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NVIDIA Drops the Basic Shield TV's Price To $180 (engadget.com)

Posted by msmash on from the deal-alert dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: NVIDIA's Shield TV promised to be an Android set-top box for gamers, and in that sense, it delivered. The company first released it in 2015, but its updated version cut down on price by bundling the $50 remote in to make the base-tier $200 version more cost-efficient. Now they're dropping that price down to $180, which is an even better deal. NVIDIA is keeping the $200 tier by bundling in its normally $60 controller alongside the included remote.

43 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. Who... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    ....gives a shit. And more to the point, why is Nvidia farting around with TV when it could just make bank pumping out (and overcharging for) "cryptocurrency-optimized" video cards?

    1. Re:Who... by sinij · · Score: 1

      The same reason the poisoned Nvidia experience application with spyware - whoever is in charge at Nvidia is chasing "big data" trend.

  2. Lots of competition by fluffernutter · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There are many more Android boxes available for much less. Obviously quality varies, but the Xiaomi Wi box is supposed to be superb and available for $70. It doesn't come with a game controller, but the remote is supposed to be pretty good and doesn't the Shield just play Android games anyway?

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    1. Re:Lots of competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's not just Android games, though. I can stream a large part of my Steam library to my TV using the Shield. It's a nice device. Granted, yes, it's expensive, but the device, the controller and the packaging are all premium quality. The remote needs work (stupid unlabeled volume slider). I watch a lot of YouTube on it. I stream my media to it via Plex. I use it for Netflix. I play games on it.

    2. Re:Lots of competition by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Where is the game actually running then?

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    3. Re:Lots of competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      According to Google, the game runs on your PC, you're just "casting" it to the shield via wifi.

    4. Re:Lots of competition by ezelkow1 · · Score: 1

      But you can do that without a shield too. Just install moonlight, it understands nvidia's streaming protocol so it can talk to GFE running on your pc and stream just the same as the shield does

    5. Re:Lots of competition by stephanruby · · Score: 1

      No, the Shield does have exclusive games (in addition to the regular Google Play ones).

      Not that this matters, the "real" gamers are not buying the Shield.

      And most of the people I know (two acquaintances, not very many) who have the Shield use it mostly to cast youtube videos and chrome tabs to it. And so, I'm pretty sure that they didn't need an Android TV, let alone an overpowered one with its own set of high graphics games.

      A simple $35 Chromecast would have done the trick.

    6. Re:Lots of competition by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Why wouldn't you just play the game on a PC monitor then? Or attach the PC to a TV?

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    7. Re:Lots of competition by barc0001 · · Score: 1

      And I can stream ALL of my Steam library to my TV with my $30 Steam Link. nVidia has missed the boat on this market segment big time. The Shield is overpriced for what it does and that might have been OK when it was one of the few games in town, but now everyone and their dog can do it as well or better for less. Between my Steam Link and a Minix mini Windows 10 box I picked up for $170 CDN on sale, I have everything I want. The Minix runs Kodi for all my media and some emulation, Steam Link for PC gaming when I feel like using the TV instead of the PC.

    8. Re:Lots of competition by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      ...but the Xiaomi Wi box is supposed to be superb and available for $70.

      I think you mean the Mi Box . I don't see Nintendo letting that fly having another device that hooks to your TV and plays games with a name that's phonetically the same.

    9. Re:Lots of competition by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      doesn't the Shield just play Android games anyway?

      There are a few last-gen AAA titles that have been ported. Certainly would not satisfy a hardcore gamer though.

    10. Re:Lots of competition by jon3k · · Score: 1

      I just replaced my two Roku4 with NVIDIA Shield. I was switching from Plex (because Plex is creepy ) to Kodi and couldn't be happier. The Shield's hardware is extremely impressive, the UI is incredibly fast. It makes the Roku4 and Plex feel awful to use. Using a shared db with Kodi solved all my issues of tracking watched status between players. No cost, no accounts, no shady Plex business, a vastly superior device, a fantastic mobile app (again, at no cost) plus the flexibility and huge amount of Add-Ons available for Kodi. There's just no comparison. If you're still using Plex, I'd really consider looking at it. There are of course, like the OP pointed out, cheaper players as well.

    11. Re:Lots of competition by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      But you could have bought any less expensive android box and done the same.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    12. Re:Lots of competition by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      I use the steam link. I have a pretty beefy computer in the living room but I don't game enough to build another one for the bedroom. It's pretty nice being able to play games in either room.

