Amazon Fire TV Stick question

These look pretty simple, just plug it into an HDMI port on your TV.

However, I have my Blu-Ray, Cable box, etc HDMI outputs all going into ports on my A/V receiver so the sound gets routed through it and I just have a single HDMI out to the TV for the picture.

Can the Fire Stick go into one of the ports on the receiver and work the same way?

 

Got mine today. I have it hooked up to my AV receiver with just the single HDMI going to my TV, so it works. I get lots of dropouts, etc when watching movies. My problem might be my WFI is on the 3rd floor of the house and the TV is on the 1st floor. So I will probably have to get a Apple Airport Express downstairs. The stick comes with a little USB adapter that you plug into to power it "for best performance". I have not tried it not plugged into a outlet yet. I look forward to the Fire Stick App coming to the Apple Store - the little remote is OK but controlling it from the iPone, etc would probably be better.

Pat

 

Many thanks!

 

Hmmm, you're saying that the Amazon Fire TV Stick works without any external power at all?

That's interesting because articles like this one claim that it "needs to be plugged into a power outlet." And even the technical details section of Amazon's product page states that one of the system requirements is "a power outlet."

I ordered one at the end of October, but it isn't estimated to arrive until December 24.

I'm not sure how I'll use it, as I have a Roku hooked up to one TV, and the other TV is a "smart TV" that already has apps built-in for all the services we use. I really just got it because it was so cheap (only $19 for me), and maybe I'll try to use it while traveling, to hook up to hotel TVs (though I've noticed a disturbing trend in the last year or two of hotels using tape to seal off HDMI inputs on their TVs, or at least disabling the ability to change inputs via remote, to prevent visitors from hooking up their own devices).

Craig.

 

I'm interested in the answer to this as well. I have one plugged in, but the TV is on a high-dresser on the USB power cord is not quite long enough for me not to need an extension cable. It seems to work great for me, but I was expecting it to be the size of a Flash Drive for some reason! Still pretty small.

 

I don't know if it works without power. In the little video it shows about the Fire Stick one you get it up and running it says something about it working better or strongly preferred it to be plugged in.

Pat

 

I continue to be confused by this technical detail, and here's a recent example of two conflicting sources of information that add to my confusion:

1. I was watching some sports programming in the last week (can't remember if it was Fox, CBS, ESPN, or some other...but think it was Fox), and a couple of sportscasters were doing one of those clearly "advertisement within programming" things, in which one of the two (was it Jimmy Johnson?) was talking about how awesome the Amazon TV Stick was, and how he was using one that he found gift-wrapped in the dressing room. He made a point of saying how easy it was to use, and the image cut to a demonstration of sticking the stick into the back of a TV's HDMI port. The sportscaster specifically said that you "just plug it in" and that's it. No mention (verbal or visual) of needing a power adapter, needing to plug it into an outlet, etc. It was clearly a scripted message/advertisement that was coordinated with Amazon.

2. My order of an Amazon Fire TV Stick just shipped this morning, and Amazon sent a follow-up email with more information about the product that I'll receive by Wednesday, and the text of that email states (I put part in bold): "Setting up Fire TV Stick is easy. Simply plug it in to your TV’s HDMI port, connect the power adapter, then connect to the Internet via your home Wi-Fi network."

I guess I'll find out definitively for myself later this week which message is true. But I am surprised that the messages could be so inconsistent, even when clearly originating from Amazon itself.

Craig.

 

You definitely need to connect power to the Micro USB jack on the Fire TV Stick.

Amazon recommends using the >>included<< AC/USB adapter for "best performance" -- meaning that an alternate USB power source might or might not work because some AC/USB adapters (or the USB jacks on TV's) don't put out adequate power.

With respect to connecting HDMI to your receiver rather than directly to the TV, this should work OK.

The go-to spot for info on Fire TV and Fire TV Stick is http://www.aftvnews.com

 

I think you should believe Amazon and not a sports announcer pretending he uses one.