Nvidia Shield Console mini review

grebe925

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So I wanted the option to play 4K 60fps on my newly acquired VU 65" UHD TV but didn't want to invest in a HTPC with a powerful enough video card to do so. What to do? After a little research, I found out that the NVIDIA Shield Console does support the said resolution and frame rate and I picked one up from Germany a few days ago when I was there. The installation went smoothly and it automatically updated itself to Android 6.0 as well as brought the firmware on the controller to the latest version. After playing with it for a little while, I must say it is really living up to the great reviews it has had. The interface is buttery smooth and logically laid out. 4K videos from Youtube are fantastic and even the 1080P up-scaled to 4K are a treat to watch. I installed Kodi on the advice of some owners and have been using it as my audio/video player. I only picked it up for it's 4K streaming capabilities and so cannot speak for the gaming functions. The supplied game controller is really great in the hands and is quite easy to use. The voice search function is very accurate and is yet to miss picking up a spoken phrase while searching for videos on Youtube. I'm still working out what else it can do but am impressed with just the little bit I've explored. Who knows, maybe I'll even start gaming by buying a subscription! A few pictures follow, though the one of Obama doesn't really do justice to how great it looks on the screen itself. I am using it with ACT fibernet at 30 mbps download speed and while 4K videos do take a little time to download, I have no problems with 1080P.
 

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I forgot to mention that it is the Pro model with a 500GB SSHD for storage. There is a separate remote which is also spoken highly of but it didn't come with the package so I have to ask someone to pick it up for me from abroad.
 
I forgot to mention that it is the Pro model with a 500GB SSHD for storage. There is a separate remote which is also spoken highly of but it didn't come with the package so I have to ask someone to pick it up for me from abroad.
Congrtas! Did you connect any external HDD to watch movies on Kodi? How much did you pay for it in INR?
 
I paid 299 Euros at the store (Saturn) minus 31 Euros tax refund picked up at the airport which makes it 268 Euros (about INR20500). You can get it for cheaper in the U.S.. Haven't connected an external HDD but did try it with a few 4K60fps demos downloaded onto a Sandisk USB 3.0 drive. They look great but I am having an issue with 5.1 surround pass-through to the Logitech 906 audio system connected via optical to the VU TV. I'm still poking around the boards to get it resolved but it may be due to decoding issues with newer AC3 and DTH standards.
 
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I paid 299 Euros at the store (Saturn) minus 31 Euros tax refund picked up at the airport which makes it 268 Euros (about INR20500). You can get it for cheaper in the U.S.. Haven't connected an external HDD but did try it with a few 4K60fps demos downloaded onto a Sandisk USB 3.0 drive. They look great but I am having an issue with 5.1 surround pass-through to the Logitech 906 audio system connected via optical to the VU TV. I'm still poking around the boards to get it resolved but it may be due to decoding issues with newer AC3 and DTH standards.
Thanks. I know Saturn stores in Germany. Have picked up quite a few electronic gadgets from them. I checked the reviews of 16Gb and 500 Gb, there is hardly any difference in performance as far as PQ or other features are concerned. I will be visiting Bremerhaven in Germany next month and plan to visit their store. I have shortlisted 3 streamers but thoroughly confused as to which one to go for.
1. Minix Neo U1
2. Himedia Q1 Pro
3. Nvidia Shield
I am not much into gaming so I may narrow down more and not consider Nvidia as it is also for game enthusiasts.
 
The store I visited only had the 500GB version available and it was my last day in Germany so I just went ahead and bought it. And like I said, I only picked the Shield for it's ability to play 4K/60 fps content without having to build a dedicated HTPC.
 
The store I visited only had the 500GB version available and it was my last day in Germany so I just went ahead and bought it. And like I said, I only picked the Shield for it's ability to play 4K/60 fps content without having to build a dedicated HTPC.
Did you buy remote as well? It seems remote does not come along with the system and it is quite expensive.
 
Did you buy remote as well? It seems remote does not come along with the system and it is quite expensive.

No I did not. There are certain packages that come bundled with it but not the one I picked up. People have spoken highly of it on the web but I am quite happy with using the controller as a remote. I may ask someone to pick one up for me when they travel abroad.
 
Thanks. The VU TV is also capable of playing Youtube videos through it's inbuilt App so I did a A/B comparision of some with it and also through the Youtube App on the Shield and the difference is really night and day. I can see why they are raving about so much about it in the Amazon.com reviews.
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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