July 12, 2022 by Mark H. Anbinder in 14850 Magazine
Amazon has expanded its annual Prime Day event to two days, July 12th and 13th, and Amazon Prime members (even during a free trial) can take advantage of deals throughout the online shopping site. Some of the best deals are on devices from Amazon’s own brands, including Kindle e-readers, Echo smart speakers and screens, Fire TV streaming devices, and Ring and Blink home security gear including security cameras, video doorbells, and motion-sensor path lighting.
Kindle e-readers are the ruler of the digital book world. There are and have been alternatives, but there simply isn’t anything as widely supported as Amazon‘s own line of digital readers and tablets. The options include slim e-ink readers, backlit models, even full color tablets that are great not just for books but also magazines and movies.
Amazon sells its readers and tablets at super low prices because they expect you’ll buy books and videos from them, but there are plenty of ways to get free material, including from our very own Tompkins County Public Library. All New York State residents can also sign up for a New York Public Library card, and take advantage of their broader online selection.
The Kindle Paperwhite is designed to give you as close as possible an experience to picking up a paper book, and it’s waterproof, so safe at the beach or in the tub. A Kindle Paperwhite Kids version adds $10 to the price, but it also adds a free year of Amazon Kids+, offering free books and audiobooks, it removes the advertising that appears on most Kindles, and it comes with a two-year “worry-free guarantee.” That’s probably the way to go even if you don’t have kids.
A heavier-duty (aluminum and glass instead of plastic) Kindle Oasis seems to be the only remaining Kindle model with the free cellular connection that set the original Kindle apart. That means even if you’re nowhere near a Wi-Fi network, you’ve always got access to your library as long as there’s a cell signal.
The Fire HD 8 (just $45 for Prime Days instead of 90) or Fire HD 10 ($75 instead of $150) let you read, but also give you just about everything most people need from a tablet. That includes social media and even video conferencing, along with the option to watch TV shows and movies, whether you rent or buy from Amazon, stream online, or borrow from the library.
While we’re talking about Fire tablets and video, Amazon offers gizmos to turn just about any TV of the last 15 or so years (as long as it has an HDMI port) into a Smart TV. If you’re into Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, HBO Max, or other video streaming services, and you’re tired of watching on your laptop, upgrading your TV is long overdue! That could mean replacing your television with a Smart TV, or adding an external device to the TV you’ve got.
The simplest and most affordable current version is the Fire TV Stick, which comes with a remote control that includes Alexa voice control, just $17 instead of $40 during Prime Days. (There are Mandalorian-themed versions for $32.) A Fire TV Stick 4K, $35 instead of $55 right now, offers a faster user interface (with more-responsive controls) and higher quality streaming, if your TV and streaming services support it. The latest Fire TV Cube offers the fastest Fire TV performance right now, and is $60 instead of $120 for Prime Days. If you’re patient, the Fire TV Stick Lite isn’t as fast as any of the above, but it’s just $12 instead of $30 for Prime Days, and it’ll do the trick for basic streaming needs.
If your current TV isn’t up to snuff, there are Fire TV enabled smart televisions on sale for Prime Days as well, such as a 55-inch 4K Insignia for $280 instead of $450.
Is Amazon’s Fire TV line better than the line of Roku add-on gizmos, or Roku-enabled TVs? Not necessarily, but they’re especially well integrated with Amazon. Is it better than connecting an Apple TV gizmo to your television? That’s what I use for most of my own TV watching, and it’s especially well integrated with Apple’s ecosystem, including seamlessly keeping track of what you watch on your TV, your iPhone, your iPad, and your Mac, as well as letting you watch on the TV anything you open on any of the others. For those who don’t live in the Apple world, the Fire TV and Roku options are just fine.
Amazon’s Kindle e-readers and Fire tablets have some Amazon Alexa “virtual assistant” capabilities, but their line of Echo smart speakers and screens offer always-on smart home capabilities, if that’s something that appeals to you. You can say “Alexa, play classic rock” so there’s some music coming out of your Echo Dot (just $20 for Prime Days with a free multicolor smart bulb) to muffle the nearby thunderstorm for your jittery dog. (You can even have a stand that makes it look like Grogu, the Child, from “The Mandalorian.”)
Or, say “Alexa, show the front door,” and your Echo Show 5 ($35 instead of $85 for Prime Days) will bring up on its five-inch screen whatever your Ring Doorbell is seeing right now. An eight-inch version, the Echo Show 8 ($75 instead of $130 for Prime Days), has an HD display that’s more plausible for watching movies, but even the five-inch version is enough to watch recipe videos, hands-free, while you cook in the kitchen.
There’s been a ridiculous rash of commercial burglaries around the Ithaca area over the last few weeks, and it’s serving as a good reminder that there are some affordable tools we can use to protect our homes or businesses. Nothing’s perfect, and nothing will prevent all burglaries, but a combination of motion-sensor lights and visible cameras can help deter would-be burglars, and those cameras can also help local police solve any crimes that do occur.
Ring Solar Pathlights can add some safety to walkways by lighting up when you or a visitor walk by, and they can trigger your Ring Doorbell camera to start recording video when motion is detected even before the doorbell would notice a person in its field of view.
Ring offers both wired doorbell models (which need to be connected to low-voltage doorbell wiring) and battery-powered models (which need their batteries recharged from time to time), but they also have an optional solar charger to keep your doorbell battery charged. If your doorbell is mounted somewhere that’s shaded, such as under a porch roof, a detached solar panel you can mount several feet away is a good solution, and it’s cheaper than Ring’s offering, as well.
If you’re not already an Amazon Prime subscriber, it’s easy to sign up for a 30-day free trial, and then take advantage of Prime Days. If you cancel your Prime membership after the free trial, your Prime benefits end, too. Amazon Prime free trials include access to the two-day Prime Day, taking place July 12th and 13th, and the option to add premium streaming services like Paramount+, Showtime, and Starz to Prime Video.
Related: Amazon Prime members now get a free year of Grubhub+ membership
Prime benefits are even included with the half-price Prime Student membership.
Try Amazon Prime free for 30 days at amazon.com/tryprimefree
We’re big fans of shopping locally, and encourage you to buy what you can in town, from locally owned businesses when possible. Even buying from chain stores helps with local tax revenue and employment. If you’re more into big box stores than Amazon, it’s worth noting that Target Deal Days and BJ’s Wholesale Club WOW Days are designed to compete with Prime Days, and they’ve got great discount offers this week, as well. When it comes to e-readers and the like, though, Amazon’s where it’s at.
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