NVIDIA Shield Android TV 2019 review
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Caesar
i do not see any USB port... 😕
Edit:
https://imgbbb.com/images/2020/03/21/s-e.png
rl66
Azz146
rl66
Yes ARC is the "replacement" (despite i prefer optical) of all digital sound plug, and all Home Cinema connectivity.
The conductor is an HDMI cable, but carrefull, just like ethernet over HDMI, not all HDMI cable are ARC capable.
Generaly you connect everything on your HC pré-Amp (or Amp if less expensive system) and connect your amp with a single HDMI to your display system.
ARC also started to come to Hi Fi, (i have an HDMI at the back of my CD player, but only for sound, no display)
You mensioned the problem of bandwith: yes there is with some DTS, even more in 4K, but for 90% of the user they don't see the difference.
Also don't forget it streaming, and generaly already compresed by provider 🙁
If you need top quality in every point, this product is not for you, but you will need lot more money to have better.
For the targeted consumer: Apple TV4K and NVidia Shield are both very good.
Talking about Apple TV, you talk about the app i think, but this app is not a great lost as it is great only on Apple TV (the hardware), LG system, and Apple product.
It's not hardware and it's not OS limitations 😉
The wiring quality does a lot of difference from one product to other.
exemple on 4 modulations cable (RCA/RCA) but it's the same for any wiring:
standard one 3 euro 2M
Audioquest Golden Gate 79 euro 1.5M
Cardas crosslink 199 euro 1M
Transparent Musiklink Reference 3089 euro 1M
You might think it's just a RCA to RCA so why get something that cost more than the standar one, and it's just totaly wrong at each step your system sound better, but not a little bit, in a big way.
Slammy
I upgraded from the 2017 model to the new Pro version. Differences for me were the AI feature, the much better remote that uses AA batteries instead of the button type and the fact i can now get Dolby digital sound thru my soundbar from Netflix etc
Someone commented that the pro version has a ssd/hdd, this is not correct. That was the 2015 pro model that had that but not anymore.
vestibule
sdamaged99
Hilbert Hagedoorn
Administrator
rl66
Crazy Joe
Regarding price: I bought the 2015 model in late 2015 as a replacement for my Open Hour Chameleon Android media center, which failed after 1 year (just outside warranty as well), so I've had about four and a half years of use out of my purchase. And it is still going strong with excellent support.
The Chameleon BTW cost me 160 Euros and the support on that thing sucked (the promised Android upgrades never materialized for instance even though they were promised). Before that I had a Boxee Box which cost me 219 Euros and which lasted me for about four years (and that was with a big community support effort after Boxee went under).
Most of the cheap Android boxes are already obsolete by the time you get them and aren't worth the money you put in their purchase. The Shield TV is the best purchase for this kind of device that I ever made. Maybe if Boxee hadn't gone down due to their misguided business model it would have rivaled the Shield TV, but that's justr speculation on my part.
superpoeper
hi owner of the original first gen shield pro 500gb model and the new 2019 pro model (not the tube model reviewed here)
the newer 2019 pro one is faster in the os, everything feels smoother.
it is a lot smaller compared to the first gen nvidia schield TV.
the new remote handles way better (great ergonomic yet very simple design with the triangle shape)
the remote works with regular batteries and that in itself is a big plus to me...
(always replacable, even if you use rechargable ones)
obvious newer android version AND dolby vision AND atmos support etc...
on the 2019 model the AI upscaling works rather well altough i disable it most of the time
(it's only a nice gimmick to me and not a decisive reason to buy one or to upgrade to the new model)
i just needed an extra media player that is a bit future proof so i bought the one best suited to my needs...
the tube model does not support 64bit apps (like the dolphin emulator as example) the pro 2019 does support 64 bit apps...
this fact along with the 2 usb ports on the pro model and the extra Gb of RAM was why i bought the pro model over the tube shaped non pro...
the only thing i really dislike with ALL the shield devices is the "walled playstore" experience...
i mean it does not support all the apps i'm used to using on my other devices (phone and tablet).
they should add a full "normal" playstore with the disclaimer that a lot of apps won't work 100% as intended...
simply to give users the freedom to try all the apps they want...
instead i am forced to use dubious workaround methods to sideload the apps i really want to use.
one example was the DamonPS2 Pro app (a ps2 emulator, just to see how well it functions on a shield pro)
to me that is the only real downside to ALL the nvidia shield devices...
Crazy Joe
ruthan