Old Laptop RIP
About 5 years ago I picked up an Acer laptop (used) off Kijji for $300. It worked mainly as my plex/file server and hosting a few video files. Well the hard drive has finally died, long after the battery pack stopped working.
To replace this I purchased an Nvidia Shield, a powerful media player than can stream 4K and even broadcast games from your home computer.
If you've ever used those cheap chinese Kodi players, then you'll understand the frustration I had with the shitty UI, slow response, and terrible transcoding.
The shield is a powerful computer that actually can be considered a "micro console". It will easily shoot 4K video to any device on your network in multiple streams without a hiccup.
There is one major drawback to using the shield: The price. It costs $220 CDN and for many consumers it's not an option. Coupling this unit with a home NAS is kind of ridiculous but it makes sense. Using a good 1Gigabit ethernet home network router, you can stream anything.
I picked up a Nighthawk X65 router to round out my network. It's ridiculous:
To replace this I purchased an Nvidia Shield, a powerful media player than can stream 4K and even broadcast games from your home computer.
| Category | Shield Android TV | Shield Android TV Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Android TV 7.0 Nougat Google Cast |
Android TV 7.0 Nougat Google Cast |
| Processor | NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor 256-core Maxwell GPU |
NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor 256-core Maxwell GPU |
| RAM | 3GB | 3GB |
| Storage | 16GB Adoptable storage over USB |
500GB Adoptable storage over USB or microSD |
| Video output | 4K, HDR, 60fps | 4K, HDR, 60fps |
| Audio output | Dolby Atmos and DTS-X surround sound over HDMI High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192kHz over HDMI |
Dolby Atmos and DTS-X surround sound over HDMI High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192kHz over HDMI |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11ac dual-band, 2x2 MIMO Bluetooth 4.1 LE |
Wi-Fi 802.11ac dual-band, 2x2 MIMO Bluetooth 4.1 LE IR receiver |
| Ports | USB-A 3.0 (2), Gigabit ethernet HDMI 2.0b w/ HDCP 2.2 and CEC |
USB-A 3.0 (2), Gigabit ethernet, Micro-USB, microSD HDMI 2.0b w/ HDCP 2.2 and CEC |
| Dimensions | 98 x 159 x 25.93 mm 250 g |
130 x 210 x 25 mm 654 g |
If you've ever used those cheap chinese Kodi players, then you'll understand the frustration I had with the shitty UI, slow response, and terrible transcoding.
The shield is a powerful computer that actually can be considered a "micro console". It will easily shoot 4K video to any device on your network in multiple streams without a hiccup.
There is one major drawback to using the shield: The price. It costs $220 CDN and for many consumers it's not an option. Coupling this unit with a home NAS is kind of ridiculous but it makes sense. Using a good 1Gigabit ethernet home network router, you can stream anything.
I picked up a Nighthawk X65 router to round out my network. It's ridiculous:
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