It’s my birthday, and I want the upscaling, the single platform, the flexibility (sailing the high seas), but it’s soooo old. $200? IDK

  • geosoco@kbin.social
    13·
    2 years ago

    Had this question like 2 years ago, thinking it was due for an upgrade… At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if they never release another.

    I think it supports pretty much everything you might want in a device already.

    • bobs_monkey@lemm.eeEnglish
      3·
      2 years ago

      I bought one of these in 2016 and it’s still going strong. I’ve since bought 2 more (and the modern remote for the old one), and they’re fantastic.

        • Schmeckinger@feddit.deEnglish
          3·
          2 years ago

          The triangular prism shaped one. Take normal batteries instead of coin cells and doesn’t have the annoying slider. And the netflix button can be remapped with a app.

          • iamanurd@midwest.socialEnglish
            1·
            2 years ago

            It would be the perfect remote if it didn’t have that damned Netflix button that I always accidentally press. I bought an app to disable it on the shield pro in my family room, but it won’t work on the newer cylindrical shield in my bedroom for some reason.

            • bobs_monkey@lemm.eeEnglish
              1·
              2 years ago

              Yeah it seems like with every system update, the remapping reverts. I kinda just gave up on it. At some point I’ll probably crack it open and physically disable the button, but I’m not that motivated yet

              • Schmeckinger@feddit.deEnglish
                1·
                2 years ago

                I have the 2017 version and there it works. Its so nice to have, since I have 3 apps bound to that button.

  • deleted@lemmy.worldEnglish
    152·
    2 years ago

    AI upscale is not worth it in my opinion unless you watch old blueray rips since compression algorithms would make upscaling worse in some cases.

    I have Apple tv and linux pc for my 2 tvs.

    If Apple tv cover your needs then go for it. I got it used in 2017 (I believe gen 3) and still butter smooth to this day.

    • SnipingNinja@slrpnk.netEnglish
      21·
      2 years ago

      I’m just waiting for the EU to force Apple to be open, then I’ll move to everything Apple, maybe.

      • deleted@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        Hopefully they will. I was bummed when I knew that apple tv has no vpn functionality.

      • deleted@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        I’m currently running debian 12. The tv is mainly used for YouTube so ublock origin + dearrow + sponsorblock + thumbdown back.

        Unfortunately the only downside is HDR support. I had to use clunky smart tv software to run Jellyfin for HDR content.

        I’ve tried KODE. It’s still not mature for my taste.

  • TheWiseAlaundo@lemmy.whynotdrs.orgEnglish
    12·
    2 years ago

    Despite being 4 years old it’s still one of the better options, though with caveats. The one thing that it has that nothing else really has is real time AI upscaling. I’ve stopped using my Shield, and went back to using Roku boxes and Raspberry Pi 4B’s… so it’s hard for me to really recommend the Shield.

    Nvidia has pretty much abandoned GeForce Experience, so despite this being a selling point for the device, you’d be happier using Moonlight + Sunshine even if you did buy a Shield. The Nvidia Shield also has terrible input lag for bluetooth controllers. I think this because of how Android blocks direct access to hardware, and so it introduces input lag. So if you actually want to use GeForce Experience, it means you’d have to buy and 8bitdo USB stick, or pay for VirtualHere to fix the controller problem. I personally setup a Raspberry Pi 4B with Moonlight and I’m much happier with that.

    For Plex, I’d be hesitant. Over on Reddit I keep reading about how people have attempted using the Shield to run their home media, and it’s usually followed with regret. I didn’t get into streaming locally until after I stopped using my Shield, though so I can’t personally attest to that. Instead, I’m using a second Pi to run a NAS and Jellyfin… and again, the Shield might be preferable if you want everything in one unit.

    So, I can’t exactly recommend the Nvidia Shield… but at the same time I don’t think most people would have the time to build their own Raspberry Pi based solutions either.

    • Rehwyn@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      2 years ago

      I’ve had an overall good experience with Plex and my Shield, though in my case I only use Shield as a client and my NAS hosts my server. Of the commercial streamers you can buy, it has some of the broadest video/audio format support. A lot of other options don’t support lossless audio like TrueHD or DTS-MA.

    • lemmyBeHere@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      2 years ago

      But can you completely copy the UX of a shield pro with raspberry pi?

      I mean, I can grab the TV’s remote, or the shields remote, and whichever I turn on, both of them turn on. It also wakes up from sleep faster than the TV turns on. I can use the TV’s remote to control the shield. Basically it works completely transparently.

      It also makes it work really nice with android phones. I can cast spotify, youtube, google photos, or the screen onto the TV, and it works better than the TV’s cast with the apps.

      I used Plex and while it worked nice for most of the time, I got fed up with it trying to steer me away from local streaming, and having a hard time finding my way back to it in the therrible UI. I set up Jellyfin and couldn’t be happier, HDR, Dolby Vision, 4K streaming just works perfectly.

      The UI is much faster than a flagship LG TV too…

      What I’m asking is… is it possible to set up an RPi to work this seamlessly and user friendly? With apps like netflix, hbo max, jellyfin, etc, with a remote and nice and easy UI so anyone can use it on their first try?

