Tech Ping: Wanted a Device to Listen to Books and Radio and Music...

chickensoup | 04.03.18 | chickensoup

[cynwoody]

Think of her as a needy girlfriend who is kind of cheap, kind of useless, but always needy.

By contrast, Google Home is a pushover. Just say, "Hey Google, play WXKS AM!", and she'll do it. No questions asked, an AM station with FM quality!

[Moonmad27]

I’ve got a Fire 7 but don’t use the Alexa app on it. No problem.

[BuffaloJack]

I use by Windows Phone.
I have a PLEX media server on my PC where I store all my music and the PLEX App on my phone brings up a menu with all my music. It did cost me $5 to activate the phone app so that I could listen anywhere via wifi. I can also give the phone a list of my music to store on its 64GB SD chip for when I have no wifi connection.

[robroys woman]

I just use retired smart phones for this, with the sim card removed.

I’m using two
slide’s and an LG G3 for this now. Wi-fi and Bluetooth both work for the G3 It’s great.

[MayflowerMadam]

I did the same with an old Nokia cell phone that I got from Amazon maybe around 2005 which I never activated as a phone. I just used it as a PDA. Kept my contacts and calendar in it. Downloaded books to my PC then moved them to the Nokia via USB cable. (It had wi-fi fo I probably could’ve downloaded directly.) It took a small SD so I had music on it.

The battery died so I no longer use it, but it served me well for years and I didn’t have to cave to a smart phone. Now I’ve caved, and have an Android, which I hate.

I’d love to go back to my dumb phone for a phone and use my Android for navigation, web browsing, and some of the apps I like.

[Cyclone59]

Just noticed this yesterday. I have a 3 to 4 year old phone - android, HTC M9, up to date on releases. You no longer have the option to turn the location OFF.

gives you three options:

High Accuracy - use GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and mobile networks to determine location

Battery Saving - use WiFi, Bluetooth and mobile networks to determine location

Device Only - use GPS to determine location

[Yo-Yo]

The Kinks said it best way back in 1981: https://youtu.be/wRpAANsoG8I?t=91

Paranoia will destroy ya.

Turn off Alexa, download the apps you need to listen to your books and streaming radio, and move on with your life.

Trust me, your life isn't interesting enough for them to spy on.

[BBB333]

A refurbished iPod touch directly from Apple is a good choice:
https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/ipod

Download the TuneIn Radio app and stream LOTS of radio stations.

The Kindle app for books...

WeatherBug for weather...

Easy-peasy.

Good luck!

[MomwithHope]

I have had 2 kindle fires now and love them. No alexa.

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

I use an apple iTouch. It looks sort of like an iPhone, but it has no SIM card so it does not connect to cell towers that track you. It does have the internet, but I keep that turned off so it is not tracking anything. I just use it to load and listen to music and audio books. You can dock it into speakers if you want or you can just use ear buds to listen. Very convenient and easy to use.

[Wilhelm Tell]

I have the TuneIn Radio app on both my Android smartphone and on several Android tablets. I also have that app on an Android-based Internet radio. If you don’t mind setting up a free TuneIn account, you can store all the radio stations and podcasts you want and you will have the same stations avilable on each device. The TuneIn app will allow your device to work much like an old fashioned radio - you can hear live stations from all over the country and the world. Other apps have fewer stations available. And some aps are more music apps that stream a song or whatever.

Maybe a small tablet would work, especially if you also want to use it with e-books. I would think it would be very tiring to read an e-book on a small device like a smartphone (it might be handy to look something up but it would be a struggle to read for a long period of time).

[TheCipher]

It will also remember that you visited their site. Big ‘cookie storage’ message as soon as their page loads!

This device doesn't connect to the internet, has no wi-fi or bluetooth. It is basically a USB player/recorder.

[TheCipher]

What I like about the model I mentioned is unlike regular USB stick type players, this one has a menu system just like windows where you can create subfolders, delete files/folders, and navigate by scrolling up and down.

[Wonder Warthog]

Any non-Amazon Android tablet will do what you want, and there are many media players available. I use an older Samsung player. No Alexa involved.

[Flick Lives]

I see that Mr Coffee has a wifi enabled model.

I think my coffee maker and my toaster are conspiring with each other over the WiFi network.

[Ciexyz]

I have several versions of Kindle Fire and never use the Alexa app which comes with each machine. It’s just one of the apps that comes with the tablet, along with the Amazon shopping app and the Prime Music app. Sometimes I’ll touch the Alexa app by accident and a purple line goes across the bottom of the screen and a voice says, I didn’t get that. Then it goes away. No big deal. I wouldn’t make a big paranoid deal over it. Just have fun with the tablet, which is a reasonable price for the entertainment it provides.

[VMI70]

I bought the Sandisk Sport in early February:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HCMZ2SE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and couldn’t be happier. WRVA-AM, here (Richmond, VA) just took over 96.1 FM, so I can get Rush Limbaugh on FM. The downside of that takeover was that I lost John Boy & Billy’s The Big Show. C’est la vie.

It’s a very satisfactory little device, and a bucket load lighter than my cell phone. It will do your music, books, etc, and FM radio to boot. It will also drive a pair of mini speakers, which I also bought at Amazon, along with the necessary cabling:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007OYAVLI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I thought the whole rig was reasonably priced.

Hope this helps...

FReegards

[tomkat]

Hey Soup, I've had one of these for quite awhile and it does all that you seem to want.
Mine has worked flawlessly in my dusty cabinet shop, on job sites, and in everyday use.
You can pick one up on eBay from a reputable seller for ~$35

SanDisk Sansa e250 Digital Media Player w/USB

[tomkat]

PS: I parked a copy of the owner's manual here that you can download and have a look-see re features etc.

[usconservative]

Your best bet is an Android (google) phone that you can then strip down to the basics.

ROFL!! Even a stripped to the basics Google enable phone spies on you as much as Alexa does.

I'd suspect that the original poster wouldn't know how to strip a Droid based phone down to the basics anyway after they recoiled in horror at just having Alexa.

For the record, I have three Amazon Echo's in my house all tied together, a Droid SmartPhone and several Apple iOS enabled devices. It's not terribly hard to secure all three however it does take some technical prowess and patience to do it.

BTW: Are you using a Windows PC by any chance? Yeah, not the most secure platform either.