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Android TV > *

Short Round

Oppan Gangnam Style
VIP
The nVidia Shield Tv is the best media player there is, even if it currently lacks Amazon Instant Video. The Netflix app is the most responsive I've seen compared to the Roku, Fire TV, or Sony Smart TV.

I have been able to set up emulators that run NES, SNES, N64, etc games and run then well with the included controller. The Game Stream function is awesome.

I have it working with my HD Homerun from Silicon Dust, hooked up to my over the air antenna for local channels. The built in Live Channel app from Google is the best on screen guide I've seen. Very responsive and useful.

It's not cheap but it is better than most HTPC setups. It also runs Kodi. That's a huge plus.
 
This will soon gather dust as soon as baby becomes mobile and you lose yourself to parenthood. Lolz TV? Video games?

Ain't no parent got time for that!
 
I have to agree. I have a FireTV, FireTV stick, Roku 3, Roku stick, mini PCs with various XBMC/Kodi versions, an old Android box (not Android TV), and a nVidia Shield Android TV Pro. Without a doubt, the nSATV is the best of the bunch. Native xbox360/PS3 quality games (still a small library), plus all that game streaming and Grid gaming that I'll probably never use. Since they built it as a gaming console, it's overkill for mundane streaming tasks, meaning everything else is smooth and fast.

Yes, there are shortcomings. It's still a very new product and the fact that it doesn't have Amazon Instant video is a bit of a letdown - as a Prime user there are a lot of free things I can't watch through the the nSATV. I did spring for the expensive remote, and IMHO it's worth it. USB recharging, headphone jack like the Roku, voice input like the FireTV, actual volume control using capacative touch (just slide your thumb up/down the middle of the remote).

As for HD HomeRun, I've been a fan and using their products since the very first one came out. I was using the HDHR Connect for OTA back in UT (MythTV as my PVR backend). As soon as I'm in my new house I'll be connecting it again and hopefully get a decent selection of channels. I'm really looking forward to switching from MythTV, which is fantastic but overkill and time consuming, to the HDHR PVR product when it releases in the near future. It will even run on a WD Cloud NAS box if you have one (I don't, but may buy one just for this).
 
Not up on the latest gaming tech I guess- what exactly does this mean/do? :puzzled:
If you have a gaming PC with newer nVidia video card you can play PC games from your computer through the nSATV. There are other game streaming apps that don't require an nVidia card and can run on any Android device, but general consensus is Game Streaming with the nSATV is better.

There is also a similar tech called Grid Gaming. Grid Gaming is the same idea, but instead of playing games from your PC you play them from one of nVidia's many server farms from a large library of their games.

Honestly I'm not really interested in either of these. I'm mildly curious to see where they go with native gaming, or more correctly, where game companies go with support. At roughly double the power of an Xbox360 it's no Xbox One/PS4, but being more powerful than the previous generation of gaming consoles it should support some pretty good native games.
 

themonk

ex-monk.
VIP
this looks like an interesting device. Perhaps after the wedding I'll get one if there's any money leftover.
 
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