The Shield is a relatively capable streaming system with some significant flaws. You should avoid it until Nvidia figures out how it intends to move this device forward. Now that Nvidia is shipping an Ad first experience there are few compelling reasons to use a Shield instead of other already Ad supported experiences on cheaper Android TV models.Right now a new system update is being deployed that adds a layer of adware to the Shield. These ads can not currently be disabled without crippling the device. Since I'm using a projector this means there is a nearly 4 foot high banner on my wall for a video on a streaming service I do not own.Nvidia has been pointing fingers about this Ad rollout and generally seems unprepared for this. It's unclear if they are only ... MoreThe Shield is a relatively capable streaming system with some significant flaws. You should avoid it until Nvidia figures out how it intends to move this device forward. Now that Nvidia is shipping an Ad first experience there are few compelling reasons to use a Shield instead of other already Ad supported experiences on cheaper Android TV models.Right now a new system update is being deployed that adds a layer of adware to the Shield. These ads can not currently be disabled without crippling the device. Since I'm using a projector this means there is a nearly 4 foot high banner on my wall for a video on a streaming service I do not own.Nvidia has been pointing fingers about this Ad rollout and generally seems unprepared for this. It's unclear if they are only providing minimal support for these devices at this point or if they did not have messaging prepared for this. Considering the outrage the later option does not seem likely.Nvidia and the community are encouraging two workarounds. The first involves disabling the Google Play service. Doing this cripples the Shields capabilities and removes your ability to interact with YouTube videos with your own account. Most other apps are also interrupted constantly by warning messages that can't be fixed.The other option suggested by Nvidia is to rollback to an earlier version of the software. This seems fine as a short term fix but means that as time goes on your device will grow further and further out of date. It's unclear how long apps would remain compatible and seems likely that this would create an increasingly insecure system as more and more security patches are missed.Nvidia's support for the product is questionable and especially now that significant Ad presence is on the device it's unclear how private the device actually is. Nvidia claims they do not sell your data, but it's unclear how that can be true when the Ads on the Shield are automatically targeted to your Apps and usage. Something is going off the rails right now and its unclear when or if that will be fixed.The device in general (even before the flawed update) will occasionally hang requiring you to close whatever app you are currently using and reopen it. This is noticeable by the video slowing to a choppy mess during playback.There are no tactile features on the remote so the bottom buttons of the remote so it can be easy to press the wrong button if you do not look at the remote. The remote does include an IR programmer so you can interface with other parts of your system but this has been spotty for me. I've attempted to use the remote with Optima devices which failed completely and Sennheiser ones which work but only some of the time and not how you'd expect.I'm adding a star here because when the Shield was working it was a simple and intuitive media player. That is not currently the case and you should avoid this until Nvidia issues a fix.

I am thoroughly impressed with this device. I’ve uses a HTPC since the mid 00’s but lately surround receivers have become so complex they don’t play well with windows—constant audio drops of the pc goes to sleep, requiring frequent reboots is the main problem. I primarily use Kodi for my local media and my smart tv for streaming. But upgrading to a new Atmos receiver, my HTPC had even more problems sustaining a connection to the audio device when waking from sleep. So I bought this, and I must say it totally rocks. If you use Kodi, there is a known bug where 4K movies won’t play smoothly due to a memory buffer error; the solution is to create an advancesettings.xml file, with 0 as it’s only contents, then put that file in the org.xbmc.kodi/userdata folder (search ... MoreI am thoroughly impressed with this device. I’ve uses a HTPC since the mid 00’s but lately surround receivers have become so complex they don’t play well with windows—constant audio drops of the pc goes to sleep, requiring frequent reboots is the main problem. I primarily use Kodi for my local media and my smart tv for streaming. But upgrading to a new Atmos receiver, my HTPC had even more problems sustaining a connection to the audio device when waking from sleep. So I bought this, and I must say it totally rocks. If you use Kodi, there is a known bug where 4K movies won’t play smoothly due to a memory buffer error; the solution is to create an advancesettings.xml file, with 0 as it’s only contents, then put that file in the org.xbmc.kodi/userdata folder (search Reddit if you’re confused on how to do that.) After adding that file, all my 4K content plays smoothly and it’s gorgeous on this device, the HDR and DV are top notch!For anyone saying this is the 2017 model, not the 2019, that is incorrect. The Shield TV Pro 2019 model number is P2897. It’s confusing that this was also the model number for the non-pro 2017 Shield TV; the current non-pro Shield TV is model number P3430, but the pro version is P2897. Wikipedia describes this clearly. To verify you have the correct 2019 model, go to settings—>About—>Status—>Device Information; the description should show Tegra X1+ for the 2019 model. The 2017 model only shows Tegra X1 (no +.)A fantastic device at a great price.

I had high hopes for this thing and so far it’s done nothing but mess up my PC. My main use for it was streaming from my pc to the tv. I have a 2080 super not overclocked with latest Nvidia driver and latest windows 10. Both the shield and pc are connected directly to router with cat6 Ethernet cable.So far I’ve had it for 24 hours and only been able to play for about 40 minutes because it is constantly crashing and freezing. You literally have to research every single game you want to play to find some workaround to make it actually playable. And even when you getting working it’s only a matter of time before it crashes. This means you can’t just relax and play your game because you’re constantly having to go back to the computer to fix another issue.I will say ... MoreI had high hopes for this thing and so far it’s done nothing but mess up my PC. My main use for it was streaming from my pc to the tv. I have a 2080 super not overclocked with latest Nvidia driver and latest windows 10. Both the shield and pc are connected directly to router with cat6 Ethernet cable.So far I’ve had it for 24 hours and only been able to play for about 40 minutes because it is constantly crashing and freezing. You literally have to research every single game you want to play to find some workaround to make it actually playable. And even when you getting working it’s only a matter of time before it crashes. This means you can’t just relax and play your game because you’re constantly having to go back to the computer to fix another issue.I will say that the shield has some other features that make it cool but not at the price they’re asking. It also creeps me out how deeply Google is ingrained into the device. You can’t even use it without linking a google account and it’s clear this is just another half-functional device to collect data on you.I am returning this ASAP and I’m surprised that Nvidia is capable of producing such poor hardware/software.