Database Users

Nice7" Android Tablets - Like the Fire, half the price

UPDATE: There's an even better version out now. See this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1598783
I got a 7" Android tablet on Amazon for a killer deal (I paid $129, but now it's at like $119). Here's the link.
It's almost identical to my friends Kindle fire and was almost half the cost. Here's the specs:
1.0 ghz processor (overclocked to 1.3)
7" capacitive screen (screen response is great)
4gb mem
512mb RAM
USB OTG host compatible (this is great. Plug in you portable hard drive and watch movies, use a USB keyboard, etc. Comes with the host cable).
HDMI out
MicroSD card slot (up to 32gb)
Comes with a USB host cable, USB cable to plug it into your computer (this will even charge the tablet even though it also comes with a proprietary wall charger) and of course the proprietary wall charger.
So far I haven't had any issues with it at all. Streams netflix great, I loaded ADW launcher and a couple themes,a few games and other apps and everything works very well.
The HDMI it uses is a mini HDMI port, not micro. It has a proprietary charger. UPDATE: I plugged it onto my computer and found it will in fact charge when plugged into a power source via the mini USB port!!! . It came rooted! I installed ad free and titanium backup pro and both work without any issues (blocks ads, can freeze system apps I don't like, etc.). I also installed super user, but it doesn't appear to need it.
I've also installed AnTuTu CPU master. At first I was able to clock it to 1488mhz no problem, but for some reason now it freezes when I clock over 1296 (but is stable at 1296). I don't really care about the over clocking though and usually have it set lower to save battery.
It came with documents to go, flash 11, adobe reader, google maps, all the basic apps you'd need. It also came with super HD player, up to 2160p support for HDMI out (although I never use this so I can't really comment on it's performance. I just checked the HDMI out once using a 700mb movie file on Mobo player)
Another thing I like is how fast it boots. like 35 seconds from power on till its ready to use. MUCH faster than my XOOM. It does freeze up sometimes, usually not the whole device, just I have to kill and reload apps sometimes. Not a huge deal and for the price so well worth it.
If you're looking for a a inexpensive 7" tablet, I don't think you'll find a better deal. Hope this helps!
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

How's the HDMI output and does it come with a miniUSB charger or one of those stupid proprietary chargers like those cheap Coby tablets use? What about hackability? Have you rooted it? This sounds like the tablet I've been waiting for......

754boy said:
How's the HDMI output and does it come with a miniUSB charger or one of those stupid proprietary chargers like those cheap Coby tablets use? What about hackability? Have you rooted it? This sounds like the tablet I've been waiting for......
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The HDMI is fine (mini HDMI port, not micro). It has a proprietary charger (bummer)UPDATE it will in fact also charge via the mini USB port!!!. It came rooted! I installed ad free and titanium backup pro and both work without any issues (blocks ads, can freeze system apps I don't like, etc.). I also installed super user, but it doesn't appear to need it.
I've also installed AnTuTu CPU master. At first I was able to clock it to 1488mhz no problem, but for some reason now it freezes when I clock over 1296 (but is stable at 1296). I don't really care about the over clocking though and usually have it set lower to save battery.
It came with documents to go, flash 11, adobe reader, google maps, all the basic apps you'd need. It also came with super HD player, up to 2160p support for HDMI out (although I never use this so I can't really comment on it's performance. I just checked the HDMI out once using a 700mb movie file on Mobo player)
Another thing I like is how fast it boots. like 35 seconds from power on till its ready to use. MUCH faster than my XOOM. It does freeze up sometimes, usually not the whole device, just I have to kill and reload apps sometimes. Not a huge deal and for the price so well worth it.
Hope this helps!

Seriously about to buy this so I can use it as a portable emulator. Wonder if any of my controllers would work
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App

Just ordered one After reading your review I think it's worth the risk. That proprietary charger isn't that big of a deal considering the rest of the package.

754boy said:
Just ordered one After reading your review I think it's worth the risk. That proprietary charger isn't that big of a deal considering the rest of the package.
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Let me know what you think of it and if you happen to come by any place I can get a custom ROM (that would be ideal). Thanks!

I know a couple of people here have got this tablet and was wondering if anyone has tried or will try to flash this clockwork mod recovery?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1378594
I'm a little nervous to try it myself... If anyone has done this let me know how it worked out. Thanks!

I am not trying to rain on your parade, but the screen resolution (WVGA 800x480) is really horrible for a 7" tablet. You could make out each individual pixel with naked eyes.
It also seems like it's based on a bargain basement Cortex A8 single-core processor. It's difficult to find any credible spec on the "BOXCHIP A10".
All things considered, why not just go with the Kindle Fire? It's got a better display (at least resolution/density-wise) and a better CPU (no name single core vs. TI OMAP 4430 dual core A8). The Fire also has a better dev support with custom ROMs.

enigma00 said:
I am not trying to rain on your parade, but the screen resolution (WVGA 800x480) is really horrible for a 7" tablet. You could make out each individual pixel with naked eyes.
It also seems like it's based on a bargain basement Cortex A8 single-core processor. It's difficult to find any credible spec on the "BOXCHIP A10".
All things considered, why not just go with the Kindle Fire? It's got a better display (at least resolution/density-wise) and a better CPU (no name single core vs. TI OMAP 4430 dual core A8). The Fire also has a better dev support with custom ROMs.
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I've watched video side by side a kindle and yes the kindle is a bit better, but nowhere near $80 better. I think the Amazon listing is a typo, looks more like 800*600 to me... Not HD, but totally watchable (you can't see the pixels while watching a movie...)
A huge plus is that I can plug in a usb drive (or my 1TB portable HD) AND a 32GB sd card on this. With a couple 32gb thumb drives (or SD cards) and my hard drive I can carry around a MASSIVE library of videos and music in my pocket. Kindle doesn't support USB host, doesn't have an SD slot (so lame), and only has 6GB of space available for user content (yes, only 6GB...). And this didn't come with the lame kindle UI.
I just checked and the price is down to $115, I've had a few cheap tablets and this is the only one I've been happy with. Due to the USB host and SD card functionality I would rather have this over a kindle any day... IMHO.

