I dont know why, maybe Nvidia itself not believe in this product, but in middle Europe arent this products line available, except Amazon store with expensive shipping cost.
If it was going to be sold in Europe, with the USD to EUR conversion, and then adding the VAT, it would be a lot more expensive.
Shipping to Australia was only about $25. Is shipping to Europe much higher? Either way, it would be easier than if it was actually sold in Europe. Just go ahead and buy it, it's a fantastic device.
With shipping and taxes, its 416 bucks for $299 - 500 GB model, which is already a bit rip off - 100 bucks for 500 gb HDD - Its probably founders edition HDD..
That's akin to the "Apple tax"; you want more than the base model? Prepare to pay three times the retail cost of the extra/better components. Does anyone here know if a HDD/SSD can be added to the base model Shield TV after purchase? It would be phenomenal to be able to add a SSD and stop using a relatively slow class 10 uSD card for the seamless storage.
Yes, with the most recent updates. Previously add-on drives were second class on Android (only some items could make use of the space). With Flex Storage in 3.1, the add-on should work well. The smaller model became much more usable with that release.
I get that I can plug in a USB 3.0 drive to get better speed, and I've done that with a USB 3.0 thumb drive. What I mean is, physically opening up the base model Shield TV and finding an accessible SATA or M.2 bay would be awesome, and even better if a third party drive works seamlessly. Granted, I'm not opening mine up until the warranty is up at the least.
There is no M2 or SATA port. The pins exist on the motherboard, but you would need to solder connectors to them. USB or MicroSD storage is probably a better idea.
@Sivar Ok so that's probably where some of the cost difference comes in; the 500GB version has extra connectors so it's not just the cost of the drive itself. USB 3.0 SSD it is, then.
I love our Shield TV, it's by far the best tech investment I've ever made. When we got a 4K TV earlier this year my wife left it to me to pick out a 4K box to complement it, and it was a no-brainer. The only thing I wish it had was Amazon Video since we're Prime subscribers, but the rest of the device and services more than make up for it. I'm happy to see it getting quarterly updates, that's more than most Android devices.
Ugh, hit "submit" too soon. I was going to say, it's worth the extra shipping when you consider what you get. If you want to save money, don't even bother with the slim TV remote, the gamepad works fine as a TV remote and the battery lasts weeks between charges, compared to days for the regular remote.
Any benefit vs other boxes beyond gaming and 4K? (and I'm not under valuing this, just not for me) Probably gonna be clinging to our 1080p for quite a few years, the game streaming does interest me tho... At one point it seemed like Valve's boxes were gonna be the better (or at least more open) alternative but right now I dunno.
You may be better served by a Roku 3 (or 4 for forward compatibility when you do move to a 4K TV) as it has a much wider selection of "channels" and content providers, and a handful of time-wasting games.
Game streaming on the Shield isn't perfect; my gaming PC is average, with a Haswell CPU, 16 GB RAM and a GTX 750 Ti. Platform style games work great, but FPS style games don't always cooperate. This is over wired Gigabit so it's not a bandwidth issue, and it has steadily improved with each Shield update. It could be that my PC is at the lower end of what's supported, but even older games like Far Cry (yes, the first one from 12 years ago) that play flawlessly on the PC struggle with streaming.
Maybe it's the 750 TI that is at the lower end of nVidia's streaming capability? I wonder if the 900 series cards would work better. Maybe they have more transcoding power.
I have Amazon Video on my Nvidia Shield and it works great...Just download the sideload launcher from the playstore and look for the apk for Amazon video then sideload the app.
Do you have the random pausing issues with yours? Happens for me on the Shield and the Nexus Player in streaming apps and local media playback. And it's not to buffer, it behaves as if someone hit the pause button. Have yet to figure it out or see it addressed by nVidia or Google.
@cygnus1 I haven't had any issues other than HDCP sometimes causing a <1 second "blip", but that's the fault of my TV as it happens with any HDMI connected device.
I've always wondered why Amazon Prime isn't available. The first Google TVs had an Amazon app built in, but that app never seemed to make it to the Google Play Store for regular or future Android devices to download.
I was not aware of any 4K TV that Did not include Amazon in it's Smart Software . So why is that an issue. Just run on TV or go to You Tube and learn how to install Amazon on your Shield TV. Using TV Amazon is the simplest. Enjoy your Shield.
