t need it in every room or garage; just something to fact check or get info quickly.

[Lip]

Echo for better speakers, Dot for more locations for convenience where playing music with an ok speaker is ok. They will connect to a Bluetooth speaker which can be handy in the garage or back yard. Kids have an Alexa Show which can scroll pictures until one of the cameras picks up motion and then it streams the camera feed. We play SirriusXM through ours. Ask her questions have her turn on and off lights. Also have a ton of smart plugs that control lights, Christmas trees, locks etc. I say Alexa, good night. All the lights go out and the front door is checked to ensure it is locked and she reports the results. I control smart plugs at the farm through the Alexa app. When it gets really cold, I’ll turn on a heater in the garage instead of driving 3+ hours to do it or replace the lines to the water heater.

[Lip]

As far as listening in, not sure if it is Alexa or iPhone but we have casual conversations and start receiving ads based on those conversations. Sometimes we’ll have a conversation about something we have no interest in just to see how long it will take before we start seeing ads on our feeds.

[SmTx]

Come this next Thursday women all over America will be shouting, "Alexa set a timer for xx" about a dozen times while prepping Thanksgiving.

[Lip]

So how has your experience been so far Burnadell?

[Burnadell]

So how has your experience been so far Burnadell?

I love it so far, Ed. It is certainly a novelty, not a necessity, but the wife and I enjoy the ability to ask Alexa questions about whatever…saves me from interrupting what we are doing to Google search. We are still exploring useful ways to use it.

[Greenheadless]

So you didn't read my second paragraph, did you?




See post above.




I don't think I asked if you would buy it, did I?

I guess they don’t realize their cell phone is already doing just this

[highspeed]

We’ve got one in the kitchen to play music and set timers. The kids get her to fart, tell jokes, and sing crazy songs. I like it for the music aspect but I wouldn’t be sad to see her go.

[lovemylegacy]

We had one for about a month and trashed it. Alexa, what time is it? Alexa, what's the weather? Alexa, set a timer for 20 minutes.

Since you don't want to hear about the spying, I won't tell you about all the spying it did. =)

I want to hear!

[lovemylegacy]

I thought Alexa was the coolest thing ever when my brother bought me one. Added a couple dots to the house. Then....things I never looked at online, but had spoken about while in the house, started appearing on my social media. Then, she started talking when not asked anything. Then, the nail in the coffin for her was when I walked in my bedroom and the dang dot's blue light started spinning without me saying anything. Coincidence...maybe. But all the Alexa items in the house went straight in the trash right then. She's creepy!

I find it odd that you personified a computer.

[donpablo]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvT_gqs5ETk&t=1s"]Amazon Echo - SNL - YouTube[/ame]

[Burnadell]

That the version I need!