You *think* it's 800x600, or you *know*?
The picture shown on Amazon looks like a wide-screen format, so it can't possibly be 800x600 (4:3 aspect ratio).
AspenMan said:
I've watched video side by side a kindle and yes the kindle is a bit better, but nowhere near $80 better. I think the Amazon listing is a typo, looks more like 800*600 to me... Not HD, but totally watchable (you can't see the pixels while watching a movie...)
A huge plus is that I can plug in a usb drive (or my 1TB portable HD) AND a 32GB sd card on this. With a couple 32gb thumb drives (or SD cards) and my hard drive I can carry around a MASSIVE library of videos and music in my pocket. Kindle doesn't support USB host, doesn't have an SD slot (so lame), and only has 6GB of space available for user content (yes, only 6GB...). And this didn't come with the lame kindle UI.
I just checked and the price is down to $115, I've had a few cheap tablets and this is the only one I've been happy with. Due to the USB host and SD card functionality I would rather have this over a kindle any day... IMHO.
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seedofchaos said:
Seriously about to buy this so I can use it as a portable emulator. Wonder if any of my controllers would work
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
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If it has Honeycomb or ICS then it will support standard gamepad like Logitech, however, the pic looks like it use miniUSB so you need and adaptor. Or you can buy one of those bluetooth gamepad, the support is depends on the software.

enigma00 said:
I am not trying to rain on your parade, but the screen resolution (WVGA 800x480) is really horrible for a 7" tablet. You could make out each individual pixel with naked eyes.
It also seems like it's based on a bargain basement Cortex A8 single-core processor. It's difficult to find any credible spec on the "BOXCHIP A10".
All things considered, why not just go with the Kindle Fire? It's got a better display (at least resolution/density-wise) and a better CPU (no name single core vs. TI OMAP 4430 dual core A8). The Fire also has a better dev support with custom ROMs.
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Click to collapse
Well I got mine 2 days ago and for the price I paid, this thing kicks ass. It does exactly what I need it to do: browse the net and play the occasional game while I'm on the toliet or in bed. My 32GB card is on the way and I'm gonna load it up with videos. Admittedly, the resolution is not the best...especially with my phone having a qHD screen lol. But it is capacitive and blows away those cheap ass Coby tablets I despise so much.
Mine also came rooted and I'm looking around the net to find more info on maybe some custom roms for it. Sure I could have bought a Kindle Fire, but this is more than enough to tide me over until those rumored $199 Tegra3 tablets roll around

enigma00 said:
You *think* it's 800x600, or you *know*?
The picture shown on Amazon looks like a wide-screen format, so it can't possibly be 800x600 (4:3 aspect ratio).
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yeah, you're right, I contacted the company I got it from to confirm and it's 800x480. But I still think it's an awesome tab for the money. They're out of stock on Amazon now but will have more in next week they said (I'm getting another one for my wife).

can you please post some pictures
and if you can make a video
thnx.

I'll try to get some images or a video up soon.
I also just noticed that while it come with a proprietary charger, when I plugged it into my computer via the mini USB that would also charge it! I plugged it into a USB wall charger and that charged it to. There really is no need for the proprietary charger except its 2000MAh and it will charge faster than via USB.
Just another reason I love this tablet ;-)

AspenMan said:
I'll try to get some images or a video up soon.
I also just noticed that while it come with a proprietary charger, when I plugged it into my computer via the mini USB that would also charge it! I plugged it into a USB wall charger and that charged it to. There really is no need for the proprietary charger except its 2000MAh and it will charge faster than via USB.
Just another reason I love this tablet ;-)
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I forgot to mention that too in my rant above lol. I was surprised because those cheap ass Coby tablets I despise so much, will not charge via the miniUSB port. Great buy!

For 119$ I can get a real android tablet in a used Gtab 7. And its 2x better.
These chinese tablets rarely have a working android market, screen resolution is also poop.
Could just buy an Ainol 7" ICS Tablet for 150$

TheMuffStuff said:
For 119$ I can get a real android tablet in a used Gtab 7. And its 2x better.
These chinese tablets rarely have a working android market, screen resolution is also poop.
Could just buy an Ainol 7" ICS Tablet for 150$
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This one has the real Google market. I wouldn't want to buy used cause you'd get no warranty, this one came with a year warranty.
I've heard the Ainol doesn't support flash, that was a big requirement for me, but others may not care.