TV licensing in Europe is a fragmented mess so ISP-agnostic platforms don't have much of a chance compared to local services that offer live TV + video and football on demand in local language only which is what 95% of people are content with. This thing depends on those services so maybe that's the reason.
FWIW A lot of europeans got a Shield from Philips when they failed to produce their own UHD box they had pre-bundled as part of a 4k TV promotional campaign and struck a deal with NVidia to deliver Shields instead.
With HDR and 4k60fps playback, the Shield is cementing its position as by far the best media player on the market.
I am very happy to see continued support and updates from Nvidia. Even though Nvidia doesn't directly sell it where I live (Australia), it was easy to buy it from Amazon and it's probably one of the best technology purchases that I've made in the last 12 months. It's such a capable little device, and it keeps getting better!
Indeed, and while the hardware hacker in me wishes it was more open to installing full Android or even Linux/BSD, if it were I'd have to buy another one to avoid tying up our main source of entertainment in the living room. But oh, what a powerful workstation it could be!
Hmm, if you were a hardware hacker, you would know that you can install full android (marshmallow 3.0) on this device without any glitches. Just download it from XDA. Surprised you are not involved in the XDA community.
NV might actually have the best update track record of current Android OEM right now... Moto had it for a while, then HTC, Samsung might've been more consistent overall, but it seems Shield devices are almost a sure bet. Beefy hardware that's way ahead of the curve helps I guess...
I picked one of these up a month ago, when my old Xbox with XBMC was too slow to run a few N64 games I wanted to play. I originally fiddled with a NUC + SteamOS, which was not quite working. Bought one of these, installed Mupen64plus and it works great.
It's great for emulation, I have ePSXe loaded up and all my PSX game discs copied to bin/cue format on the SD card. The controller is a bit odd since it more closely emulates the Xbox controller layout, but it works.
Since the GTX 950 and 960 also have hardware encode/decode of HEVC 10-bit, there's no reason that HDR would/should be limited to Pascal. HDR is a lightweight metadata stream transmitted on top of the HEVC stream.
Also, what exactly constitutes an HDR game? HDR rendering has been part of DX since 2003 and OGL for a long time as well. Also, no reason it can't be done over DisplayPort. We'll just need new monitors... and HDRWorks, of course. :/
This is clearly aimed as a premium product, but with such high pricing I can't see this ever gaining much market share. Maybe that isn't Nvidia's goal, but I can't help but think that in another year or two budget streaming devices will be 4K capable. At that point, what is the Shield's selling point? For gamers the PS4/PS4 Neo is a much better bet. Other functionality is trickling its way down into ever cheaper devices.
Talk about burying the lead, but does this mean the new consumer Nvidia cards support 10-bit output? Like, I don't have to buy a professional card to get a wider color gamut? 'cause I would totally buy one if that's the case.
One thing is still missing. All high end BD players have it. All current UHD BD players have it. With Atmos/DTS X becoming more important every day, plus HDR just over the horizon, what could it be? A second HDMI port for audio only. For those who do not have the latest HDMI 2.0b/HDCP 2.2 support on their amplifiers.
There are many black plastic boxes on the market (or coming soon) that claim HDMI 2.0b/HDCP 2.2, HDR, 10bit, WCG (rec2020), 4:4:4 RGB support, BUT, not one has 2xHDMI outputs!
Come on nVidia, be the first! I doubt it will happen.
I'm resigned to look elsewhere (however long it will take). My current workaround uses a second GPU by AMD (also, nVidia dosn't support certain audio frequencies).
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ruthan - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
I dont know why, maybe Nvidia itself not believe in this product, but in middle Europe arent this products line available, except Amazon store with expensive shipping cost.aryonoco - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
If it was going to be sold in Europe, with the USD to EUR conversion, and then adding the VAT, it would be a lot more expensive.Shipping to Australia was only about $25. Is shipping to Europe much higher? Either way, it would be easier than if it was actually sold in Europe. Just go ahead and buy it, it's a fantastic device.