      I already had a firetv otherwise I probably would have went for the shield since the cost of the firetv + steam link + controller would come pretty close and would stop me from messing with different inputs and having multpile devices plugged in the bedroom

    13. Re:Lots of competition by jon3k · · Score: 1

      Similar, not the same. The shield hardware is vastly superior to pretty much every other android box.

  3. Nice slashvertisement, there by damn_registrars · · Score: 1

    I can't for the life of me figure out why I would want to buy this thing. I suppose someone here may have an extra $180 burning a hole in their pocket but I don't have that problem myself.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:Nice slashvertisement, there by Dan+East · · Score: 2

      These kinds of slashvertisements often backfire, because people come to Slashdot to read the comments, and the comments often point out better alternatives for cheaper.

      --
      Better known as 318230.
    2. Re:Nice slashvertisement, there by ChatHuant · · Score: 1

      I can't for the life of me figure out why I would want to buy this thing.

      Moreover, you need a Google account to use the Shield. Am I not getting stalked enough by Google that I need to have them snoop on my TV viewing as well? Blow this for a game of soldiers.

  4. Re:$200, the fuck? by Lord+Crc · · Score: 2

    For $200 I could just build a regular PC or buy a pretty sweet used machine. I don't get it.

    I doubt that would be as silent and as UHD capable as the Shield TV box. I'll agree it's not for everyone, but the Shield TV box is the best purchase I've done in years.

  5. A weak console and a less-featured Roku by elrous0 · · Score: 1

    The best of both worlds.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:A weak console and a less-featured Roku by Kenja · · Score: 1

      Show me where Roku can run Kodi.

      ok... https://www.dailydot.com/debug... Google is hard for some.

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    2. Re:A weak console and a less-featured Roku by The+Good+Reverend · · Score: 1

      That's screen mirroring, not Kodi running on the Roku. Roku has proved pretty difficult to (or not worth, depending on who you ask) cracking open.

    3. Re:A weak console and a less-featured Roku by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      Show me where Roku can run Kodi.

      or PLEX server.

      Also, if you live outside the USA, Roku support is total shit.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
  6. Re:$200, the fuck? by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    You need at least a core i5, Skylake, or a $250 video card to do HECV decoding. A PC would come to around $350.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  7. Re:$200, the fuck? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

    Plenty of cheap Android boxes do it in hardware and cost $50.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  8. The article gets it wrong... by iCEBaLM · · Score: 2

    All Shield TVs used to come with a controller. What they're doing now is dropping the $60 controller but only giving you a $20 break on the price. Not worth it.

    As a Shield TV owner I'm really happy with the quality and performance of the hardware. The problem is the damn this is crippled by only running Android TV so can only get Android TV apps without much fiddling, and generally speaking there's not a lot of software available for it.

    1. Re:The article gets it wrong... by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      All Shield TVs used to come with a controller. What they're doing now is dropping the $60 controller but only giving you a $20 break on the price. Not worth it.

      As a Shield TV owner I'm really happy with the quality and performance of the hardware. The problem is the damn this is crippled by only running Android TV so can only get Android TV apps without much fiddling, and generally speaking there's not a lot of software available for it.

      They come with a game controller, which is a bit bulky for use as a remote control. However, it is controllable with the android tv app on a phone.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    2. Re:The article gets it wrong... by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      They come with a game controller, which is a bit bulky for use as a remote control. However, it is controllable with the android tv app on a phone.

      The $180 one only comes with a remote, no game controller. But there are so few games for the controller it's probably not a big deal. Main advantage is the battery life when using headphones is better on the gamepad than on the remote.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    3. Re:The article gets it wrong... by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      They come with a game controller, which is a bit bulky for use as a remote control. However, it is controllable with the android tv app on a phone.

      The $180 one only comes with a remote, no game controller. But there are so few games for the controller it's probably not a big deal. Main advantage is the battery life when using headphones is better on the gamepad than on the remote.

      Ok that's funny, because until now it was the other way around and the slimline remote was an extra!

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    4. Re:The article gets it wrong... by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      The remote has been bundled in it for quite some time, I think at least a year. Definitely the old shield that was much bigger (2015) didn't include the remote unless you upgraded to the "Pro" bundle. I think the change over for a free remote occurred when they removed the microSD slot.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  9. Re:$200, the fuck? by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

    With 4K _and_ HDR support?

