General Chat

I have been asked {in my Santa persona} for one of these- has anyone used one ?

Have read the stuff on the web site and do not really understand much of it :-S

... and there was I, thinking it was something to light fires with :-D

That was my first thought too :-D

The Firestick is one of a raft of gadgets designed to bring internet media services to the TV. They all plug into am HDMI port on the TV and will need a local power supply. They pick up the internet over wifi so make sure your router is up for it.

The Firestick is one of the more sophisticated but not really worth the extra £££ unless you also subscribe to Amazon Prime - another £ 70 p.a. Consider also ChromeCast £ 30 from Curry's ( best buy) and Rokku.

The Chromecast is controlled from a mobile phone rather than its own controller.

If the target TV is already "Smart" or has a lot of smart features via the set top box ( eg Virgin ) then the utility of forking out for a TV stick is debatable. Also most smart phones can connect to the TV using DLNA option either directly or via BluRay settop box or a 2m HDMI cord. This is handy for movies and pix taken with the phone.

Another option is to use a Raspberry Pi B+ as a media center. The Pi is onlly £ 25 and a software kit which converts it into a media centre can be downloaded free. It is tiny and will do everything that a Firestick (without Amazon Prime) can do as well as true internet. Ask Errol he is more into desktop linux then myself.

I guess it depends on just how much you want YouTube and NetFlix on the living room TV. None of these sticks are of much use for gaming.

I have a fire stick perfect for me........ :-D :-D

I ought to have known. I always call memory sticks memory sticks but I've noticed that some people call them something else.

I do have Prime and it slots in the side of my television in front room...perfect for me and I make ample use of it...... :-)

Thank you for your replies

Rollo has helped me understand what they actually do :-)

Rollo - I agree totally.

One important thing to bear in mind is that if you are using a capped internet connection then this will have a significant impact on your monthly allowance.

As for Linux...

For the uninitiated, very loosely speaking Linux is an umbrella term for a number of related operating systems which are what is known as "open source". We have Windows, Android, Mac OS X (the main ones) and then we have Linux.

Linux comes in many different "flavours" and is constantly being developed and thus evolves all the time. It is also very secure indeed. Different versions focus on different capabilities depending on the user but there are versions that emulate XP, Win7 etc etc

It is very easy to get to grips with and can be made to look just like your existing operating system/desktop as well as coping with any peripherals you may have connected such as printers, monitors and so on.

One of its biggest draws and advantages is that you can use it to replace your rather shaky and flaky XP which now has some very serious security flaws.

The best bit?

It's free!

If you use a Raspberry Pi then (with the aid of Linux) you can effectively turn your television into a fully working computer complete with internet capabilites and a media centre. Of course, this is much, much better and cheaper than forking out for a new computer and will do far more than the likes of Firestick et al.

Like this ... do it by numbers.

http://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-xbmc-media-center/

and you can even use Amazon Prime with it so long as you have a sub.

The Raspberry will also play any media files you may have on yr computer over wifi.

Thanks to Rollo and eRRoL for the additional info - every little helps :-)

And guess who's getting one from Santa ;-)

Not me. OH is. Younger relative said she'd bought one for him and because of this thread I surprised her by saying I knew what they were, so thank you folks, :-D