[Madelaine Amee]

I hijacked another thread with a discussion on Alexa. Would like to hear from people who have been using Alexa how they use theirs. For me, I am looking for something for the kitchen and use in the mornings, weather, news, music. Also would like to connect with my son with an Alexa.

Your information and experience would be very much appreciated.

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by Brandigirl

I have a Danny Wright CD. Love it. I have Alexa and added the songs to my personalized playlists. So if I am in the mood to listen to instrumental music, I just say, "Alexa, play my instrumental playlist". I make different playlists and usually tell Alexa to play whatever I am in the mood for. Great when prepping/cooking! You can also tell Alexa to "Play Danny Wright songs" for instance, and then if you like the song, just say, "Alexa, add this song to my instrumental playlist".

Hi Brandigirl: Which Alexa do you have? I am in the market for one and cannot quite decide which would be best for me. My son has the one with the screen and we could do video calls, but can you also use the smaller versions for calling without video, it might be better to just talk than to show what I look like in the early morning!

Just youtubed Danny Wright and did not care for his music, much prefer the styling of Beejie.

[Henryk]

Originally Posted by Madelaine Amee

Hi Brandigirl: Which Alexa do you have? I am in the market for one and cannot quite decide which would be best for me. My son has the one with the screen and we could do video calls, but can you also use the smaller versions for calling without video, it might be better to just talk than to show what I look like in the early morning!

Just youtubed Danny Wright and did not care for his music, much prefer the styling of Beejie.

Whatever you decide, I’d advise against the original tall model—it won’t talk to Bluetooth speakers, or any speaker for that matter.

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by Henryk

Whatever you decide, I’d advise against the original tall model—it won’t talk to Bluetooth speakers, or any speaker for that matter.

Henry: Thanks for your input. I think I am considering the Echo. I really just want to talk to it in the kitchen to get the weather and the news of the day and then play some music. What do you think? Your help would be appreciated.

[Brandigirl]

To Madelaine Amee: I don't know much about technology. My husband is in to all of it and he shows me what I am interested in. Looking at the Alexa, it says it is from Amazon. It white with black top and round. So today, I wanted to hear the Beegie songs so I said, "Alexa, play Beegie songs". Then Alexa will say, Shuffling Beegie songs". It will play song after song. If I like a song, I say, "Alexa, add this song to my instrumental playlist". If you want to create a new playlist, say, "Alexa, create a soft music playlist (or name it anything you want)". Then ask Alexa to play soft music and pick the songs you like and add to your playlist. My husband was in a different state and was able to talk to me through the Alexa. No screen, just his voice. It glows green when he is on Alexa. We also get notifications, for instance, if a package from Amazon was delivered. When there are messages, it turns yellow. It also notices if a door is unlocked and will notify him. I don't know how it all works but he is really good with a lot of these new gadgets and technology. The Danny Wright CD I have is called Black and White. I have had it for many years. He has many CD's but I like the the songs from this title.

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by Brandigirl

To Madelaine Amee: I don't know much about technology. My husband is in to all of it and he shows me what I am interested in. Looking at the Alexa, it says it is from Amazon. It white with black top and round. So today, I wanted to hear the Beegie songs so I said, "Alexa, play Beegie songs". Then Alexa will say, Shuffling Beegie songs". It will play song after song. If I like a song, I say, "Alexa, add this song to my instrumental playlist". If you want to create a new playlist, say, "Alexa, create a soft music playlist (or name it anything you want)". Then ask Alexa to play soft music and pick the songs you like and add to your playlist. My husband was in a different state and was able to talk to me through the Alexa. No screen, just his voice. It glows green when he is on Alexa. We also get notifications, for instance, if a package from Amazon was delivered. When there are messages, it turns yellow. It also notices if a door is unlocked and will notify him. I don't know how it all works but he is really good with a lot of these new gadgets and technology. The Danny Wright CD I have is called Black and White. I have had it for many years. He has many CD's but I like the the songs from this title.

Brandigirl ............ Really appreciate your input. I think I am leaning towards that Alexa. My son has the one with the screen and in the beginning I thought it was cute, but now I think I would rather call him without being seen!!!! I think I ought to make this another thread rather than messing up the Piano Bar thread.

[Tom C]

We love it for shopping lists.

We also have "her" in the kitchen. When we are fixing meals and see (say eggs) are running low simply say "Alexa, add eggs to the shopping list". She does and when we go to the store, that shopping list can be called up on the phone . Our problem in the past is that we would make shopping lists and then leave them at home

We found that shopping lists can contain store names, so we have a Costco list, Lowes List and a default grocery store list.

Where we are, Alexa is not very accurate with weather forecasts.

I still worry about what Alexa hears during the day.. who else hears us all day long?!?!?

[Debfrommaine]

Alexa is great for reminders such as "remind me to check the oven in 20 minutes", "remind me to call my friend on her birthday, May 5th", "remind my husband to make the salad at 4pm", "remind me to take the clothes out of the dryer in 15 minutes", remind me about my doctor's appt on June 1st", and we use of daily for trivia about history, etc. In the afternoon we use radio tuner and listen to a Portland, Maine radio station we enjoy.

[Mosells]

We use her to turn lights on and off, as well as the other uses mentioned

[Madelaine Amee]

Great and very helpful information, thanks. So what Alexa do you use or recommend.

[asianthree]

We have 3 dots, lanai, 2 bedrooms.

One spot, that we have in master, servers as a clock, weather, trivia, news.

Our echo is in the living room, music, shopping list, where is my package, order from amazon, read a book, multiple timers, alarms. We lock doors, control lights, open garage, see what our cameras pick up, make phone calls.

[villagetinker]

I was in a neighbors home, and accidentally activated Alexa, without using the Alexa signal word, got very confusing, basically it responded to a conversation we were having, and I happened to be closer to the unit.

[Bjeanj]

Our son-in-law uses Alexa to turn on the lights in the various rooms in their house which also will turn them on at 50% or other iteration. I think they also run their roomba thru it.

[retiredguy123]

Interesting information, but, so far, I haven't heard anything that would entice me to want an Alexa. And, I love gadgets.

[big guy]

She let's us know when our packages from Amazon will arrive and then when they have arrived. We had a very funny thing happen with Alexa, without saying the activation name. I asked my husband if he had seen the cat to which he replied "no". Alexa pipes up and says, "DOn't worry about him. He will come home when he is hungry". Sometimes I wonder if there is someone listening through "her". She has started talking spontaneously during the night, "she" seems to butt into our conversations. Spooky!