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What is the new: Now 7 inch is with high definition 1024x600 wich give you a perfect display screen; much larger lithium polymer battery volume 3700mAh which give you long working time without charging; now it's Quad Core wich give you performance twice better than the dual core tablets.; HDMI out, latest Android Operating System - Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
Come on this site and check this special offer: http://www.jsxltech.com/products/ainol-novo-7-crystal-ii-quad-core
It's on big sale right now with freeshiping worldide! I would recommend this great offer to everyone! :good:

NVIDIA SHIELD CONSOLE? Android TV SuperComputer Cloud Gaming? WOW

EDIT: Can everyone who visits this thread please take the time to do a official request for adding the SHIELD Console forums? Just visit the below thread and put in your request please. Thanks
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1660354
ORIGINAL POST:
Is this a new device coming out this Summer? I don't even see a section at XDA for it, or any mention of it here in these Shield threads, yet its based on Android TV and the Tegra X1, with the below specs. I'm in the market for a Android TV, so this interests me.
http://shield.nvidia.com/
http://shield.nvidia.com/console
Specifications:
Processor NVIDIA® Tegra® X1 processor
256-core Maxwell™ GPU with 3GB RAM
Video Features 4K Ultra-HD ready with 4K playback and capture up to 60 fps (VP9, H265, H264)
Audio 7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI
High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192 kHz over HDMI and USB
High-resolution audio up-sample to 24-bit/192 kHz over USB
Storage* 16 GB
Wireless 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 4.1/BLE
Interfaces Gigabit Ethernet
HDMI 2.0
Two USB 3.0 (Type A)
Micro-USB 2.0
MicroSD slot
IR Receiver (compatible with Logitech Harmony)
Software Updates SHIELD software upgrades directly from NVIDIA
Gaming Features NVIDIA GRID™ game streaming service
NVIDIA Share
NVIDIA GameStream™
Power 40 W power adapter
Weight and Size Weight: 23 oz / 654 g
Height: 5.1 in / 130 mm
Width: 8.3 in / 210 mm
Depth: 1.0 in / 25 mm
Operating System Android TV™, Google Cast™ Ready
Included Apps = PLEX

It is a new android TV console made by Nvidia. The Cpu/GPU is the latest tegra X1 that is insanely fast! Much faster than Snapdragon 810 and Exynos 7.
Release date is in may and will cost 199$

Just saw some games that will be released like Metal Gear rising? will those be on the cloud or it will run natively on the shield it self? if its only on the cloud the this is not a console its just a streaming device that requires very fast internet which not all countries have specially here in the Philippines

RollWii said:
Just saw some games that will be released like Metal Gear rising? will those be on the cloud or it will run natively on the shield it self? if its only on the cloud the this is not a console its just a streaming device that requires very fast internet which not all countries have specially here in the Philippines
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Games like Crysis 3 will run natively on it (not in the cloud).
(Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)

Correct, there are a few big-name games being modded/re-written to run natively on the platform. Of them, "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel" , "Doom 3: BFG Edition" , and "Crysis 3". They demoed all of these. Doom3 and Crysis looked like they ran pretty well. Borderlands ran like a slug and obviously needed a lot more optimization.
That being said, they were really pushing the GRID services heavily, and a number of the announced launch titles were actually GRID games (AKA, PC games virtualized in a server center and streamed to your natively like OnLive or Gaikai/PS-Now, but with the improvements that nVidia has learned from the virtualization and distributed/parallel computing sectors). Anybody who has a current SHIELD device (portable or Tablet) and is within the USA should try it on their current devices at least a few times before it goes subscription model. It is currently in beta and free for all Shield devices, but the servers are in the USA, and the lag times may be unacceptable for some games if you are overseas or just have a laggy connection in general. It will officially come out of beta at the time when the Shield Console goes on sale, which will end the year-plus free ride so far.

ryocoon said:
Correct, there are a few big-name games being modded/re-written to run natively on the platform. Of them, "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel" , "Doom 3: BFG Edition" , and "Crysis 3". They demoed all of these. Doom3 and Crysis looked like they ran pretty well. Borderlands ran like a slug and obviously needed a lot more optimization.
That being said, they were really pushing the GRID services heavily, and a number of the announced launch titles were actually GRID games (AKA, PC games virtualized in a server center and streamed to your natively like OnLive or Gaikai/PS-Now, but with the improvements that nVidia has learned from the virtualization and distributed/parallel computing sectors). Anybody who has a current SHIELD device (portable or Tablet) and is within the USA should try it on their current devices at least a few times before it goes subscription model. It is currently in beta and free for all Shield devices, but the servers are in the USA, and the lag times may be unacceptable for some games if you are overseas or just have a laggy connection in general. It will officially come out of beta at the time when the Shield Console goes on sale, which will end the year-plus free ride so far.
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I'm more interested what it will eventually do for media myself. And it MUST be rootable for me to even consider it as an option. The specs, at least for the Android world are nothing short of brilliant. However, again I want media apps mainly, such as Kodi, Plex, Netflix playback and casting to be flawless. For now the Nexus Player still turns me on more even with it being wifi only. However, If the NVIDIA Console becomes rootable with FULL custom Android ROM's I am going to change my mind in a heartbeat though, haha.

