NVIDIA's New Shield Tablet Starts Shipping in US and Canada Today

[dgstorm]

Canada and the United States are getting treated to some NVIDIA gaming Android tablet goodness today. They just started shipping their fancy new Tegra K1 equipped Shield tablet. This tablet is meant to push Android gaming to a whole new level and start the push toward evolving into a portable console gaming product.

The 8-inch tablet comes jam-packed with NVIDIA's 192-core GPU to bring near Desktop level graphics to a tablet. It will sell for $299 for the 16GB model. For $60 more you can get a SHIELD controller which syncs up with the tablet through direct WiFi. This supposedly provides a smoother connection than typical Bluetooth-based controllers.

Here's NVIDIA's site in case you want to order one today: http://store.nvidia.com/buyshield

Alternatively, here's Amazon's link for the tablet: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200322&pf_rd_i=507846

And, here's Best Buy's: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/nvidia-...4472&skuId=7902082&st=nvidia shield&cp=1&lp=1

 

[johnomaz]

And now I wait for some reviews. I've jumped on products at launch and regretted it. I won't make that mistake again. Sure does look nice though.

 

[Narsil]

I have played with mine now for several weeks and it is, quite simply, awesome. I do not have a sophisticated enough graphics card or router to enjoy all the functionality of this tablet but I am still VERY impressed with it.

To begin with, it is running nearly-vanilla Android. There is no skin and only a few added apps, not what I would even call bloatware. It comes with one added game, Trine 2, which isn't really my kind of game, but it is the full game, not a demo trying to tempt you into spending more money. It also comes with an app for either mirroring the screen via HDMI at 720p or going into a console mode at 1080p but I think that requires the high-end, dual-band router, which I don't have. It also comes with the Shield Hub which is the "store" showing what apps have been optimized for the Tegra K1 processor. There is also an app which, assuming you have the appropriate router, high-enough transfer speed, and low enough ping, you can stream games from their California-based server but this service is still in beta testing.

There are a couple extra option menus in the settings and I think it's pretty spanking awesome that you have clocking options, built right in. I've got it set on a balanced mode that is a nice compromise between battery and performance.

I have not purchased the magnetic cover or the wireless controller yet but I did buy a wired X-box 360 controller from a Chinese website for $20 shipped. I have been very pleasantly surprised with how well it works through a USB OTG adapter. I played Bard's Tale from start to finish with the controller and loved it. It's so much easier than on-screen controls. I gave up playing Bloodstroke before the controller arrived but have quite enjoyed the game now that I don't have to settle for on-screen controls. One advantage to the wireless controller, though, is that you can charge the tablet while using the wireless controller where I am forced to run on battery with the wired controller.

That being said, though, I get a solid 8 hours or so while using the wired controller through the USB port, mirroring the screen through the mini-HDMI port with wifi on. I think that's pretty impressive for a single-battery tablet considering the tablet screen is on while using the mirror mode, especially considering it is running the currently fastest processor out there.

I rooted it quickly and very easily with the Towel Root app, per the recommendation here and it worked as advertised. 30 seconds later I had adblock installed, downloaded the host files, and was ad-free on the tablet.

nVidia claims they will be very actively updating the OS as they don't have to add much to the Android source to bring it to their Shield devices. With the processing power of the K1 chip, I expect this will be up to par for several years. My previous tablet was an OG Transformer, TF101 with a Tegra 2 processor. Even with overclocking, it became pretty laggy after about two years, even with updated ROMs and resets. I expect this tablet will have much more staying power unless Android shifts over to 64bit and really ups the processing power needed.

The stylus isn't quite as nice as the Samsung S-pen but that is largely because it is a passive, capacitive stylus rather than a WACOM digital stylus as the Sammy pens are. It is quite nice that it has a very small, chisel tip rather than the hemispherical tips on most styli. It allows for much more precise positioning than a standard stylus and the soft, chisel tip allows for multi-pressure usage as more of the chisel tip comes into contact with the screen the harder you press. It's actually quite ingenious. My only complaint with this passive stylus is that it is so precise, I frequently change screens when I'm trying to tap an icon because it slides just enough on the screen to slide the screen rather than activate the app I want.

The two things I really disliked about the cover that nVidia sells (didn't buy one, only looked online) are, first of all, the price, and secondly, there is no drop protection for the corners or back of the tablet, only the surface of the screen. It's very cool that the cover "snaps" on via magnets (love that about the MS Surface keyboards) but I want some drop protection. I've ordered a case/cover from Amazon that combines a plastic snap-on case that covers the back and corners of the tablet and has a similarly-folding (and hopefully magnetic) cover like the official one. I'll report back after it arrives and I've had a chance to check it out. It appears that the aftermarket accessories are beginning to show up.

All in all, you don't have to be an avid gamer to love this tablet. It is not significantly more expensive than a Nexus tablet but you get a micro SD-card slot, nearly vanilla Android experience, built-in clocking capabilities, easy rooting, and great battery life. What more do you really want in a tablet??

I hope this will be of service to anyone considering the Shield Tablet.

 

[Divergent]

@dgstorm this tablet is fantastic but i recently buyed a Samsung tablet ( Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 )
And it has a OC 2,7 Ghz Quad Core so it has a better CPU and i first need a new phone before buying another tablet.
I have now Galaxy Note 1 and a S2 so it's time to buy a Galaxy Note 3 first.
But the next generation of this tablet will i defenitly buy


Sent from a bunch of fingers using AOSP Keyboard

 

[kodiak799]

I like almost everything about this tablet....but only 2gigs of ram seems a bit of a fail for a tablet geered toward gaming.

I have my eye on the new Galaxy Tab(?)...which has high-end specs across the board. I don't really care about the cutting-edge graphics on the NVIDIA - I don't play games or watch much video on my tablet.

 

[Divergent]

I like almost everything about this tablet....but only 2gigs of ram seems a bit of a fail for a tablet geered toward gaming.

I have my eye on the new Galaxy Tab(?)...which has high-end specs across the board. I don't really care about the cutting-edge graphics on the NVIDIA - I don't play games or watch much video on my tablet.

You mean Galaxy Tab 4, Galaxy Tab Pro Series, or Galaxy Tab S series?

Sent from a bunch of fingers using AOSP Keyboard