Streaming Amazon videos?

There are internet videos for all your questions.

We watch Amazon videos and shows with our Prime membership.

There is a little device that hooks to the back of your TV called an Amazon Firestick. This is the connection between the TV and your Prime content.

It is a simple little device, small and plugs into the back of the TV into a USB port. You need a more modern TV with the USB port.

It requires a WIFI signal to operate, and you cannot download and store the movies. They have to be watched in real time. You can pause them, even shut them off and come back another day, but you cannot store them for offline use.

It's a great deal, I paid about 60 bucks for mine, one time purchase, no ongoing fees.

I stream Amazon Prime video on my tablet or laptop
I connect my laptop to my TV with an HDMI cable ,
Some videos can be downloaded, but once you start to watch it you have 72 hrs to finish watching, cant start today and finish next week
If the TV is a smart tv with Wi-Fi and apps, you can stream with the TV connected to Wi-Fi, you will Need to register the TV to your Amazon account
To stream you need to be internet connected
With Amazon I prefer streaming instead of downloading
It remembers where I was in the video, if I stop watching and come back another day

MrWizard wrote:

Some videos can be downloaded, but once you start to watch it you have 72 hrs to finish watching, cant start today and finish next week

I stand corrected on that point.

I always download something just in case. You can download a whole season of a show also. I do have a fire stick hooked up to my tv, but havent used it except at home. Get the hdmi cord and a firestick, both will cost about 40 $ and you will be covered for anything.

SO, with the Firestick for example, we still need separate WIFI, or if we USB to the TV (Yes, we have Smart TV) then the WIFI on the Laptop serves as the downloading device and pushes content to Firestick or USB?

What about Android phone, which we have unlimited data, any WIFI either the Firestick or USB connection to the TV makes it function? And as a general rule, you watch it but can't download it at home and watch it on the road, for example.

We have HDMI cord as well ... it runs from Cable Box to TV at home.

Basically, if I understand it: Prime Video >>> WIFI >>> Firestick or USB >>> Smart TV -- and must be live feed (or some series will download) but generally live feed while you watch movies.

If it's a relatively recent smart TV, you may be able to simply add Amazon video to the set, or it may actually have come with Amazon. Ours did.

BobsYourUncle wrote:
We watch Amazon videos and shows with our Prime membership.

There is a little device that hooks to the back of your TV called an Amazon Firestick. This is the connection between the TV and your Prime content.

Newer TVs (<5 years old) can usually install Fire TV directly on the TV itself.

If you are going to buy a Fire TV Stick, get the 4K model. The TV ON/OFF, Volume up/down/mute is worth the extra cost.

Amazon Prime is like the water company providing a spigot with water next to your trailer.
Wifi is like the hose you connect from the spigot to your trailer.

Having a Spigot with no hose you get no water in the RV.

Now once you have the hose hooked up:
- If you get a newer smart TV with wifi & Amazon Prime built in, you don't need a laptop.
- If you have an older TV, you can either connect the computer screen via an HDMI cord (with purely mimics the computer screen) or via a wireless device (firestick is a brand associated with Amazon but has some additional capability to play with other media sources)
- Some newer TVs can mirror the computer screen wirelessly even without a firestick (or comparable device). It does seem to be hit and miss regarding how well this works and it can be brand specific. At airbnbs we've had times when it works flawlessly and other times, it keeps dropping the connection. It's nice because you don't need a wire from laptop to TV, so you can keep the laptop next to your seat instead of getting up to go load the next show.

Biggest issue you will find is getting a wifi source that can handle video:
- Campground wifi is typically too slow to be usable. (think one garden hose coming into the campground and 50 RVs trying to pull water at the same time each RV get a trickle or maybe no water)
- Cellphone hotspots will often have enough speed but you will burn thru data very quickly downloading video (even unlimited plans they will quickly throttle the download speeds if you use a ton of data, so there is a lot of buffering).

If it's an occasional weekend, the cellphone hotspot is very much doable and if you don't expect high def video, it's even better (high def requires a lot more data). We watch a lot of youtube and you can select the video quality. Many videos, supper high def isn't important so we dial back the image quality to save data.

Our Firestick simply plugs in to a USB port on the back of our fairly new smart TV. It even came with a little pigtail if the connection point is tight.

There is HDMI as well, but wireless works just fine.
We have never tried using it on in the RV while camping, we bring a box of 5 dollar Walmart DVDs to use in the older TV on the wall.

Streaming burns up huge data, and I only have 2 gigs with my phone so don't even bother trying.

But at home the possibilities are many. My grandsons graduation was streamed live on Zoom. I brought it up on my laptop and sent it wirelessly to the TV.

The array of content on Amazon Prime is excellent. Something for every taste.
And whether you set up wireless or by a cable, it can be done with ease.