Echo Show - 1st Generation Black

Update 7/12/19I bought a Echo Spot for the bedroom, so, somewhat to my surprise, the Show is now located in the living room, next to the TV. Why? Because my family really enjoys having it there. They can check on the weather, get caught up on the news, listen to music while watching the lyrics, turn on the a/c units, lights, and turn other things on and off. I have a gen2 Echo in the living room still, but nobody ever uses it anymore. As far as we can discern, the Show sounds just as good. So now I have to find another place for the Echo (probably the kitchen, to rep!ace the Dot in there). I originally used a Fire 8 tablet in show mode in the living room, but the Show has totally replaced it. The Fire Tab is now just a tablet, and the Show has come to stay. That's pretty good for something I bought on a whim, with very low expectations.Update 5/8/19Still working great. Gets even better with time, as Alexa learns new skills. I still think a Fire Tablet 8 is a better deal, but the Echo Show works as advertised.Update 3/11/19The Show is still working great. I bought it thinking I would use it in the kitchen, but it is now on my grandstand as a high-tech alarm coming clock. It is really nice to be able to listen to my news, my commute, my appointments , and make up my to-do list as I get ready in the morning. I had planned on getting a Spot for that purpose, but the larger screen on the Show makes it easier to watch movies before going to bed.I resisted getting a show because of the high price and limited ability. But when I heard that the Gen1 Show's software had been updated to the Gen2's standard, and saw the the warehouse price was $99, it seemed like a great time to take the plunge.The unit I received came in what appeared to be the original packing. It even came with the protective plastic film covers on it. I chose the "acceptable quality" selection, but I have not been able to find any sign of wear or usage whatsoever. It certainly appears to be brand new.Set up was simple, as usual, but after I got it set up I could not find a browser. I had to go back to settings to find out that it needed an update. Not a big deal, but I don't know if someone unfamiliar with Echo products would have known to do that. After a 15 minute update process the Show functioned perfectly. I was able to get my Hulu account set up on it, and my Pandora, Tune In, and other accounts from my other Echoes transferred seamlessly. Having used the Show Mode on my HD8 tablet quite a bit it didn't take long to figure things out.A couple of oberservations:- YouTube does work now, but it is not really integrated into the whole Echo universe. You can't do everything hands free. Having said that, it does work well. I would not have purchased a Show without the ability to use YouTube.-having a browser is really nice. It functions just like any other browser. I was disappointed, but not surprised, when Crackle and some other steaming video services did not work, but with YouTube, Hulu, and Prime Video I don't think I will ever be without something to watch. The ability to look things up with the browser is great, and I am really glad that they included it.- I have heard a lot of comments about how the Gen2 show sounds much better than the Gen1. If that's true, then the Gen2 must sound incredible, because the Gen1 sounds really good to me, as good if not better than my Gen2 Echo.- the 7 inch screen is fine. Of course I watch a lot of movies on my Fire Tab7, so I might not be a good judge. But the Show screen looked fine to me. I watched two movies on it in a row without any issues.-the calling features are the same as on my tablet in show mode, which means they work well. I have bèen video chatting with my family via FB Messenger, and I am interested in seeing if it works better with the echos. I will update my review after getting more experience with it.I know that this review is of limited interest, as the gen1 Shows are about gone. But if you have been on the fence about buying a Show, right now they are a great value at $99. So buy one. While you still can!

I love my Echo Show which I just got yesterday. It's pretty much as described here. I waited awhile to see how things went with it, but then decided to go ahead and "jump in" as they say. Certainly, there's room to grow, but the current experience is very good, especially for PRIME members. I will be updating this review as I have more experience, but I wanted to post today to highlight one new development.As of late today (9/26) Google has blocked the Echo Show from accessing YouTube. Now I have been using my ES to watch YouTube and it's great, so this is very disappointing. Amazon and Google have given conflicting statements. So we'll wait and see what happens. However, I think Google is making a huge mistake by doing this. Google is just begging Amazon to set up a competitive service of their own by doing this. Amazon could easily create a YouTube like service for the Echo Show. Sure, YouTube has a huge lead and it would be tough, but Amazon has everything they need to set up a similar service and I bet they could do it fairly quickly if they choose to do so. But let's hope they work things out soon and YouTube returns to the Echo Show. [***Update: While losing this feature is disappointing, the Echo Show still has a lot to offer, including things like CNN, Prime movies/videos, and so on. So I think some of the reaction here in reviews is a bit overdone. I am using my show every single day and getting a lot of value out of it. Even when just listening to music, the visuals (album art, song and album titles listed, time line, are all very welcome - like on a tablet. The most apt comparison I can think of is the old Sony Dash, only with more potential. And who doesn't think Amazon is going to address this one way or the other?***]Meanwhile I've got Prime Videos, Movies and TV I can watch and that all works great. Some people think the screen is too small, but I have watched videos on small screens for years now and have become quite happy and used to it. If it's sitting on your desk about 20 inches away, believe me, it's fine for casual viewing. I watched "Ex Machina" last night and enjoyed it very much. [***Update: Have watched many more movies and vids and still loving it.***]The Echo Show has a great deal of potential, but is already a lot of fun and very useful right out of the box. Setup was simple and easy. I had no trouble at all. Speakers sound pretty good and the screen looks nice. Oh, and the new musical "device grouping" available is fantastic. It was very easy to create an "Everywhere" group and add my Echo Show and older Echo in it and now I can say "play <music> everywhere" and listen on both devices. I plan to add more devices later. It's a very useful and superb feature. [Still loving this new feature!]One thing I learned quickly, is that it would be useful to be able to swivel my Echo Show (since I use it close by on my desk, but would be just as useful in a kitchen, for example). And so I did some research and found this very inexpensive and nice turntable that fits my ES perfectly: Lazery Collections Gripped Bottom Cabinet Turntable Lazy Susan (9-Inch) -- it has a nice soft, rubber pad and non-slip rubber feet - perfect!All the many skills are even better on the Echo Show. Especially lists and reminders. The CNN Videos ("Open CNN") are great. Usually updated within the last 2-6 hours (plus many older clips). Often same as those linked by online news stories. It also seems to stream video ("Latest Video") delayed by a few hours which is nice. Very convenient way to check on latest news events and the video and sound quality is excellent. The CNBC skill is also very good ("Open CNBC"). Audio with visual text. Market news, updates, and quotes and was real time when I checked. Nice!Prime movies are great. Prime music is great. I can listen to all my CD or mp3 music purchases ("autorip"), Prime music (millions of songs), and the music I have uploaded as well. Nice! So far, I'm very pleased. More to come as I have more time with my new ES!*** Update: See updates above. I am still enjoying my Echo Show very much. I use it every single day. And it will only get better.