nVidia Shield

RancidLunchmeat

RancidLunchmeat

Veteran
I looked for a thread, but couldn't find it.

So I bought an nVidia Shield TV off of Amazon's Prime Day specials and just wanted to toss up my thoughts here:

First, I bought it to replace the PS3 "slim" that I have in the bedroom which is really only a Netflix player. I don't care what anybody says, those PS3 get loud. Far too loud to play Netflix in bed as you are trying to doze off. Also, the PS3 would not play nice with my Synology NAS, so I couldn't access my host of video files and could only watch Netflix.

Anyway, the Shield has completely changed that. It loads and boots faster (probably because the PS3 was loading all kinds of things that I didn't take advantage of), it is about 1/4 of the size - no really, it is. And it is completely silent. Installed Kodi from Google Play store and now I have access to all my files and it works flawlessly. HDMI-CEC means I can turn on and off the Shield and TV with the push of a single button on the controller.

It's fantastic. Unboxing the unit was a thing of glory, it was packaged like a $500 device, not a $199 one. So far, the only thing I'm irritated (it's ME! I'm going to be irritated about something) about is that the deal I got from the Prime Day sale was the Shield TV + 2nd Controller for $149. Well, the 2nd controller comes in its own box so it is just as if you bought one separately... There's no USB charging cable with the 2nd controller. WTF? So now I have 2 controllers, but only 1 USB charging cable. Now, this isn't a big deal because I've got lots of those cables, but for as much money as they spent on the packaging and making it so pretty, you'd think they could have tossed a cable in with the controller.

Haven't played any games on it yet (that's not why I bought it), but I'm thinking about buying a nVidia GPU for one of my PC's just to test out the streaming capabilities. Anyway, so far, fantastic media hub. Far better than anything I've used before such as the Roku or WDTV.
 
I use one with Plex/Kodi and a few Synology Plex Servers too with Direct Play. The only really annoying issue is that the WLAN driver isn't really reliable. The metal remote has a nice feeling.
 
Well it really should be much better than a roku, considering thats a $49 item vs a $200 item costing 4 times as much.
 
Yeesh, for 200 USD, I'd rather buy one of these.

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_292915.html

It's actually reviewed rather well and has access to more games that don't require a touch screen and more media streaming options than the Shield. Sure it's got less 3D rendering oomph, but it's not like there's many highly taxing 3D rendered games that developers are making for Android and even less for the Shield.

Regards,
SB
 
I feel like my Xbox One has completely negated my need for any media box. I used to occasionally use a roku and was going to get that $49 roku stick, but there's no need.

It has Sling TV app, the OTA antenna integrated for my OTA NFL needs (with slick channel guide), Plex app, of course Youtube app, even a as good-as-can-be-expected-on-TV browser, etc. There's truly no reason for me to ever switch HDMI inputs from my Xbox One. It has a nifty, great quality little media remote that's like 20 bucks as well. I imagine any streaming needs are covered with all the apps like Netflix as well, although I dont currently use any, they're there if I need them.

Took a while for MS to get here, 360 certainly didn't achieve this, but it's finally arrived. I have a feeling the OTA antenna adaptor which really pulls it all together for my use case may not make it to Scorpio, after MS sort of reneged their TV focus, which would be a bummer.

Good description of Shield though, I love quality products of any stripe.

I still wanted Nvidia to bring shield specs up enough to challenge PS4/Xo one of these days, and bring a new challenger to the console fray, they were on the verge, but now Scorpio/Neo may have put that out of reach for any mobile based chipset.
 
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I would like to see Nvidia jump into the fray, as consoles threaten more and more the PC market by being more up to speed with technology.
Now I think neither home or handheld should be the format for them to adopt.
 
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I just use PlayTo from my Tablet instead of any console app for browsing the media. That limits my disappointments with any console apps that dont quite live up to the HTPC experience.
 
I have both the Nvidia Shield TV and the K1 Nvidia Shield Tablet. The Shield TV is really good for media especially if you have Kodi loaded on it. Twitch also loads a lot faster than my X1 and seems to disconnect less frequently. Netflix also loads very quickly both in opening the app and in playing a video.

For me, it's a very good purchase for the media playing capability alone.
 
The 2 Plex Synology Servers I have always on aren't even "detected" by it due timeout. I've never managed to see the Plex screen.
 
Rangers said:
I feel like my Xbox One has completely negated my need for any media box. I used to occasionally use a roku and was going to get that $49 roku stick, but there's no need.
Click to expand...

True, but the Shield was $149 w/ 2 controllers. I would have bought a 2nd XB1 for a comparable price, although I'm quite pleased with just how tiny the Shield TV is compared to the PS3 it replaced (and the XB1 is even larger).

Good description of Shield though, I love quality products of any stripe.

I still wanted Nvidia to bring shield specs up enough to challenge PS4/Xo one of these days, and bring a new challenger to the console fray, they were on the verge, but now Scorpio/Neo may have put that out of reach for any mobile based chipset.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'd be interested in checking out some games, but the ones I've looked at so far are really not of high enough quality to really bother and as you mentioned, I doubt they will ever really get there.
 
XBOX Media Player plays H.264 from many/most common containers, including MKV, and seemed to work fine. I don't use XBOX one for this with frequency though as most of my TV's are "Smart" TV's that can play .MKV's and are DLNA enabled. To me Plex is there only if you want a pretty client skin - if you don't really care about that and you devices have decent codec support then DLNA is fine and reliable.
 
I got one about 8 months ago and I've been really happy it. It has played all media I've tested so far (up to 4k 10bit HEVC videos). Nvidia GameStream works really well, as does Plex Media Server with media mounted from my NAS
 
RancidLunchmeat said:
There's no USB charging cable with the 2nd controller. WTF? So now I have 2 controllers, but only 1 USB charging cable. Now, this isn't a big deal because I've got lots of those cables, but for as much money as they spent on the packaging and making it so pretty, you'd think they could have tossed a cable in with the controller..
Click to expand...

...found the 2nd USB charging cable when doing a last check before tossing the (very nice) packaging. It was neatly tucked behind another flap that didn't really look like a flap because it was so pretty it just looked like part of the box design.

So I rescind my earlier WTF?
 
Firmware 5.1.0 Now Available for All NVIDIA SHIELD TV Devices
This new upgrade adds rumble support for GeForce NOW, which allows dual vibration feedback with the new SHIELD controller. This new feature can be used in games like Tomb Raider, ABZU, and LEGO Star Wars The Force Awakens.

In addition to that, version 5.1.0 implements support for encrypted VP9 with subsampling, improves Amazon Video surround sound and remote control responsiveness, and allows users to play new games (Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Just Cause 2, and Diluvion).
Click to expand...
http://drivers.softpedia.com/blog/f...for-all-nvidia-shield-tv-devices-513818.shtml
 
This completely broke my synced controllers, btw. They wouldn't work wired over USB, either. I had to use a USB keyboard to approve the DL and install before the controllers would work again.
 
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