After looking at my existing TV setup and realizing that I could simplify things quite a bit, I went ahead and grabbed an Nvidia Shield. I was using a cheap Android box for specific streaming apps, an Xbox One for high quality Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Plex stuff, and I had a small PC I used to stream games over Steam from my main gaming rig. Now all that is being handled by the Shield, and hopefully I can sell the Xbox One to cover the cost, since I never actually used it to play games
The Shield itself is awesome, the interface is really nice and combines different streaming apps into a unified format. If you're watching different shows between Netflix, Amazon, and Plex it keeps track of all of them in the Play Next section, and will also put any games you're playing in there as well. The one negative I've found so far is the limited Google Play Store, but since you can sideload apps that isn't too much of an issue. I've even got a VPN and the DirectTV Now app installed, which lets me login with a buddy's account in the US
I just wish the base model had an IR port. I didn't want to spend an extra $150 for the Pro model, but now I need to get a Flirc IR receiver and set it up so I can keep using my Harmony remote
|