ruthan - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
With shipping and taxes, its 416 bucks for $299 - 500 GB model, which is already a bit rip off - 100 bucks for 500 gb HDD - Its probably founders edition HDD..kaidenshi - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
That's akin to the "Apple tax"; you want more than the base model? Prepare to pay three times the retail cost of the extra/better components. Does anyone here know if a HDD/SSD can be added to the base model Shield TV after purchase? It would be phenomenal to be able to add a SSD and stop using a relatively slow class 10 uSD card for the seamless storage.bowlofred - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
Yes, with the most recent updates. Previously add-on drives were second class on Android (only some items could make use of the space). With Flex Storage in 3.1, the add-on should work well. The smaller model became much more usable with that release.kaidenshi - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
I get that I can plug in a USB 3.0 drive to get better speed, and I've done that with a USB 3.0 thumb drive. What I mean is, physically opening up the base model Shield TV and finding an accessible SATA or M.2 bay would be awesome, and even better if a third party drive works seamlessly. Granted, I'm not opening mine up until the warranty is up at the least.Sivar - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
There is no M2 or SATA port. The pins exist on the motherboard, but you would need to solder connectors to them.USB or MicroSD storage is probably a better idea.
kaidenshi - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
@Sivar Ok so that's probably where some of the cost difference comes in; the 500GB version has extra connectors so it's not just the cost of the drive itself. USB 3.0 SSD it is, then.Murloc - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
shipping to Europe is way more pricey than that, and then there's the customs tariffs on top which are the biggest issue.kaidenshi - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
I love our Shield TV, it's by far the best tech investment I've ever made. When we got a 4K TV earlier this year my wife left it to me to pick out a 4K box to complement it, and it was a no-brainer. The only thing I wish it had was Amazon Video since we're Prime subscribers, but the rest of the device and services more than make up for it. I'm happy to see it getting quarterly updates, that's more than most Android devices.kaidenshi - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
Ugh, hit "submit" too soon. I was going to say, it's worth the extra shipping when you consider what you get. If you want to save money, don't even bother with the slim TV remote, the gamepad works fine as a TV remote and the battery lasts weeks between charges, compared to days for the regular remote.Impulses - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
Any benefit vs other boxes beyond gaming and 4K? (and I'm not under valuing this, just not for me) Probably gonna be clinging to our 1080p for quite a few years, the game streaming does interest me tho... At one point it seemed like Valve's boxes were gonna be the better (or at least more open) alternative but right now I dunno.kaidenshi - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
You may be better served by a Roku 3 (or 4 for forward compatibility when you do move to a 4K TV) as it has a much wider selection of "channels" and content providers, and a handful of time-wasting games.Game streaming on the Shield isn't perfect; my gaming PC is average, with a Haswell CPU, 16 GB RAM and a GTX 750 Ti. Platform style games work great, but FPS style games don't always cooperate. This is over wired Gigabit so it's not a bandwidth issue, and it has steadily improved with each Shield update. It could be that my PC is at the lower end of what's supported, but even older games like Far Cry (yes, the first one from 12 years ago) that play flawlessly on the PC struggle with streaming.
pixelstuff - Saturday, May 21, 2016 - link
Maybe it's the 750 TI that is at the lower end of nVidia's streaming capability? I wonder if the 900 series cards would work better. Maybe they have more transcoding power.jmaxc1999 - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
I have Amazon Video on my Nvidia Shield and it works great...Just download the sideload launcher from the playstore and look for the apk for Amazon video then sideload the app.Zattnt - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
You should try UltraFlix.... I know you would enjoy it ... It's free subscription.I love it
cygnus1 - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
Do you have the random pausing issues with yours? Happens for me on the Shield and the Nexus Player in streaming apps and local media playback. And it's not to buffer, it behaves as if someone hit the pause button. Have yet to figure it out or see it addressed by nVidia or Google.kaidenshi - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
@cygnus1 I haven't had any issues other than HDCP sometimes causing a <1 second "blip", but that's the fault of my TV as it happens with any HDMI connected device.pixelstuff - Saturday, May 21, 2016 - link
I've always wondered why Amazon Prime isn't available. The first Google TVs had an Amazon app built in, but that app never seemed to make it to the Google Play Store for regular or future Android devices to download.Shields_&1Sword - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
I was not aware of any 4K TV thatDid not include Amazon in it's Smart Software . So why is that an issue.
Just run on TV or go to You Tube and learn how to install Amazon on your Shield TV. Using TV Amazon is the simplest. Enjoy your Shield.
Murloc - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
TV licensing in Europe is a fragmented mess so ISP-agnostic platforms don't have much of a chance compared to local services that offer live TV + video and football on demand in local language only which is what 95% of people are content with.This thing depends on those services so maybe that's the reason.
