Anyone else tempted to try an Echo. Only £100 if you have a prime account. There is also the Echo dot at £50. Prime offer finishes today.

I'm going to try both, the dot can by plugged into my Sonos system and is a greta way to control Amazon Prime music and the Phillips Hue lighting. Well that is the theory!

In the States they sell out fast so if it fails to impress it will soon be sold on.

5 O'clock 16th Sept, bockers

Well she is home and fitting in very nicely. Amazingly useful when cooking for instant imperial to metric conversions and setting timers.

Those in the house who asked why have been the most frequent users.

I'll be getting a Google Home when it's launched on 4th October. Similar to the echo, but Googles eco system which I much prefer.

Got mine on day of release and finally got round to setting it up. And it's pretty impressive.

Sync with Amazon music library and prime music, radio through tunefm.

Loads of other stuff I have not even looked at

Update. Have the latest Colour Hue Bulb and it is very vibrant and works well. Set up lounge lights via Lightwave and they are working well after a day of issues.
Also got aquainted with out Nest Thermostat and I must still it is the biggest pile of shite to emerge from the Internet swap i have ever used. Don't go near it. Overpriced poorly supported rubbish. Got my first data rich monthly report, we just shows the number of hours heating was used for, no dates or breakdown that is clearly all sent to google, my conclusion is it is a fancy Google spy and as such is on its way to eBay.

There is a fiver off the dots on amazon today...

Nest was bought by Microsoft as far as I know and I believe they've stopped all development on it whilst they use the technology in their own products. Certainly I wouldn't go near it.

Did you find anywhere that sells Hue bulbs with any sort of discount? They seem to be never discounted when I look.

Nest is now a Google company, but your points still stand. It is going on ebay, I hate it with a passion normally reserved for iTunes.

Amazon, set up a camelcamelcamel watch. Got my new "Enhanced Colour" one for £29 It is a big improvment, especially the green.

Just got one of these echo dots for Christmas - trying to fathom out what I'll use it for...

I use it all the time for setting timers in the kitchen. Then there is a our food shopping list we all add to and imperial metric conversions. Then there is chance of Rain, my daily work commute, listening to Radio and Spotify.

For me there is also all the Smart home stuff.

I use mine for all radio, accessing my Amazon music, timers etc. The extra skills are a bit cobblers at the moment

So this sounds like a vital bit of kit we can't live without. i'll postpone my purchase until JimC tells us how to use it properly.

You might be waiting some time for that particular review...!

Makes an ideal paperweight, which can be found in the dark..

I think the Dots are great, wet ave three of them, the Echo? Nope save your money, we have one on them and a Dot could do what it does better. Combined with TP-Link Smart plugs, Philips Hue Bulbs, Nest Thermostat, Sonos (with Spotify and Apple Music and a 3.5mm cable ) and a Logitech Harmony , we are moving towards a smart home.

There are still too many competing standards (HomeKit anyone?) but my test is how the wife and daughters react and, I have noticed they use "Alexa" all the time.

Oh and combined with Sonos and Hue Disco, its brilliant at parties

Have you used ITTT with your connected products? I really like Hue. Unfortunately Nest I think is a bit of a dead end since whichever of the tech companies bought it (for its IP if my inside source is correct).

Fccuk me. Can anyone recommend an on line translation service for this

Lol at Chris. What Charlie is saying is that home automation is a nightmare of competing and complementing standards. However if one person takes the time to set up Alexa it means none of the other residents in the house need to be aware of the sellotape and string holding it all together. it just works.

As a side note I have a nest. It is utter rubbish for the price and now owned by Google.

I have looked at IFTTT and it's not for the want of trying but I cannot find a single use for it. I did consider having it set my Hue lights to Blue when there was rain forecast in the next hour but it didn't work so that was that.

Ha - a colleague of mine was fuming at IFTTT - her husband was away and he'd set the Hue lights to flash whenever Venezuela scored in the World Cup or whatever.

I've just purchased an Echo Dot and am doing quite a bit of research before i invest in other IOT capabilities to ensure im happy with the route im going.

Hue systems looks to be my next step.

Interesting to hear the feedback on the nest - I was all set to get a complete system with the connected smoke alarms throughout the house. Why is it not that good? I'd be interested in hearing opinions....?

Anyone tried or seen the smart door bells? Ring (albeit it does not connect to Alexa) looks pretty cool.

I'd also be interested in feedback on the Nest. I already have Nest cameras and smoke alarms.

I've not tried Nest but I understand it will no longer be developed

Nest, promised so much delivers so little.

Here are my ramblings/feedback etc. And some woners may not be affected by this stuff...

The smart features are no so smart. House heating coming on at 2 am because the cat has moved onto the sofa for example. Or setting thermostat heating timers only to find the nest Geo fencing technology has overridden it. Heating going off at weird times with no explination. In fact I have just checked my nest and it is busy heating an empty house for no reason!!!! In a house with multiple occupants one of whom works less than a mile away means the geo fence is useless anyway, plus it assumes you all have the app on your phone, and your phone is with you. Leave it at home and the heating comes on!!!

So geo fence turned off, but you have to check it as it does turn on again without user input.

Support is crap, the user forum was taken down to be rebuilt. That was over 6 months ago. Phones support is rubbish and email takes 2 days to respond. Then they have no answers anyway.

Then there is the wonderful Monthly usage (useless) report. It just tells you how many hours your heating was on for, add some unfathomable eco points rubbish and that's it. Why? I expected a full day by day, minute by minute, breakdown. They collect all that stuff so why can't I see it. Yes I can see it on the app but I cant get to that info to compare with smart meter readings for example.

So it looks great, except why can't it display current AND set temp all the time on screen, and maybe time too. Oh yes and the stat must be plugged in all the time. Why not have a decent battery instead like every other system?

It has so much potential but as MRS says it seems Google have just lost interest. The security camera feature is laughably expensive too. As for Smoke alarm, I'm not sure I'd trust Google that far. After all it seems to be doing its best to torch my joint by setting the heating on all the time.

It is very close to going on ebay. It works for me at present (although today's home check has worried me) but just as a dumb thermostat... which is really what I need now. Alexa integration is handy but again limited to just temp changes. It would be handy if there was a Nest boost heating function, you know the one that our 20yr old heating had that boosted temp for an hour and stopped. That would be very simple to add.. but no.

And another thing. There has been little development but what has been done involves screwing up most of the users as the QA and testing is so poor.

I think Hive or some of the Honeywell systems look a better option in retrospect. I was too smitten with Nests looks.

It's not just me:-
Rant 1
Rant 2
May fave if only i'd read this before being seduced


And there are loads more.

I admit it may work for some but I hate it with a passion. An impulse buy, yes we've all done it, and I regret it deeply. Currently researching for it's replacement as keen not to make the same mistake twice.

I feel better now

and finally, yes this is a 1st world problem

Ah, modern day tech' must have gizmos of today eh? Reminds me of back in the day when technology consisted of all the kitchen & home gadgets that made life easier & more pleasurable only to end up with the rest of these crappy devises in the back of a cupboard, either broken or fed up with...

The concepts are often good just the execution poor

No doubt about it, lots of gadgets about these days, some are just clever toys, some can be very useful, while others are just a lazy means to an end. Whether you need or want any of these devises are obviously two entirely different questions. One of my brother in laws works with computers as a programmer for a well known company up here. Every time I go see him for something I'm always bemused how much tech' devises & gadgets he's accumulated, played with & then onto the next thing. He admits he's a geek when it comes to this.Each to their own.

One of the side effects of working in this industry is that largely one is unaffected by current trends...

With IOT things I generally consider them an interesting technical solution for problems that don't exist, and where in general simple timers/thermostats/switches do the job cheaper, and by my lights, better.