W♥M (Archive)

Nvidia Shield

NVIDIA Shield 2017 Read More The Mi Box That left me with my only choice: The Mi Box. If you aren't familiar with the Mi Box, it's a $69 Android TV box sold by Chinese company Xiaomi. When you get the Mi Box ... Roku I recently purchased the third generation Roku 2 at the end of July. I've been keeping an eye on the Roku for a long time, but have finally decided to get one based on the fact that they now support DLNA. ... Apple TV Apple TV is the only one that supports iTunes purchased movies and "Air Play", but if you don't live in the Apple Universe, a workaround is with UltraViolet (via Flixster or Vudu). You can read more about UltraViolet here. ...

It’s been about three years since I purchased The Mi Box and it was just time I needed to upgrade the device.

I know the trend right now are Micro PCs, but I don’t think it’s an elegant solution, since Windows 10’s fonts are tiny, sitting 10 feet away - and not to mention that you still have to use a mouse and keyboard to navigate.

Android TV (which includes Amazon’s limited version called Fire TV), Roku, and Apple TV, are basically the main three competitors in this streaming box market. I have own all three types and I love and hate them all. Many of you already have one of these boxes, and they’re fine for most of you. I just find that Roku and Apple are very limited in what you can actually do with their boxes.

I wanted the best of the best Android TV, and eventually just bought the Nvidia Shield when they had a sale. I was holding out for a new model of this device (since the internal hardware had not been changed since its launch in 2015), but I eventually gave in.

The new smaller 2017 version (with new redesigned controller) is the model I bought, and to be perfectly honest, it’s still a very good streaming box, thanks to the Tegra X1 chip (with 3GB of RAM). It’s fast enough to run any Android software and seems to handle 4k content better than most TV devices of its kind.

Overall, I’m still very happy with the Nvidia Shield and it’s the only device that I use regularly on my TV.

Pros:

The best, fastest, most updated Android TV on the market

4k/HDR/Dolby Atmos 7.1 support

Voice Control and Google Assistant

NVIDIA GeForce Now (currently FREE)

The only Android TV device that can officially run Amazon Prime Videos (Amazon and Google

Game controller is the best I’ve used on any streaming box

Ability to control Shield with Google Home Hub

Can run Dolphin Emulator (other devices on the market are not fast enough to run this software)

Official Google Play store apps, like Kodi, MAME4droid, Snes9x EX+

Supports Google Music and Amazon Music!

Ability to sideload any APK applications, such as Morpheus TV, StopAds, Adblocker

Shield exclusive games, like Doom 3, Tomb Raider, Half-Life 2

Cons:

The most expensive Android TV on the market

No Micro SD reader (found in the original 2015 model, but not in the latest model)

Small storage (only 16GB)

Short battery life on the game controller

Remote controller does not have volume control

Remote controller is flimsy

Remote controller’s batteries are not rechargeable

Needs a special base to stand the Shield upright

The Shield will unwantedly turn on (or off) the TV

I actually hated the remote controller that came with the Shield … so I’m using the game controller for everything and may be the reason why I’m complaining about the controller’s battery life. I find myself recharging it every other day, and it’s a little annoying.

The small storage and lack of SD card reader isn’t really a deal breaker, because you can address this with a rather large USB stick or USB Harddrive. For most people looking to just stream their content, 16GB will be fine for them.

As for the Shield turning on and off the TV, you can disable this “feature” under CEC power management, so it’s not a big deal.

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The Mi Box

Mi Box Specification Output resolution Up to 4K 60fps Processor Quad-core Cortex-A53 2.0GHz GPU Mali 450 750MHz RAM 2GB DDR3 Storage 8GB of on-board storage Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz/5GHz Bluetooth 4.0/3.0 Video VP9 Profile-2 up to 4K x 2K @ 60fps H.265 HEVC MP-10 at L5.1, up to 4K x 2K at 60fps H.264 AVC HPat L5.1, up to 4K x 2K at 30fps H.264 MVC, up to 1080P at 60fps Supports HDR10/HLG HDR processing (software upgrade required) Sound DTS 2.0+ Digital Out, Dolby Digital Plus Up to 7.1 pass through Ports HDMI: HDMI 2.0a x 1 port (HDCP 2.2) USB: USB 2.0 x 1 port AV: SPDIF Out / 3.5mm audio output x 1 port Power: 1 port Software Android TV 6.0 Dimensions and weight 101 x 101 x 19.5mm 176.5g Color Black Read More Roku So, I previously poo-poo the Roku because it did not support YouTube. You know, the most popular video service in the world and Roku just didn't work with it? It's sad and lame, in my opinion. ....

I recently upgraded my television to a Samsung 4k (UHD). It's only 40-inch, but it's big enough for me (especially for the sale price). My current first-gen PS4 isn't powerful enough for 4k (or wasn't really design to output at that resolution), and, at of this writing, only the Xbox One S and the new PS4 Pro offers 4k support. Unfortunately, I'm not going to re-buy a PS4 and I'm patiently waiting for the Xbox One Scorpio... so I can't just buy the current Xbox (although I really want to get it it now).

The 4k problem is actually the lack of content. Streaming 4k is not a great option, because my internet cannot handle streaming it. Downloading it takes forever... and not to mention the sheer takes up too much valuable disc space on my harddrive. 4k discs are being sold, but are limited to certain popular titles and at an extra cost. Discs are priced at usually at $30, which is $10+ more than Bluray discs. Plus, unless you got an Xbox One S, 4k disc players is an added $150 or more extra cost.

Basically, it's a chicken and egg problem, but eventually 4k is the future. For collectors, the steelbooks and special packaging are only available on Bluray, so they're not migrating any time soon.

So why would you want a 4k TV? Let me break it down to you: the image quality is much better than a standard 1080 screen. It's not just my imagination, because the pixels look smoother/sharper because the image is upscale on the same display size. The smaller the dots, the better it looks... but only if you have really good 20/20 vision (or look closely at the display).

The other cool thing about my Samsung set is that it comes with apps, so if you're watching TV, you can click on the extra icon to see the latest weather or play minesweeper, etc. Although you can install apps directly on the TV, the Samsung App store is severely limited.

My only 4k streaming box options right now are: Roku 4, Chromecast Ultra, Nvidia Shield, or the Mi Box. Having own the Roku 2, I was not impressed with its inability to turn off or that it does not support multiple audio or even something simple as subtitle support.

As for the Chromecast, you basically need an Android Phone (which I currently don't own), and the Nvidia Shield is just too expensive ($200 for the base model and the remote is an extra $50, and the stand is $30)..... so that left me with my only choice: The Mi Box. If you aren't familiar with the Mi Box, it's a $69 Android TV box sold by Chinese company Xiaomi.

When you get the Mi Box, I suggest getting the Kodi app (formerly known as XBMC) so you can stream your local DNLA or add streaming video playlists. Kodi is really just the best app, I've used it on various platform. It will play everything, and it does multiple audio and multiple subtitles. It's really the only video player you need.

Some things I do not like about the Mi Box:

Power cord is not very long and seemingly exclusive to Mi Box (meaning you can’t just swap it out for another longer cable).

Limited to only Android TV selections (this is a Google limitation)

Voice search is not very good (again, this is a Google limitation)

Chromecast did not really work for me on some applications I tried.

No Apple Mirror (this is an Apple restriction/DRM issue)

One USB, no SD card reader

Some things I love about the Mi Box:

Has all the Apps I like: Haystack, Pluto TV, Kodi, etc.

Game option with the Mi Controller (may buy one if I find it in stores)

Cheap! $69

Small and compact design.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic