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I'll start by saying I don't like Amazon, their operating methods, their market dominance and where all their integrated tech is going. I try not to use them if at all possible.
That said, their Fire TV sticks just work. I'm moving and don't plan to have traditional TV, just streaming, so thought I'd order a fire stick.
At midday today their three options were priced at £20, £25 and £30. Plus postage if you don't have prime (which I obviously don't) at nearly a fiver. So I thought I'd get a friend to order it and make use of the free delivery.
I look again tonight and they're now £30, £40 and £50 respectively. What gives? It wasn't obvious there was any promotion on earlier in the day, is it a pre-black Friday inflation so they can justify advertising a big discount, is it an algorithm doing something because I've searched for the same thing multiple times?
Just curious - I won't be buying one now in any case, at least not until they go back down in price. On that note, any comparable alternatives from someone other than Amazon?
You'll get one on your local Gumtree, with ahem, some other stuff installed....
On that note, any comparable alternatives from someone other than Amazon?
Quite fancy one of those new Google TV with Chromecast things:
https://store.google.com/gb/product/chromecast_google_tv?gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=Cj0KCQiA7qP9BRCLARIsABDaZzj1P8CX4Wk2g72KPvibw9RI4pm_3iAabq6Wv4b_CyfDVIgfK-Xj-_oaAvOBEALw_wcB
But it's more expensive than a fire TV stick so maybe a no go if price is what's driving your decision.
is it a pre-black Friday inflation so they can justify advertising a big discount,
This. Basically.
Amazon were price matching argos a couple of days on firesticks, might be worth checking argos if they still have them on sale and your local one hasn't been shut down
They had a promotion on which has ended, it’s Amazon they’ll be another soon.
The plot thickens... Went on Argos, the 4k (best) model says £30. Add to basket, £49.99 ...
I'll wait until they're £30 again. They do everything I want (I think) so not really looking to spend any more. I barely watch TV, and when I do I know what I want, I don't do idle browsing or watching dross just because it's on.
If anyone knows about these sticks available on gumtree you could PM me... For research purposes.
Amazon’s pricing is pretty dynamic. They sell x units at the offer price and then put it back up. Similarly if something isn’t shifting they’ll drop it.
I am not sure if Amazon are doing it yet but there’s also the technology now to do per user pricing so what you see isn’t what I’ll see. So, you saw it at a bargain price and didn’t buy it. Next time you look it’s more expensive and you think you missed out. Next time you see something cheap you’ll be more likely to buy it accordingly.
I’ll have to dig out the article somewhere but apparently Amazon’s algorithms are now at the stage where they’ll pre-ship certain items to your nearest warehouse based on how likely they think you are to buy it and then can offer same day Prime delivery for example as a further incentive to purchase
Buy a ROKU stick instead. The you can access Amazon, now, Disney, Netflix, YouTube, Apple TV, Google TV, and host of others from one place.
Now is the only one on that list you can't get on a fire stick.
Edit - never heard of google tv, mibbe that too!
Prime member/non member, location, buying history, device you are logging in with. All that and more goes into what price you see. True of an awful lot of e-tailers these days
I don’t like Amazon, their operating methods,
I thought I’d get a friend to order it and make use of the free delivery.
You don't like Amazon's methods but you'll happily use a friend's Prime sub to dodge their subscription fees and still get the benefits?
Ive got a smart tv. Never use those functions.
A rocu. Connected, never used.
I end up just using my Android for everything and just casting to the tv. Am I missing out on something here? Genuine question.
Netflix / Prime Video / other subscription services?
The killer app with Chromecast for me is sitting at the PC and I want to watch say a film trailer on YouTube. Two clicks and it'll wake up the TV, wake up the amp, set both onto the correct channels and start the video.
^^
Should add that I've got a Chromecast connected to the TV but when I cast I can can connect to the "smart" part of the tv as it were, or to the Chromecast itself but works exactly the same. I do like the 4k Chromecast though, solid as a rock.
I use the phone for Prime, Netflix, YT, Google Photos, on demand tv channels etc the lot basically. The roku duplicates (at best) what I can do easier with my phone and I'm guessing the fire stick etc does too? The touch screen/ Google assistant is just so fast to use with no down sides I can see? Search, caste and remote control. Add to that I can control the tv with the LG app for volume and picture settings etc.
Yet I know that roku, firestick etc are very popular but I dont see what I would gain. For how I use and what I watch anyway.
Genuinely interested if there are good reasons to is the roku etc that ive missed?
The reason for me wanting a fire stick is that I have a couple of perfectly good TV's that aren't smart, so until they die it seems the cheapest and least wasteful solution, plus I know they work really well. Both of the more expensive options from Amazon have a remote that will control some basic TV functions too. And you can connect Bluetooth speakers etc.
Cougar - yes, exactly that, and no shame in doing so. You must live in a utopian paradise or be hellish naive to have missed the concept of spite? I don't like the corporation, don't want to use them if I can help it... but in this case can't. I currently live with said friend, so if I can save £5 and still have the thing arrive at home the job's a winner for me. I'm not going to feel an ounce of remorse or guilt about Amazon losing a couple of quid - they're Amazon, you know - largest online retailer in the world, has created the world's richest man, have backdoor surveillance devices in millions of homes, harvest data constantly, put profitable independents out of business by undercutting them through sheer size and volume. So no, I'm not paying a prime sub for a one off purchase, and I think you know full well the operating methods I was referring to in my OP are some of those things mentioned above, not free delivery for prime subscribers.
Our household is bristling with Amazon devices, I've never paid full price for one. However they've probably more than recovered the difference, a prime sub (without which a fire stick is less useful TBH), all sorts of movie rentals and the odd purchase.
The devices are a loss leader to get you spending on other things, like many we've got a telly with a firestick, another with a built in Amazon app, a TiVo box that can talk to Amazon and a echo show that you can watch stuff on and various phones, tablets and PCs, these are all distribution channels for Amazon... They'll get you if they can, so don't pay "full price" for their hardware.
I’ve got a Chromecast connected to the TV but when I cast I can can connect to the “smart” part of the tv as it were, or to the Chromecast itself but works exactly the same.
If you cast to the smart part of the TV what you're actually doing is firing up the relevant app on the TV which then does the streaming.
Or at least that's what happens on my LG.
Your phone is telling the Chromecast device what to stream, which it then does direct over your wifi, your telly just being the display screen. I prefer to do it this way with YouTube and now TV where my TV remote is clunky as a controller, and it's the only way I watch prime.
(Oh yeah, the Prime app on Android casts nicely and is vastly better than casting a tab from a laptop, which is how we watched Vikings on prime a couple of years ago before the app came out. If Amazon withdraw it I'll give up Prime.)
Isn't it free postage on orders over £20 with regular Amazon (not Prime)?
You just have to select it or they charge you for postage.
We have a firestick and a now TV box. For me the now TV box is the better unit. Seems to work all the time whereas the firestick sometimes gets lost whilst trying to navigate. You'll also get months free pass of whatever you choose, great for a November box set sesh.
So no, I’m not paying a prime sub for a one off purchase,
What does a firestick do when you don't have prime?
Genuine question, I thought they were tied.
Netflix, YouTube, BBC iplayer, most if not all terrestrial catch up/streaming services, you can download all sorts of apps. I'm looking to use it with an older, dumb TV, not a smart TV.
Why firestick? Because in my experience they integrate really well, though I'm open to alternatives. I'm not a huge fan of Amazon TV anyway, you have to pay for anything decent despite having a subscription.
breadcrumb
Full MemberIsn’t it free postage on orders over £20 with regular Amazon (not Prime)?
This
If you don't have Prime Amazon defaults to £5 postage option as an incentive to get Prime but you can then select free postage which quotes a few days for delivery but then usually comes quickly
I've got a few of the Firesticks, all bought in promotions - 2 x 4K, 1 x New HD model and a really old one that is frankly useless. I was looking at the new Chromecast/Google TV, it is only slightly more expensive, but the interface side of things is slicker - it does a much better job showing all prgrammes and films from different sources in 1 place/tv guide type thing. Also, you can cast easily, whereas with just the Firestick you cant (not easily anyway)..
back to the point on pricing - Amazon move them all oer the gaff, especially around BF time, but as said they will go back down again.
What does a firestick do when you don’t have prime?
Genuine question, I thought they were tied.
You should still be able to watch all the same Amazon/Amazon prime stuff (which is mostly what the UI pushes), but there will be a fee attached to all of it where 'Prime content' is "free" for prime subscribers...
You can use various 3rd party apps (BBC/ITV/Redbull players for example, are all free to install, obviously some services have their own fees/subs, others don't).
Of course if you only want free content, other sticks/boxes/dongles are available...
This may be the most pro-amazon anti-amazon thread I've ever seen.
That said, their Fire TV sticks just work
I find mine laggy, unstable and weaker than a chromecast in many ways. It is an older generation (has alexa in the remote) so isn't the latest, but if using the netflix app on it, it crashes at 32% of playback and takes ages to re-start. The RedBullTV app kills it and makes it unusable. Iplayer function can be ok, but is not as reliable as from the phone app with chromecast.
They've been 19.99 for a week as par of the pre-black friday sale thing. They just went back up to 29.99 yesterday which is their 'normal' selling price.
I imagine they'll be back to 19.99 for black friday itself.
We were lucky it seems and got one at 19.99 two days ago. It works great!
We binned our Fire stick and replaced it with the NOWTV stick, does everything the Amazon one did but better.
When I say everything obviously it doesn't do Amazon tv but then the firestick doesn't do NOW.
When I say everything obviously it doesn’t do Amazon tv but then the firestick doesn’t do NOW.
the Chromecast one does both.
Amazon’s pricing is pretty dynamic. They sell x units at the offer price and then put it back up. Similarly if something isn’t shifting they’ll drop it.
I've had 3 Spank Race rims off Amazon for <£20 each Bought 2 Blue then unavailable the price went up to £75+ same as other colours... then the last one more recently for <£20 in black (other colours were £75)... same again...unavailable then £75+
We binned our Fire stick and replaced it with the NOWTV stick, does everything the Amazon one did but better.
Lol, we've binned our nowtv stick because it was slow, laggy and had crap WiFi. The new fire stick is loads better!
You don’t like Amazon’s methods but you’ll happily use a friend’s Prime sub to dodge their subscription fees and still get the benefits?
The outrage!
😀
Being outraged about Amazon and then using your mates account is a bit like being a vegetarian but eating a bacon sandwich when nobody’s looking! No harm in it but not quite sticking to you principles.
The thing that’s really interested me about Prime membership is just how quickly almost nothing further was bought from Amazon after the membership lapsed.
Literally almost everything to almost* nothing shift overnight.
* I bought the film Unbranded the other week. Well worth a watch.