Alexa

[Starlight345]

My Ds would love one .

I am very confused by the whole thing.

Do I need a base unit downstairs and then one in his room .

Is the echo dot just a more modern version of the big tall one ?

Difference in generations .

Any help appreciated

We have a dot in the hallway upstairs and echo in the kitchen, which has replaced our old radio. Also used to check the weather, DH checks the tube, I use it to 'drop in' and say when dinner is ready instead of hollering up the stairs...we got the dot first, last Christmas, and I did expect it to be a bit of a novelty but it is actually useful!

Do you need an account somewhere to access music?
Sorry for stupid question!

If you have Amazon prime then you can access Amazon music - most things are free, really new stuff tends to need Amazon music unlimited which is another £8 a month (I don't bother). Also Spotify premium works, but not the free version I don't think? Or you can just access radio stations for free.

We’ve got amazon prime so get the music included, we also have Spotify. I ask Alexa to put the speakers on and what I want to listen to, radio station or whatever. It’s far more handy than you think it will be

There's nothing like starting up the car via Alexa before I've even left the house so it's warm & toasty when I get in it on a frosty morning.
Love that I can turn the lights on and turn up the heating in my home when I'm on my way back from dinner via the Alexa app.
We have a lot of tricky to get to plugs and sockets at Christmas so I'll attach them all to smart plugs and instead of combat crawling under the Christmas trees I can just say "Alexa, Christmas lights off" and that's me off to bed and no need to go around individually turning lights off. Energy saving as well as time saving!
All my security is under Alexa too so I have the door bell & cameras, outside security lights connected as well as an alarm that my brothers company supplied and fitted.
Of course my brain power is about half what it was since we got her because it's so taxing to turn a light off

re the last post - genuine question here. If Alexa is connected to your security and alarms, doesn't this mean someone could legitimately be in your house and tell Alexa to disable the alarm at midnight for example and then come back at midnight abe be able to get in without triggering your security system?

You start the car with it??? But it has a key?🧐

I have Alexa, I have a dot, I have Spotify.

I don’t have the time to work the whole bloody thing out.

Our security system is not on Alexa, I’m unsure I’d want it all together, we can access the external cctv via an app. The internal hive camera is done through hive. All works well

@TheVeryHungryDieter Download an app called IFTTT. It has loads of Alexa extras on it. Search for Tesco & activate the Tesco shopping basket one. Then you just tell Alexa to add whatever to your shopping list & it appears in your basket

Just ordered the echo dot, £19.99 with Currys. I'm hoping it cam answer all the questions DD asks that I have to google!

My dd age 13 has an echo dot in her room and loves it she uses it to listen to music
We have another one in the kitchen
We use it for the news, weather and music

Coming back late to this thread to let @Redglitter know you've changed my life!

Alexa sits in my kitchen so I tell her stuff I need to put in my shopping basket now at least three times a day!

redglitter theres a tesco skill??

Gutted, the alexa tesco app doesnt work.

@TheVeryHungryDieter Glad to have helped 😁

wizzywig Did you download IFTTT?

Ooh it works! Thanks!

Can you use it to speak to people around the house ie could I use it to tell ds2 his dinner is ready? I'm sick of shouting!

Miss if your son had a dot in his room too you can either make an announcement which is repeated on each echo or dot in the house or you drop in. Ask Alexa to drop in on x then you can have a two way conversation

MissEliza - that’s what I’ve got them for. Am also thinking about getting smart bulbs for when they go out and leave their bloody lights on.

Can you connect two dots together? Just two dots on their own?

Does anyone have an opinion on Google Home Hub?

How do you network them together so you can play different music in different rooms? Do you need an amazon household account?

Nickname and Tilly thanks. What should I buy then? A dot and an echo?

Miss probably go for the echo if you want to listen to music, we’ve only got dots. Doesn’t matter as we Bluetooth through the Bose speakers but did try listening to music and found the dots a bit tinny. Not sure how old you ds is, would he want to play music or is is more general stuff? You could get an echo for downstairs and a dot for his room, there are some good offers on at the moment