Amazon offers Trade Up Program for Fire TV

Todd Erwin · Sep 27, 2018

I'm seriously considering trading in at least one of my Chromecasts for the Fire TV 4K.

Robert Crawford · Sep 27, 2018

What's the benefit of having a Fire TV 4K unit over a Roku or Apple capable 4K unit?

Todd Erwin · Sep 27, 2018

Robert Crawford said:
What's the benefit of having a Fire TV 4K unit over a Roku or Apple capable 4K unit?

Not much, in my opinion, other than Dolby Vision and Atmos capabilities that are Fire TV exclusive.

Upgrading from an HD Chromecast or HD Roku to Fire TV 4K, that's a different story.....

Scott Merryfield · Sep 27, 2018

I have a couple of old Roku 2 devices. I wonder if they would take them as a trade in? I'd pick up a Fire TV 4K for $12 just to try it out.

Todd Erwin · Sep 27, 2018

Scott Merryfield said:
I have a couple of old Roku 2 devices. I wonder if they would take them as a trade in? I'd pick up a Fire TV 4K for $12 just to try it out.

Roku 2 is included in the Trade-Up program. Click on Others under the list of Roku devices, then scroll and page through until you find your device.

Scott Merryfield · Sep 27, 2018

Todd Erwin said:
Roku 2 is included in the Trade-Up program. Click on Others under the list of Roku devices, then scroll and page through until you find your device.

I found one of my models -- a Roku 2 XD -- and gave it a shot. I received a $2.99 gift card immediately, along with a pre-paid UPS label. Once Amazon receives the device, a promotional credit will be applied towards my account for $25 towards a Fire TV 4K or $35 towards a Fire TV Cube.

The Roku was such an old model we were not using it anymore, so what the heck.

Todd Erwin · Sep 27, 2018

Scott Merryfield said:
I found one of my models -- a Roku 2 XD -- and gave it a shot. I received a $2.99 gift card immediately, along with a pre-paid UPS label. Once Amazon receives the device, a promotional credit will be applied towards my account for $25 towards a Fire TV 4K or $35 towards a Fire TV Cube.

The Roku was such an old model we were not using it anymore, so what the heck.

That was my thought regarding the Chromecast in my office. The gift card was not immediate, either. My experience with trade-ins on Amazon has been that the gift card will post within a week after the item is received. I spoke with an agent (in the US!) at Amazon today about this offer, and he said that should the Prime member price change between the time you initiate the trade-in and when all the credits post, just call them up and they will adjust it.

Race Bannon · Sep 27, 2018

Robert Crawford said:
What's the benefit of having a Fire TV 4K unit over a Roku or Apple capable 4K unit?

The things I like about my Fire TV are as follows:

1. I like having a device where the maker of it is not making money by selling me new devices, but by having a platform to sell content. Over the life of the program, Amazon is pretty much going "loss leader" on the device and is determined to keep up. So it's sort of future-proofed and I feel like the general family of devices (and habits I will form) will be ones I can keep for a while.

2. Amazon is great at integrating the "free" stuff with the pay stuff. I still can't believe Netflix is so popular when you can't rent a movie on it. With Amazon, I'm all set for rentals, purchases, or buffet of Prime. (This is true of Apple, too).

3. Amazon Music is a legit benefit. Not only is every song available for purchase, and their unlimited plan good, but the "free" you get with Prime is a good music streaming service with tons of songs. So your system can play good music easily.

4. Some functions are integrated with Alexa control through my Echo, and that number of functions grows constantly. Like pausing a movie with my voice, etc. Anything you can do through that Amazon voice remote (included), you can do through a nearby Echo.

5. At one time, TCM app was only available on Fire TV. I think that is still the case - you can get with a cable package like Sling, YoutubeTV, etc., but Fire has it just as a standalone app.

6. You can easily add cable channels to Fire like Showtime and STARZ, and pay for it separately.

7. Pretty cheap. On par with the Roku.

Scott Merryfield · Sep 27, 2018

Race Bannon said:
The things I like about my Fire TV are as follows:
5. At one time, TCM app was only available on Fire TV. I think that is still the case - you can get with a cable package like Sling, YoutubeTV, etc., but Fire has it just as a standalone app..

The TCM app is available on Apple TV, too. It's good to know it's available on the Fire TV, too, though.

One questions for you, Jay, that I'm not sure you'll know the answer to -- does the Fire TV have the NHL app available? I subscribe to their service so I can watch my favorite team (Montreal), which is out of market for me.

Scott Merryfield · Sep 27, 2018

Todd Erwin said:
That was my thought regarding the Chromecast in my office. The gift card was not immediate, either. My experience with trade-ins on Amazon has been that the gift card will post within a week after the item is received. I spoke with an agent (in the US!) at Amazon today about this offer, and he said that should the Prime member price change between the time you initiate the trade-in and when all the credits post, just call them up and they will adjust it.

You are correct. I just checked my gift card balance, and it's at $0. It just looked like it was being awarded immediately when I initiated the trade-in. No big deal, though. I would rather apply the gift card to the Fire TV purchase.

I really do not need another streaming device, but for $12 I'll give it a try.

Todd Erwin · Sep 30, 2018

Race Bannon said:
The things I like about my Fire TV are as follows:

1. I like having a device where the maker of it is not making money by selling me new devices, but by having a platform to sell content. Over the life of the program, Amazon is pretty much going "loss leader" on the device and is determined to keep up. So it's sort of future-proofed and I feel like the general family of devices (and habits I will form) will be ones I can keep for a while.

2. Amazon is great at integrating the "free" stuff with the pay stuff. I still can't believe Netflix is so popular when you can't rent a movie on it. With Amazon, I'm all set for rentals, purchases, or buffet of Prime. (This is true of Apple, too).

