VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 11 of 11
Thread
  1. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    I searched for an Amazon Fire TV thread and couldn't find one.
    I just received and set up my Fire TV box.
    If you have any questions about the Fire TV, ask and I'll try to answer them.

    It set up with only one frustrating moment.
    I have Amazon Prime so it came with that account already enabled, but when I tried to access my Netflix account it wanted my email address and password.
    There is no keyboard and I swear I tried every button to bring up an on-screen keypad.
    After many searches on-line I couldn't find anyone else complaining about this so I concluded it must be something simple I missed.
    Sure enough, if you press the OK button (center of the cursor group) a keypad pops up.
    Still, I couldn't find that in the help files.
    It outputs 1080p at 60fps. The picture is excellent.
    Subtitle support for Amazon Prime and Netflix is excellent.
    Post your questions and I'll do my best to answer.
    Last edited by andor1999; 18th Apr 2014 at 08:28.
    Quote Quote  
  2. Member racer-x's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    3rd Rock from the Sun
    Search Comp PM
    OK, I'm an Amazon prime member using Roku.

    1) What can this give me that Roku can't?
    2) What formats can the USB port play off a usb thumbdrive?
    3) How well does it handle YouTube?
    Got my retirement plans all set. Looks like I only have to work another 5 years after I die........
    Quote Quote  
  3. Can it play video files via network shares?
    Quote Quote  
  4. Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Freedonia
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by racer-x View Post
    OK, I'm an Amazon prime member using Roku.

    1) What can this give me that Roku can't?
    This is basically where I am too. It looks like a whole lot less TV and a whole lot more games with Fire for basically the same price as Roku. I guess that's good/great for some people, but not me.
    Quote Quote  
  5. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by racer-x View Post
    OK, I'm an Amazon prime member using Roku.

    1) What can this give me that Roku can't?
    2) What formats can the USB port play off a usb thumbdrive?
    3) How well does it handle YouTube?
    If you're happy with your Roku's picture, I can't see any compelling reasons to switch.
    I've never used a Roku so I can't say much beyond that.
    I plugged my movie drive into the USB port and the drive light came on, but it didn't flicker like it would if it was being scanned.
    I don't see any apps that would play movies.
    From what I've read on-line, Amazon isn't interested in competing in that area.
    I think they've done a good job with the YouTube interface.
    There are about 16 category icons on the left side of the screen you can quickly scroll though.
    4 or 5 video previews instantly appear as you go from category to category.
    When you stop on a category you can scroll sideways through all the videos with the cursor keys.
    They appear very quickly so this isn't as bad as it sounds.
    I'm assuming they are sorted in some relevant order. Newest or most popular.
    There is also a place to log in to your account if you have one.
    The search function they've really tried to make tolerable.
    As you type, videos appear and also a list of guesses. If your search term is one of the guesses you can cursor to it and click the select button.
    And it's FAST. The video previews appear almost instantly.
    I'd heard the remote didn't have any lag and that I can confirm.
    Last edited by andor1999; 17th Apr 2014 at 22:29.
    Quote Quote  
  6. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by jagabo View Post
    Can it play video files via network shares?
    They don't mention that anywhere in the literature.
    Not unless there is some app in their app store that would let me see the shares and an app that would play mkv, mp4, avi, etc.
    And if it did, would it play DTS sound? I doubt it.
    There's a new generation of Android based media players that will do a much better job.
    Amazon is all about streaming their content.
    I'm surprised they provided Netflix and Hulu apps.
    Last edited by andor1999; 17th Apr 2014 at 23:09.
    Quote Quote  
  7. Originally Posted by jman98 View Post
    Originally Posted by racer-x View Post
    OK, I'm an Amazon prime member using Roku.

    1) What can this give me that Roku can't?
    This is basically where I am too. It looks like a whole lot less TV and a whole lot more games with Fire for basically the same price as Roku.
    Hey, you can talk to it. Have you seen the really funny Gary Busey ad promoting it?

    Yeah, I don't have any use for it either. I'm more than happy with the Roku 3.
    Quote Quote  
  8. Member jbd441's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sarasota FL
    Search Comp PM
    Anyone here tried to sideload an AFTv? I hear it's possible no matter what version is downloaded, however I've also heard some of the new versions are unrootable.
    Quote Quote  
  9. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by jbd441 View Post
    Anyone here tried to sideload an AFTv? I hear it's possible no matter what version is downloaded, however I've also heard some of the new versions are unrootable.
    I don't know about AFTv, but there are many Youtube videos on how to side load XBMC.
    XBMC on FireTV seems to work fine with most formats, but stutters on 59.94 fps videos.
    I had shares working for weeks and it suddenly stopped working.
    I'm waiting for the new version of XBMC. Can't remember it's new name.
    Anyway, they say they are planning on making it more FireTV friendly.
    I chose not to root mine, which makes it a pain to launch XBMC, but I don't know much about this rooting so a took the safe route. <g>
    As far as I know I haven't updated the firmware since I installed XBMC. I don't believe it's automatic.
    I can definitely see a battle to prevent this sideloading in the future via firmware update.
    They want you to pay to sell your app in their store.
    Which would be OK with me. I'd pay for XBMC if it was reasonable.

    Andor
    Quote Quote  
  10. Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Freedonia
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by andor1999 View Post
    XBMC on FireTV seems to work fine with most formats, but stutters on 59.94 fps videos.
    Do you mean 1280x70 59.94 fps video or 1920x1080 59.94 fps video? Not working with the first one would be VERY VERY BAD. Not working with the 2nd one would be normal as I don't know of any current hardware devices that can handle this and you'd need probably a 4K TV for that kind of video anyway.
    Quote Quote  
  11. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by jman98 View Post
    Originally Posted by andor1999 View Post
    XBMC on FireTV seems to work fine with most formats, but stutters on 59.94 fps videos.
    Do you mean 1280x70 59.94 fps video or 1920x1080 59.94 fps video? Not working with the first one would be VERY VERY BAD. Not working with the 2nd one would be normal as I don't know of any current hardware devices that can handle this and you'd need probably a 4K TV for that kind of video anyway.
    Neither one. It can't do more than 30 fps.
    I believe that's a limitation of the current XBMC, because FireTV plays everything at 59.94 (60 fps).
    That way it doesn't have to deal with deinterlacing. Each field is displayed as a frame.
    I'm hoping the new XBMC will overcome the limitation.
    Quote Quote  
Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!