# Lifestyles & Discussion > Science & Technology >  Amazon Fire Stick

## phill4paul

We are being shipped one as a Christmas present. Anyone have one? How does it work. Do we need to subscribe to Netflix and Hulu? How do we, or can we, get cable channels like AMC, HBO etc? What is the difference between the stick and just using my laptop for Netflix downloads?

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## angelatc

Google "Firestick Kodi"

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## luctor-et-emergo

Am I this  old-fashioned that when I hear "firestick" I think about some kind of magnesium rod you use to make fire ?

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## phill4paul

> Google "Firestick Kodi"


  Will do. Thanks.

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## angelatc

> Will do. Thanks.


Reddit has a forum entirely devoted to it.

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## Matt Collins

> Google "Firestick Kodi"


Yes. And you can stream Torrents on it if you set it up properly

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## Matt Collins

> Am I this  old-fashioned that when I hear "firestick" I think about some kind of magnesium rod you use to make fire ?


When I hear "firestick" I think something completely different...

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## Matt Collins

The biggest problem with it (besides being slow / low powered processing) is that it has bad wifi reception. You may need to use the adapter they included in order to get the thing out from behind the TV otherwise you may not get wifi reception with it.

I personally prefer Roku, but, this is a smaller solution that works very well.

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## GunnyFreedom

If it comes with Plus video you will be able to watch the Grand Tour

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## osan

> We are being shipped one as a Christmas present. Anyone have one? How does it work. Do we need to subscribe to Netflix and Hulu? How do we, or can we, get cable channels like AMC, HBO etc? What is the difference between the stick and just using my laptop for Netflix downloads?


My wife just got one and I want a divorce.

Television gets on my nerves to the point I want to shoot the TV.

That said, it appears you can get anything... assuming you pay, of course.  It is, however, a good way to cut out the cable-guy, filthy parasitic middlevermin that he is.

One thing going for it, if you like TV, is that you buy only that which you want.  None of the bundled crap where you are paying for 24x7 Ginsu ads.  I guess it's not all bad.

I still want a divorce.

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## phill4paul

> My wife just got one and I want a divorce.
> 
> Television gets on my nerves to the point I want to shoot the TV.
> 
> That said, it appears you can get anything... assuming you pay, of course.  It is, however, a good way to cut out the cable-guy, filthy parasitic middlevermin that he is.
> 
> One thing going for it, if you like TV, is that you buy only that which you want.  None of the bundled crap where you are paying for 24x7 Ginsu ads.  I guess it's not all bad.
> 
> I still want a divorce.


  OK. So we do have to buy but only what we want. If we want AMC, we just pay for that? If we want HBO we pay only just for that?  How much?

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## GunnyFreedom

The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour!

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## phill4paul

> The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour!


  Lol. OK. Ok. Ok. OK. I'll give them a spin.

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## GunnyFreedom

> Lol. OK. Ok. Ok. OK. I'll give them a spin.


It's a good show. Even better when you know the backstory. Same people who did Top Gear UK.  Apparently Jeremy Clarkson said something that offended the BBC and they gave him some kind of ultimatum, like apologize or be fired.  He told the BBC "Fk you" and made his own show on Amazon.  It. Is. Awesomesauce.

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## angelatc

> OK. So we do have to buy but only what we want. If we want AMC, we just pay for that? If we want HBO we pay only just for that?  How much?


Hack it and install Kodi and you don't need to buy anything.  If you want to walk the straight and narrow, check out SlingTV

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## osan

> OK. So we do have to buy but only what we want. If we want AMC, we just pay for that? If we want HBO we pay only just for that?  How much?


Don't recall exactly, but you can buy individual shows, movies...  shows by episode and season, IIRC.  Or you can subscribe to providers like HBO.  Might have been something like $11.99 or $14.99/month.  Pricey for a single provider, methinks, but then again for me even free is too much, given how deeply I detest TV.  But the wife is about to have a very big surgery, which is almost freaking me out, so at this point she could ask me to let a dwarf gnaw off my left leg at mid-calf and I'd feel obliged to go along, my continuing desire for a divorce notwithstanding.


I suppose the other reasonably good thing about it is not having to wade through a million channels of shyte just to find something worth watching... not that anything on TV is worth watching.

Did I mention that I don't like television?

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## Suzanimal

> Hack it and install Kodi and you don't need to buy anything.  If you want to walk the straight and narrow, check out SlingTV


We got a fire stick (free- I used ink rewards from Staples to buy it) and I installed Kodi by myself. I just found a video that seemed pretty easy and moved my laptop in front of the tv and followed each step exactly. 