    • kratoz29@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      The Nvidia Shield also has terrible input lag

      I am usually not very exigent with input lag, but I noticed this when I tried it with my Shield, I won’t deny what you just say, but to me it did great help to turn the gaming mode in my TV, after all the input lag is almost imperceptible for me.

    • Hasuris@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      I use the original shield controller and it’s great with no input lag. I never got the headphone jack on it working though.

  • kratoz29@lemm.eeEnglish
    7·
    2 years ago

    I have one and it is pretty amazing, but it sucks for Kodi from time to time, usually a reboot fixes all the annoyances… But I don’t like that workaround.

    My unit was downgraded to 8.2.3 and debloated for the sake of a better performance.

    • TooJ20@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      2 years ago

      on the flip side, i also dowgraded to 8.2.3 and debloated. i have zero issues with Kodi using PKC with direct play over a wired connection.

    • Kushan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      It’s probably worth saying that I think the issues with Kodi are down to Kodi itself and not the shield. That is to say you’ll have similar issues on a fire stick or Chromecast 4k or whatever.

      I have up on Kodi after having used it successfully for years on a raspberry pi. I switched to Emby and it has been much more stable.

  • crimsdings@lemmy.worldEnglish
    51·
    2 years ago

    I am using a Chromecast 4k and I am quite happy with it … what would the shield accomplish better ?

  • iMike@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    2 years ago

    I sold mine due to video stuttering that I couldn’t fix, I bought fire cube instead.

      • iMike@lemmy.worldEnglish
        21·
        2 years ago

        What ads? I don’t notice any really. I think the interface is great, I’ve got my pinned apps straight away on the home screen, everything loads instantly and I’ve got dedicated buttons on the remote for Netflix and Disney+, don’t need anything else and I use my laptop for Plex server.

  • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    2 years ago

    Nvidia has pretty much dropped this. I don’t forsee another version in the next three years. I don’t see anything you listed that wouldn’t be a good reason to go for the regular shield though and save some money. It’s still a good product. I would buy now.

    • sardaukar@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      The biggest issue with Pi and Kodi setups is the lack of good remotes and sleep/standby. Get a Shield if you want stuff to “just work”.

  • tony@lemmy.hoyle.me.ukEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    IMO nothing beats the Nvidia TV and I’ve tried just about everything. Heck, I’m still rocking a 2017 on my main TV (lacks Dolby Vision/Atmos and AI Upscaling but is otherwise fine).

    The non-Pro seems to have issues that affect 4k decoding in plex but never seen similar issues on a Pro (I think packing the internals into that small tube was a mistake, and it’s overheating, but that’s just a guess).

    There’s some hope Nvidia will come out with a next gen but people have been hoping (and spreading rumours about) that for years… until there’s an official announcement I wouldn’t expect it. They continue to support software upgrades though.

    • ChickenBoo@lemmy.jnks.xyzEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      The only reason I think they might soon if at all is because the Nintendo Switch and the shield have similar SoCs. Tegra X1 with a Maxwell GPU. Well Switch 2 is close enough to release that people are seeing it and the SoC is showing up in benchmarks. Another ARM chip, but with an Ampere GPU this time.

      So if NVidia is already building the SoC for Nintendo, it may be reasonably easy to make an upgrade to the Shield.

  • phx@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    Look for one used. They tend to pop up fairly regularly around here

  • Babalugats@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    Have a look at the Nokia TV Box. Great bit of kit. Sturdy and well built remote. I wouldn’t buy a used shield for sure. And the old Nvidia shield is pretty much the same spec as the latest one IIRC. There’s not much between them. The shield often drops in price on Amazon too (Europe).

    I haven’t heard of anything newer coming out soon from Nvidia and for the price difference I would definitely go for the Nokia, allowing you to also save your cash if Nvidia do bring out a new version.

      • Babalugats@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        I’m not doubting that the shield TV would be a superior box. But just that I wouldn’t buy a used one, and for the money the Nokia box is a great box, well built until OP can decide to buy a new shield or at least wait until new shield is mentioned or released.

      • t8d@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        In the context of a TV Streaming Box, the decoder itself is basically the only large factor… and as the site you provided shows, the nokia box supports h.265 4k@75hz, and 4k@30hz h.264. VP6/7 seem to be unlisted, so I can’t tell if that’s a mistake, or would be deferred to the CPU for decode. This ends up leaving the question which services are you wanting to stream, and which encoder are they using?

        The CPU/GPU only need to be fast enough to smoothly run the UI, and other possible decompression tasks that aren’t h.264/h.265.

  • ZephyrXero@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    Nvidia has all but backed out of the mobile chip market, and those chips are what this line used. So that’s why we haven’t seen any updates in years. But the good news is they have made a new chip for Nintendo’s next-gen switch coming out sometime next year. So within a year of that coming out, I would expect to finally see a new Shield or Nvidia TV or whatever they call it, using a similar chip to what goes in the Switch 2

    • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      Switch 2 launch: we heard you all say you wanted better battery life, so we delivered, 3x the battery life for the same performance! Get your switch 2 today, all switch games will work on switch 1 or 2!