Anyone use the nvidia shield?

[DudeistBelieve]

http://www.amazon.com/NVIDIA-SHIELD-Tablet-Controller-Bundle/dp/B017PUO2LU?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I'm debating picking one up, but I don't know if can do what I want it to do.

I want to be able to be away from home and use this via wifi internet to stream my games off my home computer. Everything I read on the internet tells me this is either impossible, or very possible under the right circumstances and the type of game being played. mostly the speed of the connection on both ends.

So can this be done, And does it have a USB port?

 

[votemarvel]

I can't remember where I had the discussion about this but I was talking with a NVIDIA employee as to why I don't think the Shield Tablet is worth the money.

At home it has no use because why wouldn't I just play the game on my PC. Am I really going to be away from it that long that I need a portable streaming device to continue playing?

If you aren't home you are really rolling the dice as to whether you are going to be able to get the needed wifi speed in order to be able to get a playable game.

Honestly I would just buy a decent regular Android tablet and load the thing up with emulators or great Android games/ports.

The Shield is a device I want because it is a cool idea but would never use beyond a couple of times. Kind of like how I buy a laptop every couple of years, realise I don't use a laptop and end up selling it for half the price.

 

[Leg End]

TL;DR Don't have one, want one, don't entirely advise getting one for over the internet play of your games but suggest it as a solid tablet and the best for the price. MicroUSB port so you'd need an adapter.
Also don't forget an SD card. And a charger unless you have something laying about and want to use the same included cord that is used for the controller to charge, to charge the tablet as well.

My TL;DR skills need work.

 

[The White Hunter]

Have a shield handheld. It's okay.

Friend has a shield tablet, solid performer as a tablet but not really that useful in practice for it's unique selling points.

Also the build quality on all of it is atrocious for the prices they charge.

 

[aozgolo]

I played around with the possibility of buying one for a long time but ultimately decided not to. It really is only good for in-home streaming, for over-the-internet style play you're going to have some serious latency issues, not to mention the headache of getting it set up right.

My best advice would be to wait for the handheld Steam machines to hit the market, they will provide the best experience, at least for games offered via the Steam platform.

 

[cojo965]

I have one but I don't predominantly game on it so I can't really say, sorry.

 

[Ender910_v1legacy]

I played around with the possibility of buying one for a long time but ultimately decided not to. It really is only good for in-home streaming, for over-the-internet style play you're going to have some serious latency issues, not to mention the headache of getting it set up right.

My best advice would be to wait for the handheld Steam machines to hit the market, they will provide the best experience, at least for games offered via the Steam platform.

I was initially going to post about Steam in-home streaming and had a similar thought. Alternatively, VR developers are working on more portable options, sometimes called "untethered VR". One approach right now is a backpack PC sort of setup:

http://www.slashgear.com/the-omen-x-vr-pc-pack-is-an-hp-vr-backpack-project-for-htc-vive-27441893/

Obviously weight is one of the main concerns, as well as price and performance. Not to mention having something on your back is just generally asking for some trouble, but I imagine it could eventually be down-scaled to something more like a fanny-pack.

Sidenote, that example says 10 pounds. Not all that different from back when I was in high school, lol.

Edit: Minor correction/addition, but a gamedev/programming friend of mine did mention that the nVidia Shield's performance is actually fairly decent for Internet play (ideally less than 200-300 miles from the host computer, ping-wise). So it may be worth digging more into that possibility.

 

[baddude1337]

I have the K1 tablet. I'll admit I initially bought it for Doom Touch so I could play Project Brutality on the go, but it is a solid tablet overall and easily the most powerful for the price. It's become my classic games emulation machine. I have emulators for Snes, N64, DS, PS1, PSP and arcade with countless games on it. I take it to work with me to play games during my lunch break. Bizarrely enough despite my PC being far more powerful the emulators run better on my tablet.

It does have a micro USB slot, which is used for charging and plugging into your PC to transfer files around. It also has a mini HDMI to plug into a tv or monitor and an sd card slot (only 16gb internal storage so got a 128gb card myself). Great screen too. It's just above 1920x1080 (slightly odd screen size).

In terms of streaming I haven't used the stream from PC but I do use GeForce Now subscription thing. First three months are free and has a decent collection of games, though still only around 100 at the moment with a lot of filler. You do need a seriously fast internet to fully use it though. I have a 3mb download speed and 1080p streaming just about keeps up. 720p is fine though. In terms of streaming from PC it's a case of having something from Nvidia installed, and not all games are supported.

I'd also like to point out the controller is actually probably my favourite controller. Feels nice and chunky, responsive, and has a lot of extra neat features such as the mouse pad, volume controls, android buttons and headphone port. There's built in software to bind touch only games to the buttons that's quite intuitive, although most of the actually good mobile games and emulators support it any way.

Overall, if you want a tablet it is still amongst the best in its price range (although the price goes up when you take into account the controller, sd card and case). Make sure you do get the K1 though. Not only is it running Android 6 (6 allows you to use the sd card as the main storage which is incredibly helpful). the first run of shield tablets had overheating issues. I'd recommend a portable charger too. I have small and large anker chargers. Small one doesn't hold much charge but the large one I take away for weekends and it charges my phone and tablet with plenty of power to spare.

 

[Remus]

Had the controller for my old PC, but the tablet? No. I don't mobile game at all - no time for that at my job and I very rarely go anywhere that I'm not driving myself. Plus I'm kinda a graphic whore, can't help it, just am. I want the world around me to disappear when I game so the artificial world I'll be inhabiting better be pretty. And I live in the midwest so streaming games isn't exactly an option with the speeds I'm playing with.