It works great, btw. I got rid of Hulu but I'm keeping Netflix because Mr A watches tv upstairs sometimes and we only have a Roku up there.

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## phill4paul

> We got a fire stick (free- I used ink rewards from Staples to buy it) and I installed Kodi by myself. I just found a video that seemed pretty easy and moved my laptop in front of the tv and followed each step exactly. 
> 
> It works great, btw. I got rid of Hulu but I'm keeping Netflix because Mr A watches tv upstairs sometimes and we only have a Roku up there.


  Install Exodus as a Kodi app for TV series.

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## Suzanimal

> Install Exodus as a Kodi app for TV series.


I installed that one. It was recommended on the youtube I watched.

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## Anti Federalist

> The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour!


Looking forward to Season two.

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## angelatc

> Install Exodus as a Kodi app for TV series.


Per the people chattering at Reddit, Exodus is no longer being maintained. Covenant is the official replacement:






I was really bummed out when the guy who ran SALTS walked away.  He left a former protege in charge but the add-on was abandoned pretty quickly.  That made a lot of older content  easily available.

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## Origanalist

> We got a fire stick (free- I used ink rewards from Staples to buy it) and I installed Kodi by myself. I just found a video that seemed pretty easy and moved my laptop in front of the tv and followed each step exactly. 
> 
> It works great, btw. I got rid of Hulu but I'm keeping Netflix because Mr A watches tv upstairs sometimes and we only have a Roku up there.


Do you think the fire stick is better than roku?

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## oyarde

> Am I this  old-fashioned that when I hear "firestick" I think about some kind of magnesium rod you use to make fire ?


I have one of those .

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## Swordsmyth

> Am I this  old-fashioned that when I hear "firestick" I think about some kind of magnesium rod you use to make fire ?

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## oyarde

> Do you think the fire stick is better than roku?


The Mrs has roku but out here in the sticks with the net providers so few netflix is about all that will work on it worth a crap because everything else will not load.

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## Suzanimal

Anyone elses kodi acting up? Covenant keeps giving me a "No Stream Available".

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## helmuth_hubener

Aww.    I too, at the title thought it would be about a real fire stick.

*TV is stupid.*

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## mrsat_98

can you turn the resolution down below 720 on a firestick ? I just love my chromecast.

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## Suzanimal

> can you turn the resolution down below 720 on a firestick ? I just love my chromecast.


I dunno. You can pick a stream with that resolution if you want.

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## mrsat_98

> I dunno. You can pick a stream with that resolution if you want.


HughesNet goes unlimited IF you stream standard definition or less so its a concern of mine.

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## Suzanimal

> HughesNet goes unlimited IF you stream standard definition or less so its a concern of mine.


Ah, I don't see many HD streams. Most are SD (not sure if that's what you mean) and quite a few specify the resolution. I'm not sure if these options are available in every build. I'm installing a new build right now and when I get it set up, I'll take a pic and show you what I'm talking about.

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## angelatc

> can you turn the resolution down below 720 on a firestick ? I just love my chromecast.


I love my chromecast too.  And sometimes I have trouble with the FIrestick "stuttering."

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## Suzanimal

> I love my chromecast too.  And sometimes I have trouble with the FIrestick "stuttering."


Are you having streaming issues with Kodi?

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## Suzanimal

Okay, I think I got it working. I deleted everything and installed Kodi 17.5 and No Worries build. At first, I though it wasn't working but I figured out I was having trouble because the show I was clicking on hasn't aired yet.

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## angelatc

> Are you having streaming issues with Kodi?


Not tonight specifically but in general.

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## oyarde

The thing about all of this stuff is it is only as good as your net speed .

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## Suzanimal

> Not tonight specifically but in general.


Well, I don't know about chromcast but said above seems to have fixed my issues. I was getting "no stream available" error when lots of streams showed up and when they did work they were laggy. From what I read, a lot of people are having problems and they (people who seem to know more than I do) suspect the updates on Kodi 17.4. I tried the fixes, they didn't work so I just deleted everything and installed the 17.5 w/No Worries build. I tested a few shows and not every link works but most seem okay and the lag issues are gone.





> The thing about all of this stuff is it is only as good as your net speed .


I have crappy internet - the cheapest AT&T and I rarely experience lag. The only time it even takes more than a minute to load is when my both my kids are gaming. I might have a little issue but nothing crazy.

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## angelatc

Just an FYI - the official Covenant repo is now gone, so expect to find fewer and fewer working links.  

I'm currently having trouble installing anything. I keep getting dependency errors, and I'm not finding any good source for tech support.