Considering that all of the nVidia devices to date have been extremely easy to unlock and root, I'm going to say that, yeah, it is mostly likely going to be root-able. Whether it can handle Kodi/Plex/Netflix/Etc at 4K is up to those developers. I know NetFlix has 4K content, but I'm not sure how they differentiate and enable it to be honest.
I have the Nexus Player, and I honestly feel a bit like a chump for getting it and so soon this device is announced. I can always use it in another room or something though.
The big rub with Android TV so far is that the default UI, the LeanBack Launcher, will not display some apps unless they declare themselves as leanback capable (which includes some XML, an art asset or two for different shape/size icons, navigation by controller/keys, and search-ability in some cases). This is a problem I've run into on my Nexus Player. Now, nVidia may snub the LeanBack launcher and may integrate some LeanBack function into their nVidia Hub (like on the Shield Tablet and Shield Portable) which recognizes dozens of media apps, games, and some other things and has a launcher in its own UI. However, if apps make themselves noted for LeanBack, they show up fine on the normal AndroidTV interface. What is better, if they include search, then you can voice search for titles in media apps, and if it includes some sort of rating or recommendation feature (like Hulu or YouTube) they can integrate that and you can get recommendations of what to watch directly in your launcher UI on the top row. Less important for games, maybe important for Game discovery, but definitely an interesting thing for the media watchers amongst us. I doubt recommendation would work on something like Plex, and KODI is its own UI entirely, skipping LeanBack or even nVidia hub (to be honest, I've never been a fan of XBMC's UI, and Kodi hasn't won me over yet either... too fidgety and I can't trust a 'normal' person to be able to understand and operate it). Like I stated above, the machine has the horsepower, but it will be up to app developers to show up with a "flawless" app that will work on it well.
Casting works pretty damn well on my Nexus Player, so I bet with MIMO capable AC spec WiFi, and also ethernet inclusion, you will get pretty damn good casting from Chromecast apps, as that is built into AndroidTV's OS.
Mind you a lot of this is based upon speculation on specs, existing hardware, and my knowledge of the AndroidTV OS and how it functions. Your mileage may vary, terms and conditions subject to actual reality upon device launch.

Yeah chances are my mileage will most likely vary, unless for some odd reason I am forced to run the stock Android TV experience. Since 2010 I have not ran anything stock, so not even sure what that is like, and pretty sure I don't want to know, lol. I was thinking about a full rom flashed on it immediately out of the box, installing Nova Launcher, my Planets live wallpaper, throwing up all the streaming apps onto the home screen, and hoping it just works like it did for the Nexus Player user on Youtube. I want to setup my own media streamer home page and experience. 4K would be future proof, but I have no plans to get rid of the 1080p TV that this device will be attached to, not before it naturally dies on me. I still like the Nexus Player as it will fit right in with all my other Nexus devices. I just need to see more development work taking place on it.

SkOrPn said:
Yeah chances are my mileage will most likely vary, unless for some odd reason I am forced to run the stock Android TV experience. Since 2010 I have not ran anything stock, so not even sure what that is like, and pretty sure I don't want to know, lol. I was thinking about a full rom flashed on it immediately out of the box, installing Nova Launcher, my Planets live wallpaper, throwing up all the streaming apps onto the home screen, and hoping it just works like it did for the Nexus Player user on Youtube. I want to setup my own media streamer home page and experience. 4K would be future proof, but I have no plans to get rid of the 1080p TV that this device will be attached to, not before it naturally dies on me. I still like the Nexus Player as it will fit right in with all my other Nexus devices. I just need to see more development work taking place on it.
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I'm still waiting for this device. Hopefully it's better than the garbage that the Razer Forge TV was. The mods and such at the nVidia forums still say it's coming out in may. The Forge didn't release with Netflix, and there might be a chance the same will happen with the Nvidia Shield Android TV, but I'd be ok with Nvidia as they're going to have 4k display support for netflix.
https://forums.geforce.com/default/...blet/nvidia-shield-tv-console-release-date/2/

I just got an email from NVIDIA saying its almost here. It starts out saying the wait is over, but then goes on to say its still not available and that they are giving away one Shield Console everyday until it is available to the public. I hate emails that start off telling you the wait is over but then asks you to wait some more, lol...

Its out!
Although only can see USA and Canada
$199.99 for 16GB
$299.99 for 500GB
http://shield.nvidia.com/android-tv

I'm not personally too interested in the gaming aspects but that amount of GPU power will prove very, very interesting. My main hope is that somebody can produce a minimal linux install for HTPC with Kodi and mpv builds, or perhaps just a release of Debian.
This device is the perfect low-cost HTPC. It should have more than sufficient CPU power for 10-bit h.264 and h.265 decode as well as sufficient compute power on the GPU side for EWA-type resamplers for chroma and image. I'm given to understand the X1 has full desktop opengl compatibility so it ought to be fully compatible with mpv (though I'm unsure of the state of the ARM builds).
The denver CPU should be more than enough to handle metadata crawling and the likes via Kodi in a non-sluggish fashion too. Christ, this device needs more videophile attention...

Just ordered mine on Amazon. It'll be here Sunday.
XDA needs a forum for it. This old shield handheld forum is for a completely different device.

Just ordered mine from Amazon US to be delivered to the UK next week by expedited delivery. What an absolute beast of a machine.

skrowl said:
Just ordered mine on Amazon. It'll be here Sunday.
XDA needs a forum for it. This old shield handheld forum is for a completely different device.
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me too!
returning my fire tv to them for a full refund, and getting this
this will be great to stream my pc to the tv so i can play games like witcher 3 in full 4k 50" vs 1080p 24"
and all the other stuff it does

Full review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9289/the-nvidia-shield-android-tv-review

Shield Console Rooting Experience Thus Far...
Got mine this afternoon and after futzing a bit, tried to root it. It came with developer mode already enabled, one hassle for me is that rebooting to fastboot makes the screen blank so I had to fly blind to oem unlock. So, I've got an unlocked system at the moment, but Super SU is still not working because their is no su on the device. Anyone make it any further than me? I also went ahead and cracked it open to see if there were obvious serial port connection points. Looks like there's a nice spot for a laptop hard drive that is probably populated in the Pro model.
I'm going to look into building my own kernel + ramdisk to try and get the necessary tools in place so SuperSU can work, but I'm a bit worried that the screen isn't going to work and so I'll essentially be flying blind through the whole process.

ericvh said:
Looks like there's a nice spot for a laptop hard drive that is probably populated in the Pro model.
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Does that that mean there is an internal SATA connector or not?

