Looking to buy Lady Slowlane a Smart Alexa type thingey that will fill the gap when Chambers takes his once monthly day off. We don’t want to spend anything more than Chambers’ daily rate otherwise it make a nonsense of giving him the day off.
Hope you Geeky types can help.
Personally I have a Google Home in the front room and a couple of Google Home Minis around the house, got them all half price in a Google store sale.
I can’t fault them, sound is fine for what I listen to, I’m not an audio snob. It’s links to my google account and does all I need to do.
Answers questions and counts down time for when I’m cooking as well.
The most useful thing we use on our Google Mini is “Google, broadcast that dinner is ready” because I was so pissed off with hollering up the stairs and fighting to be heard over the nightly battle on Fortnite. Tyke has a Google Home in his bedroom and we have the mini in the kitchen. I agree … sound not Bose style but perfectly adequate for Radio 2 !
Fuck is that still going? 
We have Alexa in a few rooms
The echo is good enough to listen to music. A lot of the apps are a bit pointless, but you can get some good add ons
We got a wall clock for the kitchen which is a great visual guide when you set timers. We also have a number of plugs linked in so we can turn off lamps downstairs and turn the bedside ones on upstairs by telling her you are going to bed - not life changing but quite cool
The plugs are great for Christmas lights, particularly when you set it up so that it only responds to a Noddy Holder “Its Chritmassssss” like shout - The Ayatollah hates it
My “junior” at work loves his smart stuff, he has a couple of Alexas and uses them to talk to his father-in-law, even though he is the next room in a 2 bedroom flat.
He also uses Alexa to make his “smart” bulbs a disco ball on his birthday!
What he also uses Alexa for, and this annoys the fuck out of me, is to read bedtime stories to his 12 month daughter and to make calming noises at her when she won’t sleep…I bet the first word she says will be Alexa…
FWIW I think Alexas are better for controlling smart stuff and the “widgets” but for normal use they are very much of a muchness.
However I just asked google if I should put a silicone baking pan on a baking sheet and it gave me a very good answer.
I do public speaking.
I’m also smart.
When Chambers has his day off could you come round and turn off the lights and stuff?
I heard that the Amazon smart speaker doesn’t recognise…
Alexa, play Calexico.
So as that’s 99.9% of what you’ll be saying to it, it’s fuck all use to you John
These JBL speakers with Google built-in seem to be getting good reviews for people that like their sound sounding like sound
Sounds like a deal breaker Bletch…thanks for the heads up. Just have to keep shouting at Chambers to wind up the gramophone and put another Calexico cylinder on. 
So how come you’re reduced to growing your own beetroot? 
I’m a speaker.
I’m smart
Didn’t mention the minor point that no one ever chooses to listen to me…
OK thanks for the various recommendations.
So now Ladyslowlane is humming and haaing about whether she actually use it so I suggested getting a cheap Echo Dot for 30 quid as a starter to see how she liked it. That or getting a Parlour Maid on a zero hours contract.
What say you?
I’d speak to @Polski_Filip and see if he can use @Goatboy 's van to “obtain” a live-in maid from a previously unheard of village in the mountains.
Whatever you do, don’t get John Bercow.
You’ll end up with Boris ghetto bangers and no room to Lord it about.
I’ve already told my good Lady that my Knighthood might have bestowed the title “Lady” on her but it doesn’t allow her to take a seat in the “Upper Chamber”, not that we couldn’t do with the extra money. The East Wing is in a desperate state since the staff escaped back to Bulgaria.
He’d only get the rejects.
Nobody misses the rejects.
Listen up proles…I’ve put down some readies and got Chambers to go and collect an Echo Dot 3 for Lady Slowlane’s birthday. I have secreted it in the now mothballed East Wing but have done some research on the Interweb thingey into how to get the equipment out of the box…these Unboxing Videos are a godsend…who knew?
Anyway it seems it needs an Ap thingey and says Ladyslowlane will need to find it on her Smart Telephone and download it. This sounds terribly complicated so I’m wondering if I can find it and download it to either my Desktop computer gadget or my Laptop gadget and run it from that. All our household computer gadgets are joined up to our Virgin Media box thingey in the Library.