3. Amazon Music is a legit benefit. Not only is every song available for purchase, and their unlimited plan good, but the "free" you get with Prime is a good music streaming service with tons of songs. So your system can play good music easily.

4. Some functions are integrated with Alexa control through my Echo, and that number of functions grows constantly. Like pausing a movie with my voice, etc. Anything you can do through that Amazon voice remote (included), you can do through a nearby Echo.

5. At one time, TCM app was only available on Fire TV. I think that is still the case - you can get with a cable package like Sling, YoutubeTV, etc., but Fire has it just as a standalone app.

6. You can easily add cable channels to Fire like Showtime and STARZ, and pay for it separately.

7. Pretty cheap. On par with the Roku.

A few things I don't like about Amazon Fire:

1. Other video streaming services like Vudu and FandangoNow are locked out. There are a lot of movies I own that are UV-only or Amazon does not offer in 4K (or if they do, they did not redeem as 4K on Amazon). So, I would still need a Roku or Apple TV to watch those. So much for not having to have multiple devices.

2. Amazon has made some drastic changes in the last 12 months with Amazon Music that I am not a fan of. Many songs are no longer available as part of the "free" service, they are now charging to upload any music to your locker (they used to offer a small amount of storage for free), and they seem to be phasing out the AutoRip feature (where you can purchase an album on CD and have the music available immediately in your amazon Prime Music account or download immediately).

3. Any issues with redemption or quality is never, ever Amazon's fault.

Scott Merryfield · Sep 30, 2018

I did a little research on the Fire TV 4k, and it looks like the device isn't really for me. It doesn't support IR remote codes, so it will not work with my Harmony remote. That alone is a show stopper. It also has a really short HDMI cable built in, so I would need an HDMI extender to install it properly in my equipment rack.

Looks like I am back buying the new Roku Premiere for $40 to free up an existing Roku for the TV I want to mount next to the bar in our basement recreation room.

Todd Erwin · Sep 30, 2018

The Roku Premiere may be an RF remote, too. That seems to be the trend with streaming devices these days. My Roku 4K Streaming Stick+ is RF, and so is my 1080p Roku Streaming Stick.

Scott Merryfield · Oct 1, 2018

All my Roku devices accept IR commands, so it could be both an RF and IR device. My cable boxes from Comcast do both.

If the Premiere ends up being RF only, I will have to return it for another Roku Express.

EDIT: According to Roku's own website, the new Premiere uses the standard Roku IR remote. So, it should be fine in my master bedroom -- I use the remote that came with the Samsung 4K display to control both the TV and Roku in that setup with no audio system, as it works fine and saves the expense of another Harmony remote (although the Harmony 650 model is pretty inexpensive).

Race Bannon · Oct 1, 2018

Scott Merryfield said:
I did a little research on the Fire TV 4k, and it looks like the device isn't really for me. It doesn't support IR remote codes, so it will not work with my Harmony remote. That alone is a show stopper. It also has a really short HDMI cable built in, so I would need an HDMI extender to install it properly in my equipment rack.

Looks like I am back buying the new Roku Premiere for $40 to free up an existing Roku for the TV I want to mount next to the bar in our basement recreation room.

My Fire TV works great with my Harmony Elite. But I have a a Harmony Hub, so I'm not sure if it's communicating over the router network or IR.

Race Bannon · Oct 1, 2018

Scott Merryfield said:
One questions for you, Jay, that I'm not sure you'll know the answer to -- does the Fire TV have the NHL app available? I subscribe to their service so I can watch my favorite team (Montreal), which is out of market for me.

Yes, NHL app is on there.

Scott Merryfield · Oct 1, 2018

Race Bannon said:
My Fire TV works great with my Harmony Elite. But I have a a Harmony Hub, so I'm not sure if it's communicating over the router network or IR.

Thanks, but I do not have a Harmony Hub -- just a simple Harmony 650 universal remote, which is IR only. It meets all my current needs, so I have not felt the need to spend a lot of money on Harmony's higher-end products. I am just going to leave the Roku Ultra in my main system for Amazon Prime video use (the Apple TV 4K does everything else), and get a new $40 Premiere for the master bedroom. That will give me HDR10 support in that room (our 49-inch Samsung display does HDR10, but not Dolby Vision) and move the current older Premiere (which is 4K but no HDR) to the basement recreation room.

The lack of Vudu also limits where I would use the Fire TV 4K. If I put it in our master bedroom, then I would have to use the display's built-in app for Vudu. I would rather use the streaming box for everything. The Amazon box will not work for us in any other room because it lacks the Xfinity app, which we use with Roku boxes on the other 3 displays instead of renting cable convertors from Comcast. We just rent one extra convertor for the master bedroom where my wife watches TV the most (it's much easier changing channels than with the Xfinity app).

DavidJ · Oct 4, 2018

I wish you could trade in an old Fire TV or Fire TV Stick.

Also, I search the HTF, but I didn't see any discussion of the Fire TV Recast. Anyone looking into that? What do you think of it?

Todd Erwin · Oct 4, 2018

DavidJ said:
I wish you could trade in an old Fire TV or Fire TV Stick.

Also, I search the HTF, but I didn't see any discussion of the Fire TV Recast. Anyone looking into that? What do you think of it?

The trade-in program is what it is. It would be nice if it included older versions of the Fire TVs, but it doesn't. And it doesn't include the Recast, possibly because it is not scheduled to begin shipping until mid-November. The Recast sounds fairly similar to Tivo's more recent OTA DVR's, with the ability to transfer shows to "compatible mobile devices" and be controlled by other Fire devices.

Amazon offers Trade Up Program for Fire TV

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