A.N.Droid said:
Does that that mean there is an internal SATA connector or not?
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Yeah no SATA connector but there is an option in the settings to install all apps to an external hdd or micro sd card anyways
PS. Anyone know if this will be getting a dedicated XDA Forum? I'll probably be picking one up soon

A.N.Droid said:
Does that that mean there is an internal SATA connector or not?
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Hard to tell for sure, looks like there might be solder points for it, but no header. I've got the 500GB on order, will post the diffs when it arrives.

Ordered mine.... what now?

Hello fellow Humans,
I ordered my shield TV this weekend directly from nvidia and should get it this week! :victory:
I was wondering if there is something I should do like avoiding updates that block rooting or something like that. I know that on Amazon's Fire TV and sticks rooting is not possible due to updates.... is there maybe anything else like Hardware related that I should keep an eye on? When it comes to the Shield TV I'm a total noob. I would simply like to know what I definitely should and shouldn't do.

chieco said:
Hello fellow Humans,
I ordered my shield TV this weekend directly from nvidia and should get it this week! :victory:
I was wondering if there is something I should do like avoiding updates that block rooting or something like that. I know that on Amazon's Fire TV and sticks rooting is not possible due to updates.... is there maybe anything else like Hardware related that I should keep an eye on? When it comes to the Shield TV I'm a total noob. I would simply like to know what I definitely should and shouldn't do.
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Click to collapse
Standard or Pro model?

Sub-Negro said:
Standard or Pro model?
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I got the 16gb Ver. because I own a NAS for all my media files. so I thought I won't need a 500gb drive. Apps I believe I won't install many of them. And besides doesn't it have a micro sd card slot + 2 USB ports... they have a promotion going on right now (at least in Germany) where i got the remote for free. So Shield TV and the remote for 199€ which is still expensive but that seems to be the price for the best Hardware u can get. Also big part on me deciding to get the Shield TV was the headphone jack on the remote and controller for private listening. Do you think I made a mistake by choosing the Standard Ver.? Also what do you think about the headphone jack does it work perfect or are there any issues?

chieco said:
I got the 16gb Ver. because I own a NAS for all my media files. so I thought I won't need a 500gb drive. Apps I believe I won't install many of them. And besides doesn't it have a micro sd card slot + 2 USB ports... they have a promotion going on right now (at least in Germany) where i got the remote for free. So Shield TV and the remote for 199€ which is still expensive but that seems to be the price for the best Hardware u can get. Also big part on me deciding to get the Shield TV was the headphone jack on the remote and controller for private listening. Do you think I made a mistake by choosing the Standard Ver.? Also what do you think about the headphone jack does it work perfect or are there any issues?
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I think the free remote is being offered everywhere. Yes the 16 gig is probably fine if you're not a heavy gamer. I don't have access to the 500GB hard drive which makes it somewhat useless and it also might be one of the recall unites. The headset seems to work fine I would love to try it with a microphone if they had any multiplayer android games.

chieco said:
I got the 16gb Ver. because I own a NAS for all my media files. so I thought I won't need a 500gb drive. Apps I believe I won't install many of them. And besides doesn't it have a micro sd card slot + 2 USB ports... they have a promotion going on right now (at least in Germany) where i got the remote for free. So Shield TV and the remote for 199€ which is still expensive but that seems to be the price for the best Hardware u can get. Also big part on me deciding to get the Shield TV was the headphone jack on the remote and controller for private listening. Do you think I made a mistake by choosing the Standard Ver.? Also what do you think about the headphone jack does it work perfect or are there any issues?
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I have the 16 GB also and have have a NAS like you, with 11 TB in it The shield does have a MicroSD and and two USB ports so you can add TONS of external storage, also Marshmallow (whenever Nvidia finally releases it) will suppport external storage as native storage, you can already store stuff on the MicroSD but not on the HDD. I currently have a 64 GB MicroSD and a 500 GB HDD connected to mine, I have a bunch of ROMs on the external HDD for RetroArch. Even though the Shield is touted as a gaming machine, I rarely play games on it, not because it sucks at gaming, mostly because I don't find a lot of the indie games that interesting and I find the Steam and GeForce experience apps useless for me since my PC is literally right next to my TV, so an HDMI connection to my TV from my PC is far better than going throught the Shield. Nvidia GameStream is pretty cool though and as cheap as Netflix, but once again there aren't a lot of interesting titles to me. I mostly just use it for Netflix and Kodi.
IMO root doesn't really add much to it, I took the plunge and rooted my first one (The v1.4 update bricked it) and then was like "now what?" there aren't really any custom kernels for it (that I know of, haven't really been active in this section in a while) and it lacks a lot of the normal root apps that one would find in the play store. If you want to use "normal" Android then that's a different story, I put normal Android on mine....and hated it. I'm perfectly happy with it using the stock Android TV build, which is extremely odd because I usually immediately root and flash a custom ROM to any Android device I get. Also getting into the bootloader/recovery menu is a MAJOR pain in the a$$ since there aren't any physical buttons on it, just the single capacitive button on top and you have to do a morse code-like tapping of that button to get into the recovery from a cold boot. Most annoying thing ever.
The only gripe I have with the Shield is that there isn't an on/off switch on the controller so I have to charge mine like every other day or so because it constantly stays on when I'm not using it. It seems to have a mind of it's own because sometimes it will stay on for an hour when untouched, other times it will turn off after 10 minutes of not being used.
Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk

