Entry posted by Random Terrain
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Before the Stick
I think I got my Blu-ray player in 2012 and it was able to handle Netflix, but it doesn't recognize Amazon Instant Video. It was nice for a while, but the menu for Netflix seems to be getting slower, it keeps forgetting my viewing progress, and it doesn't automatically play the next episode of a TV show. My sister uses her PlayStation 4 to watch Netflix and it has a much better menu and it will automatically play the next episode. I wished that I could also have a better way to watch that isn't slow and clunky. Now I do.
I just got an Amazon Fire TV Stick yesterday and so far I like it. I might even love it. It has a fast menu and it will automatically play the next episode, just like on my sister's PlayStation.
Praise for Pause
When I press pause while watching Amazon Instant Video, it doesn't leave a big pause symbol on the screen like my Blu-ray player does with Netflix. And if I'm away too long, a screen saver slideshow type of thing pops up, showing all kinds of nature photos. No more pause symbol burning into the screen!
No screen saver for Netflix on the stick, though. It will leave the progress bar and the title of the show on the screen for a long time unless you press up to clear it. But then you still have an image of the paused show burning into the screen. Since Netflix and Amazon seem to copy each other, maybe Netflix will add a screen saver one of these days.
Rewind and Fast Forward
Amazon Instant Video beats Netflix in this area too. You can tap the rewind button or the fast forward button to jump back or ahead 10 seconds or you can hold a button down for the usual. There's no long wait either. Most of the time when I jump back 10 seconds, it plays instantly. You can't do that with Netflix. Besides being much slower, Netflix doesn't even have the ability to hop back a little if you miss something. You have to go back and wait for it to load all over again.
Amazon Instant Video Kicks Even More Netflix Butt
Amazon Instant Video is already beating Netflix when it comes to pause, rewind, and fast forward, but it also has X-Ray from IMDb. Pressing the menu button leads you to the X-Ray stuff where you can instantly view info about the actors in the whole episode or just the current scene, get character info, read trivia, or select a scene.
Since Amazon and Netflix mostly have the same TV shows and movies, I'll choose the Amazon version over Netflix every time and I might even get rid of Netflix if they don't improve.
Set Up
The ads and commercials I've seen make it look like you simply plug the stick into the HDMI port of your HDTV, but it also needs to be plugged into a power outlet.
My Samsung plasma HDTV wouldn't recognize the stick it at first because I was using the HDMI extender. Once I plugged the stick directly into the TV, it worked with no problems.
The Amazon Fire TV Stick was pre-registered to the Amazon account, so all I had to do was put in the Wi-Fi password. I also downloaded the Netflix app and put in the info for that. It took longer to watch the introductory cartoon than it did to get it all it set up.
Why the Buy?
I got this because it was affordable (only 39 bucks) and I figured it was kind of stupid to pay for Amazon Prime and not be able to watch the free movies and TV shows on my HDTV.
Update
Looks like Amazon has every season of Stargate SG-1. I skipped around randomly up to the last season and it all seems to be available if you have Amazon Prime.
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