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Tarrant

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I but the hue 4 bulb starter kit (color) with one additional bulb. Shit aint cheap.

At any rate, I bulbed out my living room. My bedrooms have smaller bulbs in ceiling fans for the most part so I cant get hue for those I'd need to buy new lamps and I'm not prepared to do that. I'm spending enough on other things at the moment to not want to do all that too.

Anyways, the lights in the living room are neat. I have track lighting of four floods in the kitchen that I'd just get plain white for (my living room and kitchen are an open floor plan) and three or four bulbs above the table that still need to be done for that whole main level to be complete. I basically just wanted to try out the living room to see if I liked it.

They are neat, I still don't think I'm fully behind them in terms of needing them but it's fun to mess with the lights when im not home and the g/f is. LoL

The kids dig the colors too so thats cool.

Jury is still out but I'm not as opposed to them as I was before.
 

meStevo

I think your wife's a bigfoot gus.
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Set up slickdeals alerts for the bulbs, that's how I've gotten most of mine.
 

Mr. K

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I bought a Hue motion sensor for my basement dungeon to it'll turn on the lights when I'm just passing through.

The hue stuff is so neat.

I'm going to turn the dungeon into my smart home lab.

How is this working for you? I am having a new house built and decided to get some hue stuff to play with.

Until they are older we plan to let my kids have the basement to contain their toys and such. And I wanted to put a motion sensor to turn on the lights for them when they go down....but then what?

Do the lights stay on? Do they need to hit a switch?
 

meStevo

I think your wife's a bigfoot gus.
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The app lets you set how long it stays on, so if the sensor can see the area they're playing in (rather than just pointed at the door or something) then it might flicker or dim when the pre-set time runs out, but then will trigger again and stay on for the allotted time.

You can also get a switch for the lights - https://www.bestbuy.com/site/philip...wnjO-ttyy-K1MqwLyKY2WfFIi-JcunKBoCD80QAvD_BwE

I was actually in a hotel this weekend (Hotel De Anaza, San Jose) that had wifi lights in it
 

Mr. K

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Yeah I'm going to spend a fortune doing this Hue stuff. But it's fun.
 
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Gator

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Amazon announced a few new additions to the Echo line up this week

Echo (2nd Generation: Now smaller and improved): $99.99 / Release date 10/31

Echo Plus (Same as the Echo but now contains a Smart Hub): $149.99 Also, comes with a Philips Hue bulb / Release date 10/31

Echo Spot (Smaller round version of the Echo Show): $129.99 / Release date 12/19

dims
 

Mr. K

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I have an Echo, an Echo Dot, Logitech Harmony Ultimate w/ Hub and when my new house is done I'll be using Hue, August and an Ecobee 4 (w/ Alexa)...think it's worth doing the Echo Pro to act as my main hub for everything?
 

Mr. K

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New house uses flood style bulbs in recessed lighting. Anyone know of a cheaper way to get the Philips Hue BR30? Buying in bulk for these things hurts.
 

Zapatta

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New house uses flood style bulbs in recessed lighting. Anyone know of a cheaper way to get the Philips Hue BR30? Buying in bulk for these things hurts.

Try getting them from an Electrical Contractor Supply house, call for a quote. They probably wont sell to you without a license but you might be able to tap shoulder on someone walking in to pick them up for you. Kinda like getting a Grown Up to buy you beer when you are under age. Or you can try dressing in working mans clothes carry a tape measure and scratched up safety glasses, tell them you dont have an account and will pay cash, they will probably skip asking for credentials, I do that shit on the regular. But that wont fly if you are only trying to get 1-2 boxes, you have to buy a case.
 
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Mr. K

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Hmm definitely an idea I have a couple friends in that space. Thanks Zap.

Also, small rant, fuck eBay, what is the use of eBay existing when everything is the same or more than Amazon, Jet or Walmart? Then people who ask for offers bitch when you make it lower than market value. It's so dumb.
 

Crone

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Hmm definitely an idea I have a couple friends in that space. Thanks Zap.

Also, small rant, fuck eBay, what is the use of eBay existing when everything is the same or more than Amazon, Jet or Walmart? Then people who ask for offers bitch when you make it lower than market value. It's so dumb.
Agree dumb, but sometimes it works out. Got a brand new pair of headphones for $115 when it was $170 on Amazon! :)
 

Mr. K

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Agree dumb, but sometimes it works out. Got a brand new pair of headphones for $115 when it was $170 on Amazon! :)

Occasionally you get a deal. But it's like 1 out of 1000 postings. And you either need to be lucky enough to see it first if it's buy it now or win a bid...but like almost everything with bids seems to go above market value. Especially with some of the crazy shipping prices.
 

Crone

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Occasionally you get a deal. But it's like 1 out of 1000 postings. And you either need to be lucky enough to see it first if it's buy it now or win a bid...but like almost everything with bids seems to go above market value. Especially with some of the crazy shipping prices.
Yea, it's rare ebay wins!

Hope you get cheap light bulbs from the supplier warehouse!
 

edko

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Echo plus dropped onto the carport this afternoon.

I should have read up and this is my fault, but I still have to keep my Hue bridge tethered if I want to use any feature that isn't on, off or dim. So the color changing etc requires I keep the bridge plugged in. Small bummer but whatever.

The sound is definitely better and I think it is actually a tad louder than the last version.

Otherwise it's kind of the same ole. I suppose the Echo does some pre-loading or buffering? Because my internet goes up and down in very brief intervals but the music doesn't stop.

Looking forward to grabbing a Nest as the next compatible item along with some more bulbs for the living room and office.
 

edko

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Splurged real hard guys.

Bought the Hue Disco app for 4 effing bucks. Great app for syncing music to the lights and making color shows. Uses the phone to make the light show but that's ok.
 

Mr. K

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Splurged real hard guys.

Bought the Hue Disco app for 4 effing bucks. Great app for syncing music to the lights and making color shows. Uses the phone to make the light show but that's ok.

I did the same. And have it loaded on an old phone, it's great.

I've got the original Echo, three Dots and an Echo Show.

I got the Show for $125 with the Black Friday deal and an Amazon moving coupon.

It is the only one that's a bit iffy to me. It needs Netflix and then I'd have zero regrets.

The main reason I bought it was because I also bought a Ring Pro and obviously they work well together.
 
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