brando56894 said:
Marshmallow (whenever Nvidia finally releases it) will suppport external storage as native storage, you can already store stuff on the MicroSD but not on the HDD
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yeah saw that advertised in the official nvidia announcement video on youtube.
I currently have a 64 GB MicroSD
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was also planing to put my good old 64gb microsd card from my note 3 days in there which currently isn't used.
Even though the Shield is touted as a gaming machine, I rarely play games on it
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I also don't plan on gaming on it very much. I heard someone in a unboxing video mentioning that there is a Free 3 Months trail for their game streaming service maybe I use that trail but after looking up the titles online doesn't seem that much interesting.
Maybe some psx, psp, gamecube/wii emulation.
I mostly just use it for Netflix and Kodi.
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Yes Kodi was the reason why I got the Shield. I wanted the best possible experience for it.
IMO root doesn't really add much to it
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My main question regarding was that I was wondering if there is a certain FW or Build or something that would block all rooting. Right now I can't think of a reason for rooting the Shield but who knows maybe some App in the future needs root access.
Would I be out of luck if I would update my Shield to the most up to date FW? I would like to know. Or does it not matter on which FW I am and still root my Shield even with future updates?

I doubt anything would block root on it, Nvidia and Google seem to be pretty open about hacking it, they seem to treat it like a Nexus device (they provide system images for it and the bootloader is easily unlockable via the standard method) so I wouldn't really be worried about losing root in the future. We'll probably be seeing some new awesome games for it in the near future since Vulkan was officially released a few days ago (it's a low-overhead, bare metal, cross-platform GPU API) and Nvidia has already implemented it, along with Google and Valve (Steam).

I just ordered one as well. I'm currently using a Nexus Player, and it's not too bad, I just can't help knowing I'll have better results with everything with 3 gb vs 1 gb of ram. Having said that, I've used all of them at this point, and unlocking/rooting this will be closer to unlocking a Google device than the amazon fire. Unlocking that was one ridiculous task. The upside to rooting would be the ability to side load some apps and others like ad away, which could help out with folder apps (for example, EXFile explorer) and Youtube.

Amazon fire tv 4k box to a nvidia shield

Hi guys ,
Just after a bit of info reguarding a possible purchase of a nvidia shield from a amazon fire tv box. Would like to know if you guys think its worth it?
I will only be using it to stream won't be gaming on it at all I have a xbox one for that. Be using SPMC/KODI.
Few things bug me about the Amazon fire tv 2 box and thats how limited it is for getting apps. I have SPMC installed on it, I see if i needed a VPN its a problem. Also how much RAM is being used going into SPMC 60% used already.
So will i see any benefit going in for a shield or just stick with what i have?
Thanks

Richdot said:
Hi guys ,
Just after a bit of info reguarding a possible purchase of a nvidia shield from a amazon fire tv box. Would like to know if you guys think its worth it?
I will only be using it to stream won't be gaming on it at all I have a xbox one for that. Be using SPMC/KODI.
Few things bug me about the Amazon fire tv 2 box and thats how limited it is for getting apps. I have SPMC installed on it, I see if i needed a VPN its a problem. Also how much RAM is being used going into SPMC 60% used already.
So will i see any benefit going in for a shield or just stick with what i have?
Thanks
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The Shield is an upgrade for sure, but if you're JUST using it to stream, I'd stick with AFTV personally. I don't know if you'll see any real difference within Kodi at all (maybe it's a tad more snappy in navigation? But Fire TV is pretty fast even with some heavier skins). Not sure what apps you aren't able to get/use? You can install Playstore (if rooted) or sideload a lot of Android apps. I assume you're not talking about games. That's a different story.
As for RAM usage, that's quite normal. Android will try to utilize as much as it can. Mine fluctuates between 50-60ish% with Kodi. It can go higher if I'm using advanced settings for buffering, but there's no noticeable impact on performance.
So yea if you really just want a good streaming device, probably save your money and stick with AFTV.

Richdot said:
Hi guys ,
Just after a bit of info reguarding a possible purchase of a nvidia shield from a amazon fire tv box. Would like to know if you guys think its worth it?
I will only be using it to stream won't be gaming on it at all I have a xbox one for that. Be using SPMC/KODI.
Few things bug me about the Amazon fire tv 2 box and thats how limited it is for getting apps. I have SPMC installed on it, I see if i needed a VPN its a problem. Also how much RAM is being used going into SPMC 60% used already.
So will i see any benefit going in for a shield or just stick with what i have?
Thanks
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Like @KLit75 said... It's very simple...
NVidia Shield (any version) = Best AndroidTV device period. Best for high end Android Games (Twice the cost for twice the hardware. Full 4K streaming device)
FTV2 = Great for Streaming & regular to light gaming. (Half the cost. Lower 4k device (30 FPS). Still great hardware for streaming & regular to light gaming & expandable storage)
FTVS2 = Still good for Streaming & light gaming. Comparable with FTV1's. (Even cheaper then the FTV2 & still pretty good for streaming & light gaming)
If you already know you won't be gaming on your device. Then the next question to ask yourself is how much 4k @ 60 FPS will you be doing.
With a little research you can find out how easy it is to sideload apps on any FireTV device. There are half a dozen ways to do it. For example: http://www.aftvnews.com/introducing...e-tv-app-which-makes-sideloading-dead-simple/
And there are even mods like changing the default keyboard that do not require Root.
I am waiting to see what FTV3's will have in-store later this year before even thinking of upgrading my FTV1's. They are still doing their job just fine. This includes some light gaming.
I might even advise to wait for a sale on the FTVS2 & have that hold you over until the FTV3's & other devices become available later at the end of the year.

