Need Input on Alexa
 

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.

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.

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.

Need Input on Alexa
 

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.

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 :coolsmiley:. Our problem in the past is that we would make shopping lists and then leave them at home :ohdear:

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?!?!?

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

We use her for music. We are Prime members and she draws mainly from Amazon music. Can access Pandora etc. Just had her play Montevani on Valentines Day. She can find Ohio State marching band music. I think we have the Echo - got it because it has a better speaker. Also have her play WVLG although it is sometimes difficult to communicate. Love the shopping list feature. Has saved me at the grocery store numerous times. Also use to turn on certain lights. First thing in the morning I ask for weather before I get dressed. They are adding features constantly. I know we could do more if we took the time to dig into it. Definitely worth the money - not expensive.

Alexa's capabilities go from simple to sophisticated. Do a Google search and you'll find more than you'll probably ever use. My dot was the best 25 bucks I've spent in a long time.

Once again, thank you for the information provided. I have to have one of these "toys" and then learn how to use it to its fullest potential. I agree it is a bit like "Big Brother", but almost everything in life is now watching us so .........................

I seem to remember a setting where Alexa will only respond to a comment when you must say 'Alexa' first.

Here's a slideshow of some interesting commands.
Amazon Alexa Setup: Settings to Enable and Disable

We've been using "Alexa" since it came out and we were given one of the early units as a Holiday gift. We still have the original "Echo" in our living room. Have since added an "Echo Dot" on our Lanai and a 3rd "Dot" in the master bedroom. We've played around with lots of the "skills" over the years but find ourselves using Alexa, mostly, for 2 things. One is turning specified lights on or off by voice, the second is as a music source to play Amazon Music, Sirius/XM Radio, Pandora, etc. We can pair our living room unit with the sound system on the TV for music and have a separate speaker on the Lanai we can pair the Dot to. Just like a smartphone or many other examples, you could do 1000 things with it but any given person ends up using only a handful. I'm convinced they are "listening" all of the time. When I say they, I don't mean humans, I mean the devices. I can't count the number of times we've talked about goods or services only to soon later see advertisements or links to similar goods and services come up on our social media. It's creepy but only if/when I feel more violated than that will I remove the devices. I've never had one, but I believe Google Home is a device that performs in very similar ways.

I think my Alexa is a blond.

We have Google Home. If something happens to me he says he will marry the Google lady, she is so pleasant.

MA: I think either the Echo or the Dot would be a good choice for you.

Thank you, I have decided on the Echo. I started a new thread and have had several recommendations for the Echo.

And Pregnant, besides?

Just be aware that big brother is listening 24/7/365:popcorn:

I’ve had Echos for years and have steadly added more to my home. We even have one we travel with. Also have a Ring doorbell and my echo Show will show me the front door when I ask. Presently there are three wake words...Alexa, Computer, Amazon. Different devices in my house have different wake words. Use my echos to turn on indoor lights, turn on lanai lights, turn on tv, listen to music, get weather info, set reminders, make lists, can even make telephone calls. We also bought an echo Connect device that will let you ask Alexa to call 911 for you and 911 operators will receive info like the call is being received from your home phone. Inexpensive addition that could save your life. She can add, tell you how to spell a word, tell a story, read a book, hold a conversation, play Amazon Prime movies on your Show, tell you a joke, and play soothing sounds for you. One of my favorite things to listen to is old time radio. My drift off to sleep white noise is “Distant thunderstorm.” There’s a “Guard Dog” app....barking dogs, there’s house sounds that make it seem like someone is at home. You can ask for the telephone number and business hours of stores, and many, many more things. I have old and new devices and they’ve performed well. She’s fun and I enjoy having her around.

And remember, you can always shut off the mirophone if you don’t want her listening to a particular conversation. Heck, we really don’t have as much privacy as we think we have....just Google your name and see what comes up....😉

Big brother has been listening to us for years ..................

We have an echo in every room of the house and a dot in the garage. Have them all linked in a group to play the same music in every room. They make a great in home inner com system, can call to and from each room. New Alexa features come out at least monthly. There are many, many useful features and they continue to improve. They will also link to the Amazon Fire Cube for TV and Sound systems control. Great little gadgets. The Echo has a much better speaker than the Dot and they all will work with Bluetooth also. They can be linked with your phone to do hands free calling. Highly recommend....also linked with our Ring doorbell so we can see who is at the door (or in the yard) in our TV room.

That would be such a waste of time to listen to what goes on in this house. She isn't pregnant, just dumb!

Alexa skills enhance the Echo.

50 Alexa skills worth using - CNET

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

You can set up Alexa for what they call a daily briefing, adding specific tasks to it (weather, horoscope, headlines, trivia game, etc.). You tell it to play the daily briefing and it automatically runs through whatever tasks you have on it. Sounds like that may work for what you want.

The Echo or Dot will work, or even a Kindle Fire if you also want the capability of a tablet.

Hmmm, I have a great idea..... :clap2:

Ha! That's just funnyl:1rotfl:

Do you need Amazon Prime to use Alexa?

You don't need Prime, but you'll get a lot more out of it if you do.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Hi, Madelaine. I like both the Echo and the Dot. Dot is the one with the screen. It is surprising how many questions Alexa can answer. But don’t use her name in vain. If you’re talking about her, rather than to her, she gets confused.