  10. Re:$200, the fuck? by Thanatiel · · Score: 1

    Not to forgot Vulkan ?
    (I bought one as a X1 test machine)

    --
    Irrelevant news and morons using moderation to mod down what they disagree on. 2018 resolution: so long.
  11. Re:$200, the fuck? by slaker · · Score: 1

    Also, supporting 4K is not the same thing as having the authorization to deliver it. Shit tons of PCs have a fully 4k-compliant delivery chain but unless you're running Edge on Windows 10, Netflix is only going to be 720p no matter what you do. Likewise, some Android client devices have special authorization to deliver 4k while others don't.

    IMO, the Shield TV is a decent product that's priced a bit too high. You can stream some games to it and it can kinda-sorta act as a Plex Server with limited transcoding support, but even as someone who has a 4k HDR TV, I recognize that the use case for those things above and beyond the feature set of a FireTV or Roku box are pretty limited.

    --
    -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
  12. Re:$200, the fuck? by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

    For $200 I could just build a regular PC or buy a pretty sweet used machine. I don't get it.

    I doubt that would be as silent and as UHD capable as the Shield TV box. I'll agree it's not for everyone, but the Shield TV box is the best purchase I've done in years.

    As a set top box the shield can't be beaten for quality. Add to that Nvidia's enterprise-grade support for their customers (I've had extremely good support from them including a forward RMA replacement for a controller).

    Building your own computer might be cheaper but it's not a superior option when you just want to stream content or use PLEX server (which is built into the shield tv).

    --
    In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
  13. Re:$200, the fuck? by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

    Also, supporting 4K is not the same thing as having the authorization to deliver it. Shit tons of PCs have a fully 4k-compliant delivery chain but unless you're running Edge on Windows 10, Netflix is only going to be 720p no matter what you do. Likewise, some Android client devices have special authorization to deliver 4k while others don't.

    IMO, the Shield TV is a decent product that's priced a bit too high. You can stream some games to it and it can kinda-sorta act as a Plex Server with limited transcoding support, but even as someone who has a 4k HDR TV, I recognize that the use case for those things above and beyond the feature set of a FireTV or Roku box are pretty limited.

    I haven't noticed any limitations on its PLEX server. And Nvidias support is extremely good.

    --
    In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
  14. Re:Didn't get the memo... by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

    If you RTFA you'd see that they knocked $20 off the price if you leave out the $60 gamepad.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  15. Re:$200, the fuck? by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    Most android boxes have hardware acceleration for that, yes.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  16. Happy with my Shield TV by Gaygirlie · · Score: 1

    I've had the basic Shield TV for a good while now and personally I'm really happy with it. I only use it for media-playback, I am not interested in the slightest in Android-games, but for playback it's really hard to beat: Kodi works like a charm, the box supports audio-passthrough for a huge range of codecs for my surround-sound setup, HDMI CEC works like a peach, and unlike those cheap, Chinaman Android-boxes, the Netflix-app is the real Android TV-version instead of the mobile-one and supports 4K HDR and surround-sound, whereas those Chinaman-boxes lack the Widevine-license and can only play Netflix at 720p. Also, the whole UI of the box is useable without needing a mouse or mouse-emulation anywhere, and thus is comfortable to use from the couch or whatever.

    Sure, the box was expensive when I bought it, but I haven't regretted it.

  17. So... by sootman · · Score: 1

    ... 10% off a product that nobody gives a shit about (or even knows existed) is news?

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  18. Re:$200, the fuck? by slaker · · Score: 1

    The Shield's Plex Server chokes on transcoding two 1080p streams for non-local clients. I've tested 10x3Mbps streams against the Xeon E5 rig I normally use for Plex and it's held up. I don't think a workload of 3 streams is too much to ask and I'm not going to re-encode all my videos to inferior formats just to keep my media server from using cycles that it should have available.

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    -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
  19. Re:$200, the fuck? by slaker · · Score: 1

    I don't disagree, but at the same time the pirated files probably aren't full bit rate 4k HDR originals, which is something I don't mind for a series like Sense8 or Luke Cage.
    A 1080p/6 channel copy of House of Cards is easy to come by on a torrent site but I *do* pay for Netflix (and I have since 1998) and I *do* have an AV setup that supports the whole 8 speaker/60fps 4k/HDR, and since I'm in the rarefied group that can, I'd prefer to.

    --
    -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
  20. Re:$200, the fuck? by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

    The Shield's Plex Server chokes on transcoding two 1080p streams for non-local clients. I've tested 10x3Mbps streams against the Xeon E5 rig I normally use for Plex and it's held up. I don't think a workload of 3 streams is too much to ask and I'm not going to re-encode all my videos to inferior formats just to keep my media server from using cycles that it should have available.

    Oh ok, thats not a scenario I ever hit, I just use it with the local client.

    --
    In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.