Hmm ok chaps thanks!
I think ill hold off on the shield then as I said i will only be using the shield for streaming nothing else. I don't even own a 4k tv yet
Amazon fire tv 2 is a good streamer 8GB storage is annoying. but Ive had amlogic devices with S805 S905's and with those i do notice more lock ups in kodi/spmc and freezes. I don't see any of that with the amazon fire tv.
Does anyone know when the new Amazon fire tv box 3 will be out? the amazon fire tv box 2 came out late in the UK was early 2016.
Thanks

Richdot said:
Hmm ok chaps thanks!
I think ill hold off on the shield then as I said i will only be using the shield for streaming nothing else. I don't even own a 4k tv yet
Amazon fire tv 2 is a good streamer 8GB storage is annoying. but Ive had amlogic devices with S805 S905's and with those i do notice more lock ups in kodi/spmc and freezes. I don't see any of that with the amazon fire tv.
Does anyone know when the new Amazon fire tv box 3 will be out? the amazon fire tv box 2 came out late in the UK was early 2016.
Thanks
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No 4k TV's here either & don't plan to upgrade my TV's for another decade if I'm lucky. :fingers-crossed: By that time the tech will be beyond 4k.
Find a good free build specially made with FTVS's in mind like the FireTVGuru (www.FireTVGuru.net) builds. Add or subtract what you need. And you shouldn't have any problems in Kodi/SPMC. I actually run both + FireMC to try different builds. And since they get updates at different rates.
As for storage. Get a fast USB 3.0 Stick or even better a fast MicroSD card for your FTV2. I can easily install 20+ apps (was doing some testing) on my FTV1 without any extra storage. I steam a lot thru Opera v37 & Chrome browsers this days.
With a fast enough USB 3.0 Stick or MicroSD card. You can move all of Kodi to the external drive. Just follow this guide: http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-partially-or-entirely-move-kodi-data-to-external-usb-storage/
I doubt you'll see an FTV in the UK in 2017. Since the FTVS2 is still not available there yet. So I think a sure bet would be no FTV3's in the UK until the 2nd quarter of 2018. Unless Amazon does some major changes to their launching system.

Y314K said:
No 4k TV's here either & don't plan to upgrade my TV's for another decade if I'm lucky. :fingers-crossed: By that time the tech will be beyond 4k.
Find a good free build specially made with FTVS's in mind like the FireTVGuru (www.FireTVGuru.net) builds. Add or subtract what you need. And you shouldn't have any problems in Kodi/SPMC. I actually run both + FireMC to try different builds. And since they get updates at different rates.
As for storage. Get a fast USB 3.0 Stick or even better a fast MicroSD card for your FTV2. I can easily install 20+ apps (was doing some testing) on my FTV1 without any extra storage. I steam a lot thru Opera v37 & Chrome browsers this days.
With a fast enough USB 3.0 Stick or MicroSD card. You can move all of Kodi to the external drive. Just follow this guide: http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-partially-or-entirely-move-kodi-data-to-external-usb-storage/
I doubt you'll see an FTV in the UK in 2017. Since the FTVS2 is still not available there yet. So I think a sure bet would be no FTV3's in the UK until the 2nd quarter of 2018. Unless Amazon does some major changes to their launching system.
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Ok I suppose ill just wait for the new amazon fire tv 3 box then, I don't like the firesticks the new the stick is actually slower than the amazon fire tv 2 box currently so not interested in that. may have to wait until 2018 then, hopefully the performance of the box will still hold up for new verisons of kodi.

Fire tv 3rd gen mod

saw a lil problem not a lot of people have or just i had with my fire tv 3rd gen.
i had an ethernet USB hub connected to my device and it got a lil too heavy so a made a lil help along...
please if you can crit or advise or any question please let me know if there is room for improvement
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PhMGlDuQvqct9YNyceVFYoIJB4iTszqd/view?usp=drivesdk

gaaht said:
saw a lil problem not a lot of people have or just i had with my fire tv 3rd gen.
i had an ethernet USB hub connected to my device and it got a lil too heavy so a made a lil help along...
please if you can crit or advise or any question please let me know if there is room for improvement
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PhMGlDuQvqct9YNyceVFYoIJB4iTszqd/view?usp=drivesdk
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nice idea, but why don't you just buy yourself a cheap Android set-top box that you can put up. Almost every box comes with a LAN port

what does a good entry level streaming device go for or would you pay for...?
The Amazon fire tv cost me $39.99 the ORICO 3-Port HUB with RJ45 Ethernet port was $7.00, generic Lego plate $0.55c and a CPU fan free from an old busted up pc...
putting it all together and standing back and marvel at my greatness... PRICELESS...!!!

gaaht said:
what does a good entry level streaming device go for or would you pay for...?
The Amazon fire tv cost me $39.99 the ORICO 3-Port HUB with RJ45 Ethernet port was $7.00, generic Lego plate $0.55c and a CPU fan free from an old busted up pc...
putting it all together and standing back and marvel at my greatness... PRICELESS...!!!
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look here

rainman74 said:
look here
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mmmmm....?
looks like you did your homework pritty well Mr. rainman74 as all those media players that you just posted is laggy and the hardware always fights with the software, my entire build cost me under $48.00, I'll bet you if you have to honest review pro and cons of media players under $60 you probably wanna have your own Fire Tv or Amazon device, I've done the exact same thing to my second gen, and ill probably say once you have owned an Amazon device you would never ever show people that crappy android boxes.
this was a cool build( out of the box thinking? ) that took only an hour to build and it was loads of fun.
... coming soon to your closes xda-developers...!!! gaaht show you how to extend your 1st and 2nd Gen Amazon Fire TV Stick Wifi range and keeping is cool at the same time... dahm dahm daaaaahm