Kvaern1 - Friday, May 20, 2016 - link
FWIW A lot of europeans got a Shield from Philips when they failed to produce their own UHD box they had pre-bundled as part of a 4k TV promotional campaign and struck a deal with NVidia to deliver Shields instead.Death666Angel - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
In Germany, which is middle (central) Europe, Shield is available from many retailers. 200€ for the 16GB version, 300€ for the 500GB one.jasonelmore - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
are there any Gsync HDR monitors out with at least 100hz max refresh rate?Sttm - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
Is there even HDR monitors period? I think I heard about one, a $5000 4K OLED by Dell, but that might have just been a show piece, not a real product.aryonoco - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
With HDR and 4k60fps playback, the Shield is cementing its position as by far the best media player on the market.I am very happy to see continued support and updates from Nvidia. Even though Nvidia doesn't directly sell it where I live (Australia), it was easy to buy it from Amazon and it's probably one of the best technology purchases that I've made in the last 12 months. It's such a capable little device, and it keeps getting better!
kaidenshi - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
Indeed, and while the hardware hacker in me wishes it was more open to installing full Android or even Linux/BSD, if it were I'd have to buy another one to avoid tying up our main source of entertainment in the living room. But oh, what a powerful workstation it could be!mythamp - Thursday, May 26, 2016 - link
Hmm, if you were a hardware hacker, you would know that you can install full android (marshmallow 3.0) on this device without any glitches. Just download it from XDA. Surprised you are not involved in the XDA community.Impulses - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
NV might actually have the best update track record of current Android OEM right now... Moto had it for a while, then HTC, Samsung might've been more consistent overall, but it seems Shield devices are almost a sure bet. Beefy hardware that's way ahead of the curve helps I guess...sor - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
I picked one of these up a month ago, when my old Xbox with XBMC was too slow to run a few N64 games I wanted to play. I originally fiddled with a NUC + SteamOS, which was not quite working. Bought one of these, installed Mupen64plus and it works great.kaidenshi - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
It's great for emulation, I have ePSXe loaded up and all my PSX game discs copied to bin/cue format on the SD card. The controller is a bit odd since it more closely emulates the Xbox controller layout, but it works.Impulses - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
Hmm, hadn't really thought about using one for emulators, suddenly it's a bit more tempting...nathanddrews - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
Shield + Retroarch = happiness.Since the GTX 950 and 960 also have hardware encode/decode of HEVC 10-bit, there's no reason that HDR would/should be limited to Pascal. HDR is a lightweight metadata stream transmitted on top of the HEVC stream.
Also, what exactly constitutes an HDR game? HDR rendering has been part of DX since 2003 and OGL for a long time as well. Also, no reason it can't be done over DisplayPort. We'll just need new monitors... and HDRWorks, of course. :/
fivefeet8 - Thursday, May 26, 2016 - link
Best emulation console I've gotten so far.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVsYJNp6i5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK-bUGaETbg
Stochastic - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
This is clearly aimed as a premium product, but with such high pricing I can't see this ever gaining much market share. Maybe that isn't Nvidia's goal, but I can't help but think that in another year or two budget streaming devices will be 4K capable. At that point, what is the Shield's selling point? For gamers the PS4/PS4 Neo is a much better bet. Other functionality is trickling its way down into ever cheaper devices.webdoctors - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
In a year or two, I'm sure this will be a budget streaming device. Tech keeps getting cheaper.crabperson - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
Talk about burying the lead, but does this mean the new consumer Nvidia cards support 10-bit output? Like, I don't have to buy a professional card to get a wider color gamut?'cause I would totally buy one if that's the case.
bill44 - Thursday, May 19, 2016 - link
One thing is still missing.All high end BD players have it.
All current UHD BD players have it.
With Atmos/DTS X becoming more important every day, plus HDR just over the horizon, what could it be?
A second HDMI port for audio only.
For those who do not have the latest HDMI 2.0b/HDCP 2.2 support on their amplifiers.
There are many black plastic boxes on the market (or coming soon) that claim HDMI 2.0b/HDCP 2.2, HDR, 10bit, WCG (rec2020), 4:4:4 RGB support, BUT, not one has 2xHDMI outputs!
Come on nVidia, be the first!
I doubt it will happen.
I'm resigned to look elsewhere (however long it will take). My current workaround uses a second GPU by AMD (also, nVidia dosn't support certain audio frequencies).
jbloggs - Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - link
On a side note...Xiaomi is releasing a true Android TV OS device in UShttp://www.cnet.com/products/xiaomi-mi-box/