I had become exasperated trying to get by using a "smart" Sony Bravia TV for all my streaming services. It sort of worked but didn't work well. Slow, cumbersome, and prone to freezing up (especially with Hulu for who knows what reason.) I had previously used Directv streaming, which was functional but expensive. I then had a brief flirtation with a Tivo streaming stick, which had potential, but needed rebooting more times than could be counted. I was reluctant to go with a Fire because of its alienation from Google and the wondrous Play Store. But I finally decided to give this a try -- partly because I have had recent good experiences with Echo devices and Alexa. The 4k Max seemed like the best choice because of its larger storage. I reconfigured my system somewhat by plugging the Fire into a Yamaha receiver HDMI rather than the TV. I believe this helped achieve success -- with a more straightforward audio integration. The installation process was very smooth. Hulu, MAX, Apple, Peacock, Paramount+, Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney all installed and fired up without a hitch. I was annoyed that Google Play wasn't available and that a key mapper for the remote was apparently forbidden. But navigation and app loading were delightfully fast, and the stick quickly became friends with my Echo Dot. Alexa made changing between streaming services easy, and a more social experience -- albeit artificial. VLC was available and worked perfectly with my network storage drive. I was wary of the wireless network connection, but a test showed ample speed. I have had no internet glitches so far, and no freeze ups or weird behaviors in general. I want to get a remote with a few more shortcut buttons, but the supplied one works fine. Overall a better experience than I had dared to hope for. So far so good.
Carbon emissions from the lifecycle of this product were reduced compared to similar products or previous models.
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