Topic: Nvidia Shield Tablet

[Xessive]

Did not see this coming.

Specs:
Processor   NVIDIA® Tegra® K1 192 core Kepler GPU, 2.2 GHz ARM Cortex A15 CPU with 2GB RAM
Display   8-inch 1920x1200 multi-touch Full HD display
Audio      Front facing stereo speakers, dual bass reflex port with built-in microphone
Storage   32 GB (WiFi+4G LTE) / 16 GB (WiFi-only)

UPDATE:
Interestingly, the Nvidia Shield has been redubbed the Shield Portable.

[gpw11]

Ehhhhh....I don't know why I'd want this. 

[Xessive]

Ehhhhh....I don't know why I'd want this. 

If I wanted an 8" Android tablet, considering its specs and price (16GB model), I'd definitely go for the Shield Tablet (especially since I gave my Nexus 7 2013 to my brother).

Other 8" tablets with similar specs are around that price-point and a little over in some cases ($350-$400).

Again, there's a big "if" there. I already have a Shield (portable) so there's no real incentive for me. If you're in the market for a small tablet, it's worth considering the Shield Tablet.

[gpw11]

Oh, shit!   You know, I didn't realize that this was a fully functioning Android tablet.   Assuming it has Google Services without need for root (Market), I actually DO want this.

[Xessive]

Oh, shit!   You know, I didn't realize that this was a fully functioning Android tablet.   Assuming it has Google Services without need for root (Market), I actually DO want this.

Oh yeah! It's a full-fledged product. If it's anything like Shield portable it's got stock Android with some Shield-specific options (gamepad options, onscreen control mapper, etc.).

Even more impressively, it appeals to me since it has some features that take advantage of the graphics power specifically for artists/designers along with the high quality stylus that comes with it.

16GB storage (on the Wifi-only unit) might seem relatively small but it has a MicroSD card slot, expandable up to 64GB or possibly even 128GB.

I've been perusing all over the net and at that price-range ($299) these specs cannot be beat.

Processor
NVIDIA® Tegra® K1 192 core Kepler GPU,
2.2 GHz ARM Cortex A15 CPU with 2GB RAM

Display
8-inch 1920x1200 multi-touch Full HD display

Audio
Front facing stereo speakers, dual bass reflex port with built-in microphone

Storage
32 GB (WiFi+4G LTE) / 16 GB (WiFi-only)

Wireless
802.11n 2x2 Mimo 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 4.0 LE
GPS / GLONASS

Connectivity
WiFi+4G LTE or WiFi-only
Mini-HDMI output
Micro-USB 2.0
MicroSD storage slot
3.5 mm stereo headphone jack with microphone support

SIM Card
Micro-SIM

Motion Sensors
3-axis gyro
3-axis accelerometer
3-axis compass

Gaming Features
SHIELD wireless controller compatible
NVIDIA GameStream™
NVIDIA ShadowPlay™
GRID Cloud Gaming Beta
Console Mode
Gamepad Mapper

Cameras
Front: 5MP HDR; Back: 5MP auto focus HDR

Video Features
4K Ultra-HD Ready

Stylus
DirectStylus 2 with 3D Paint (Included)

Software Updates
SHIELD software upgrades directly from NVIDIA

Battery
19.75 Watt Hours

Weight and Size
Weight: 13.7oz / 390g
Height: 8.8in / 221mm
Width: 5.0in / 126mm
Depth: 0.36in / 9.2mm

[idolminds]

8-inch Shield Tablet recall due to faulty battery that could cause a fire.

NVIDIA today issued a recall notice for the 8-inch NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet. The company has discovered that batteries for units which were sold between July 2014 and July 2015 are faulty, so much so that they could overheat to the point where a fire may be caused.

There are instructions at the link to update the tablet and go into the settings to determine your battery. If you're lucky its a battery that isn't affected.

[Xessive]

8-inch Shield Tablet recall due to faulty battery that could cause a fire.

There are instructions at the link to update the tablet and go into the settings to determine your battery. If you're lucky its a battery that isn't affected.

Damn, I gotta check my Shield Tablet!

Thanks, Idol!

UPDATE:
Shit! I've got a Y01 battery matching the defective series of batteries. Well, recall it is.

On the bright side, they'll send me a new one.

[scottws]

Ah, good ol' Li ion.

[Xessive]

My new Shield Tablet has arrived, activating it automatically disables the old tablet rendering it a glorified paper weight.

The new model sports the revised battery with no risk of fires. And as a pleasant surprise it also has some other minor improvements compared to the previous model:

• New clicky buttons! The old one had a mushy power button and volume rocker that I could never tell when I was actually pressing.
• The back and rim material has been modified into two separate parts. This is likely a response to customer complaints about the corners cracking, though mine never cracked.

Bonus: Nvidia don't want the old tablet back, they just gave instructions on how to dispose of it as per environmental regulations, so I get to keep the accessories e.g. backup stylus, backup charger etc.

Overall the best experience of a catastrophic failure in a device yet!

[Cobra951]

Hmm, can't someone jailbreak the old one?  Or did it brick itself beyond repair?  I have so little knowledge about tablets.  They seem to sit somewhere between laptops and smartphones.

Congrats on the new toy!

[idolminds]

Heh yeah, I'd totally be looking for a way to enable that sucker.

[Xessive]

Haha yeah, it's basically bricked right now. Apparently Nvidia are disabling them remotely via the serial numbers somehow.

I'm sure some people are looking into that. I imagine if someone could figure it out it would involve masking the device ID. I'll keep my ears to the ground just in case.

Nonetheless, it's a great 8" tablet.

[idolminds]

Doing a little reading I see that if you had disabled wifi on the old one it wouldnt be bricked. You could also root it and disable OTA updates and basically kept it going. But I don't know if there is a way to go back once the kill command has been sent. I would imagine it might be possible but I dont have one so dont really need to spend time looking, heh.

[Xessive]

Doing a little reading I see that if you had disabled wifi on the old one it wouldnt be bricked. You could also root it and disable OTA updates and basically kept it going. But I don't know if there is a way to go back once the kill command has been sent. I would imagine it might be possible but I dont have one so dont really need to spend time looking, heh.

Yeah, just from a brief glance at the Google results it looks like it is possible to prevent it from updating to the OTA rom which has the killswitch. There are some speculations about resurrecting a bricked tablet.

On the bright side, I've just confirmed that mine is not bricked yet. It's just off and the battery is drained. I'll look into blocking the killswitch.