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## DamianTV

> We are being shipped one as a Christmas present. Anyone have one? How does it work. Do we need to subscribe to Netflix and Hulu? How do we, or can we, get cable channels like AMC, HBO etc? What is the difference between the stick and just using my laptop for Netflix downloads?


Im thinking most likely need an Amazon Prime acct.  Im not 100% on that as I dont have one.

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## Suzanimal

> Just an FYI - the official Covenant repo is now gone, so expect to find fewer and fewer working links.  
> 
> I'm currently having trouble installing anything. I keep getting dependency errors, and I'm not finding any good source for tech support.


Porn still works.

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## angelatc

> Porn still works.


LOL!  

I have a youtube guy that keeps me in working apps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G7uA1zDoSY

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## DamianTV

> LOL!  
> 
> I have a youtube guy that keeps me in working apps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G7uA1zDoSY


Dear gawd, please tell me that is not Windows 10...

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## Stratovarious

> Dear gawd, please tell me that is not Windows 10...


Do you know anything about upgrading from win7 to 11 or whatever the latest is, I've
seen lots of tutorials for 10 to 11  etc, not from 7 to 11, I'm still getting along pretty
well with 7 , hate to lose it and not be able to reinstall if 11 doesn't work.....

Well as usual I'm a bit confused between os and browsers, I think my 
os win7 is probably still fine, I'm just finding that support for my 
explorer 8 browser is being phased out, I Need to upgrade it , I have
chrome , and firefox but hate them and firefox is useless on
my laptop would like to stick with explorer but upgrade and be able
to revert to 8 if the newest doesn't work.

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## DamianTV

> Do you know anything about upgrading from win7 to 11 or whatever the latest is, I've
> seen lots of tutorials for 10 to 11  etc, not from 7 to 11, I'm still getting along pretty
> well with 7 , hate to lose it and not be able to reinstall if 11 doesn't work.....
> 
> Well as usual I'm a bit confused between os and browsers, I think my 
> os win7 is probably still fine, I'm just finding that support for my 
> explorer 8 browser is being phased out, I Need to upgrade it , I have
> chrome , and firefox but hate them and firefox is useless on
> my laptop would like to stick with explorer but upgrade and be able
> to revert to 8 if the newest doesn't work.


Windows 10+, dont have a clue, and I wont touch it.  Im still on Win7, as locked down from MS Spyware as I can.

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## Stratovarious

> Windows 10+, dont have a clue, and I wont touch it.  Im still on Win7, as locked down from MS Spyware as I can.


Right, I've heard almost exclusive negs for win10 , I'm very leery of it.

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## DamianTV

> Right, I've heard almost exclusive negs for win10 , I'm very leery of it.


Lets put it this way.  If Windows 10 were a hot chick, I wouldnt $#@! her with your dick on a 10 foot stick wearing 10 rubbers.  Anyone who had sex with Windows 10 would end up catching EVERY STD that is on the planet at the same time instantaneously.

*Windows 10 IS Computer Cooties.*

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## Stratovarious

> Lets put it this way.  If Windows 10 were a hot chick, I wouldnt $#@! her with your dick on a 10 foot stick wearing 10 rubbers.  Anyone who had sex with Windows 10 would end up catching EVERY STD that is on the planet at the same time instantaneously.
> 
> *Windows 10 IS Computer Cooties.*



Win10 first good argument for mandatory vaccines.

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## DamianTV

> Win10 first good argument for mandatory vaccines.


Eh, if we go that route, I rather think the Gene Pool needs a Lifeguard.  But thats just me...

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## Danke

> Dear gawd, please tell me that is not Windows 10...


Kodi.  I have it on an Android box.

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## Stratovarious

> Eh, if we go that route, I rather think the Gene Pool needs a Lifeguard.  But thats just me...

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## angelatc

Well, this previously useful thread is now a jumbled mess of weird.  Thanks Damien and Strat.

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## Danke

> Well, this previously useful thread is now a jumbled mess of weird.  Thanks Damien and Strat.


Yes, we are happy with Suzanimal's useful information.

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## Suzanimal

> Yes, we are happy with Suzanimal's useful information.

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## Stratovarious

Yes , thank you suzi for the great info, I would contribute
but they're telling  me now that my firestick ain't worth a damn.
''we now return control of your television sets''

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## DilanShark

I've personally had the chromecast, roku, apple tv and firestick. By far, the firestick turned out to be my favorite! I used to have pirate tendencies and with the help of many plug-ins, add-ons and YouTube tutorials like https://www.firestickhow.com/kodi-addons.html , anyone is able to watch practically any movie or tv show without paying for cable.

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