radeon 677 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) Hey all! I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the Nvidia Shield and/or other android boxes for use with Kodi. I have a dedicated HTPC at the minute which I just feel is too OTT for my lounge setup these days and I'd really like to move all the gear out of sight and just have a nice simple box running instead. I have a nice 65" Curved Sammy (somehow managed it as a free upgrade via my home insurance after dropping my 52" on the floor!) with no wires to be seen, backlit with RGB LED's and I just want to go simple. I'm be keeping the htpc as the main transcode/emby server, I just don't want to see it or deal with windows on the main system any more. I have moved from WMC, Emby Classic and Subdued theme to DVBLink piped directly into Kodi with Emby Addon and Titan theme and really quickly came to love it. I really want to maintain as much of that as I can but also maintain the simplicity but richness of the UI i get with Kodi, So, does anyone have any recommendations, tips, ideas, pointers? Free cake is also welcome! Thanks very much in advance! Edited November 18, 2015 by radeon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vidman 589 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 (edited) Yes the shield TV is an awesome machine for kodi, a viable replacement for a HTPC in my opinion + I believe it's on special on Amazon ATM which includes the remote Edited November 19, 2015 by Vidman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent 91 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I had the same situation as you and have since installed two nexus players running Kodi in my family room and bedroom. Family room is a 70" Sharp. Looks awesome and with a micro-USB to ethernet adapter, the Nexus Player works perfectly. Total package is less than $75 for each TV. I will be getting a shield for gaming in my office, but the other rooms i don't need the gaming part of the shield and the Nexus Player works just fine for running Kodi, netflix, pandora, YouTube, etc etc. $49 Nexus Player $15 USB 2.0 OTG Micro-B 10/100 Ethernet Adapter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
im85288 1493 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 If your looking at the Nexus Player maybe consider the Fire TV Stick. I have one and although you need to side load Kodi it performs quite well. Personally I like lots of power for my htpcs, but if you look at online reviews the Nexus Player and Fire TV stick are quite similarly rated and the Fire TV Stick is cheap as chips 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice pube 20 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I agree somewhat, but NP I think wins out for me for having the play store. I love my NP. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrey000 23 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 If your looking at the Nexus Player maybe consider the Fire TV Stick. I have one and although you need to side load Kodi it performs quite well. Personally I like lots of power for my htpcs, but if you look at online reviews the Nexus Player and Fire TV stick are quite similarly rated and the Fire TV Stick is cheap as chips I love my FireTVs (two boxes, two sticks), though I'd have to advise against the sticks for Kodi if you have (or plan to someday have) a large library. You can't expand the fairly limited storage on the stick, and large libraries with lots of cached artwork tend to push that limit. For right around the same price with recent discounts, I'd lean toward the Nexus player (compared directly to the FTV stick). I picked one up recently for the $38 groupon deal and have been happy so far. With the flexibility to add external storage if needed as the library grows, I'd choose it again over the FTV stick if I needed another. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radeon 677 Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 All very interesting comments! Thanks! I forgot to mention that i have a fire stick and I just think its a little underpowered. I had big intentions of getting the fire tv 2 but it seems to be slammed with bad reviews on xda which led me to the nexus player, but i feel I'm risking buying something which may soon be replaced with a new version based on how long its already been about. The Nvidia is fairly new to the UK, packs a decent amount of power but I do wonder if the extra cost is warranted when you can get a ftv, np etc for the much lower prices. For those which got the Nvidia, could you possibly tell me what it was that made you buy it? Also, does it support optical out? It doesn't seem to from the specs i have read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonmcroy 315 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I own two Nexus Players and then bought the Nvidia Shield. My reasoning for going for the Shield is the specs and reviews on the hardware indicated that it should be a relevant piece of machinery for a while. It has potentials that various Apps haven't caught up to yet so I don't feel like I am going to have to buy a new version of it for a while. I used the Fire TV for a little while but I returned it in favor of my current devices. I still like the Nexus Player too, it's just that the Shield has more power. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radeon 677 Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 I own two Nexus Players and then bought the Nvidia Shield. My reasoning for going for the Shield is the specs and reviews on the hardware indicated that it should be a relevant piece of machinery for a while. It has potentials that various Apps haven't caught up to yet so I don't feel like I am going to have to buy a new version of it for a while. I used the Fire TV for a little while but I returned it in favor of my current devices. I still like the Nexus Player too, it's just that the Shield has more power. Thanks alot for that! That fits exactly with my reasoning for it. I'm all for jumping on the bandwagon, i just want a piece of tech that will last me longer than a week before the next gen version comes out! Could you possibly answer my Optical question too? I want to pipe it directly into my av unit but it doesn't look like it has the output, am i wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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