Finally trying Nvidia Shield

I've tried a lot of streaming devices over the years. Most have been Roku devices, and many have been Apple TV devices. I've tried a few Amazon Fire TV devices. I've also tried several different Android/Google TV devices. However, one Android TV device I never tried was the Nvidia Shield.

People have talked about how great the Nvidia Shield is, and I have no reason to doubt them. However, I've never tried one. That's about to change.

I've held out as long as I can, and now I'm going to get an Nvidia Shield device to try. Why has it taken so long? Well, the darn thing is expensive. There are two models, and the cheaper one is $150, and the more expensive is $200. I'm going with the bigger device. Go big or go home, right?

Why would I do such a thing? I'm perfectly happy with Roku, right? Well, yeah. I mean, sure, there are things unrelated to the performance of the device that I don't like about Roku, but those things are pretty well common to all four of the major streaming platforms. My choice of streaming platform comes down to how I like using the actual device and interface. And since I started using Roku, it's been Roku.

So why am I getting an Nvidia Shield device? I have two reasons. I think there are two. One is that I like to know about the various devices, not just the platforms. After all, I did try out the TiVo Stream device, the Onn Stick and Onn Streaming Box, the Mi Box, Google Chromecast, and Chromecast with Google TV. Those are all Android TV or Google TV devices. Same interface. Same platform. I wanted to know about them, because they were popular at the time, and I couldn't recommend for or against an item I didn't personally use.

I have used enough Android/Google TV devices to know about the platform, and whether or not it's a worthwhile platform. I know about the positive and negative things regarding the platform. I've used enough devices in the platform that I can talk about it with authority from the user perspective. And as I've purchased and used the devices, I'm able to speak about all of those I listed. That's all the major devices on the Google/Android TV platform. Except one.

I've been unable to speak about the device that's considered the best of the Android/Google TV devices: Nvidia Shield. So, after all these years, I'm getting one. And, as I indicated, the reason I tried those instead of Nvidia Shield is price. The others all cost $50 or less -- well, the Mi Box cost a little more, but not a lot more -- and the Nvidia Shield is three to four times the cost of a Chromecast with Google TV.

So why spend that amount of money? Well, I've spent that amount of money for Apple TV. Why hold off with a comparable device on the same platform. Yes, I'm in the Apple ecosystem, but I can also be considered to be in the Google ecosystem as well.

There's one other reason for getting the Nvidia Shield, but I'll talk about that another time. And that's the reason that tipped the scales. Yes, I'm ending on a teaser. But the truth is that without that other reason, it would still be a thing I should do, if I'm going to consider myself an expert on using streaming devices.

If I want to be give anyone advice on their Streaming Life, I need to have the proper experience. This is one major glaring omission from my list of devices with which I have experience. I'm fixing that.