gaaht said:
mmmmm....?
looks like you did your homework pritty well Mr. rainman74 as all those media players that you just posted is laggy and the hardware always fights with the software, my entire build cost me under $48.00, I'll bet you if you have to honest review pro and cons of media players under $60 you probably wanna have your own Fire Tv or Amazon device, I've done the exact same thing to my second gen, and ill probably say once you have owned an Amazon device you would never ever show people that crappy android boxes.
this was a cool build( out of the box thinking? ) that took only an hour to build and it was loads of fun.
... coming soon to your closes xda-developers...!!! gaaht show you how to extend your 1st and 2nd Gen Amazon Fire TV Stick Wifi range and keeping is cool at the same time... dahm dahm daaaaahm
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drawn, but which you don't consider, your Fire TV 3 has the same crappy processor as these cheap Android boxes (Amlogic S905z) and mostly have got even newer versions, so you're not so far away

I would choose a couple of devices over the fire tv 3rd generation. The list @rainman74 posted. Especially the GooBang Doo. Amazon really fail with their devices.

Warrior1988 said:
I would choose a couple of devices over the fire tv 3rd generation. The list @rainman74 posted. Especially the GooBang Doo. Amazon really fail with their devices.
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I agree with all the newer Amazon boxes and all sticks, except the Fire TV 2. gen box 4k is still as good as unbeaten in price/performance ratio until today, if you rule out the old Android 5.1

rainman74 said:
I agree with all the newer Amazon boxes and all sticks, except the Fire TV 2. gen box 4k is still as good as unbeaten in price/performance ratio until today, if you rule out the old Android 5.1
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the Goobang Doo Abox A1 max is not a bad box but had to get rid of it because of laggy bootup , remote issues, naggy OS and the fact that I couldn't unroot it (comes out stock rooted) as most of my apps wouldn't run because of that and the bright clock on it when you in a dark room
for me, I like a box that works where hardware doesn't fight with software, plug in and play that even the kids, mom and pop could use with minimal tutorial, yes it has the so-called crappy Amlogic S905z but its perfect, I only stream nothing else if there was a need for anything else Nvidia Shield would do the job...

gaaht said:
the Goobang Doo Abox A1 max is not a bad box but had to get rid of it because of laggy bootup , remote issues, naggy OS and the fact that I couldn't unroot it (comes out stock rooted) as most of my apps wouldn't run because of that and the bright clock on it when you in a dark room
for me, I like a box that works where hardware doesn't fight with software, plug in and play that even the kids, mom and pop could use with minimal tutorial, yes it has the so-called crappy Amlogic S905z but its perfect, I only stream nothing else if there was a need for anything else Nvidia Shield would do the job...
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ok, then it is great that the Fire TV 3 is sufficient for you :good:

Fire is Fine Gaaht
When I saw this I just had to jump in and add my tiny piece to this. First of all Gaaht don't let anyone tell you that Fire TV is junk the 3rd gen is a great little device and the out of box thinking you had to add to it was clever the one thing Mr Rain neglected to to say when he started to criticize your choice in a box, was what are you looking for as far as the device itself? In other words, what more do you want it to do? And not for nothing Rain, but going to Amazon and typing in Android TV box isn't really doing a heck of a lot of research I've been messing with these things for gosh the last 5 Years now. And the choices that I saw on yours were semi okay. Let's face facts you just punched in Android TV Box and whatever came up came up, it's not like you recommended him a box. It's hard to even do that not knowing what his wants and needs are! I myself have a Fire TV 3rd gen and one of the main reasons that I got one was because I have a lot of Alexa integrated into my home does it mean that it's a crappy box it does what I needed to do and yes I've added peripherals to it and sorry Raahn. Adding a OTG cable that has peripheral USBS or ethernet on it there's nothing magical far of a development team. But none the less you were thinking out of the box, now if you can only answer what it is that you really want out of that box we might be able to help. And not to cut it to short but it does have limitations. It's main purpose as a device is to offer streaming and that is truly about it. While we can push the limitations it's got 2gb/and in all honesty about 5gb after all is set up and let's not pretend to make this some kind of budget Shield device with a mali/450. Hit us with what you came to ask? And what you want?!

JCHAT14610 said:
When I saw this I just had to jump in and add my tiny piece to this. First of all Gaaht don't let anyone tell you that Fire TV is junk the 3rd gen is a great little device and the out of box thinking you had to add to it was clever the one thing Mr Rain neglected to to say when he started to criticize your choice in a box, was what are you looking for as far as the device itself? In other words, what more do you want it to do? And not for nothing Rain, but going to Amazon and typing in Android TV box isn't really doing a heck of a lot of research I've been messing with these things for gosh the last 5 Years now. And the choices that I saw on yours were semi okay. Let's face facts you just punched in Android TV Box and whatever came up came up, it's not like you recommended him a box. It's hard to even do that not knowing what his wants and needs are! I myself have a Fire TV 3rd gen and one of the main reasons that I got one was because I have a lot of Alexa integrated into my home does it mean that it's a crappy box it does what I needed to do and yes I've added peripherals to it and sorry Raahn. Adding a OTG cable that has peripheral USBS or ethernet on it there's nothing magical far of a development team. But none the less you were thinking out of the box, now if you can only answer what it is that you really want out of that box we might be able to help. And not to cut it to short but it does have limitations. It's main purpose as a device is to offer streaming and that is truly about it. While we can push the limitations it's got 2gb/and in all honesty about 5gb after all is set up and let's not pretend to make this some kind of budget Shield device with a mali/450. Hit us with what you came to ask? And what you want?!
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation_of_English

ldeveraux said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation_of_English
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lmao