Cord-Cutting, Or How to Stream your Way to Success

Crone said:

Roku can not run Plex Server, so that's a pretty big plus, and if doing that, the extra processing power would be greatly appreciated. I should look up some pics of Kodi's user interface, to see how much better it is. Being able to use it as a Steam Streaming device is pretty awesome, considering Steam discontinued their hardware for it. Recently bought one of their Steam hardware pieces off Ebay though for $30 to handle that if I ever want that. Also have Google Stadia coming, so not sure I'd use it for that.

Thanks for the run down Void, was informative.

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Just another quirk of mine, I use the Rapier skin for Kodi, not the default one. So make sure you look around at various skins, as what I like might not match up with what you like, and there are a bunch of different options.

I'm not 100% on if it can stream Steam games if you don't have an nVidia card in your computer, so that's another thing to be aware of. Although, I think there is a Steam app you can use now? No idea, I don't play games on my Shield either, so clearly I'm not getting the most out of it at all! I use my computer as my Plex server as well, so all my Shield does is play the basic shit (Netflix, Prime, YouTube, Kodi) and that's about it. I still love it though, even if I could have spent less for a similar (if slightly slower) experience.

Nvidia Shield can also stream Steam games and they have an Nvidia Cloud based game service.

For the brief time I used it, my Steam Link worked perfectly as well. I just realized that I don't really play any games that require controllers anymore, so sitting in a computer chair to use the mouse and keyboard is vastly more comfortable. And now I have a Shield in case I ever do find a controller game I want to play. Also, I hate the Steam "haptic feedback" controller and never could get comfortable with it, and I always felt like I should really be using their controller, right? Dumb, I realize, but even with a different controller, I just don't play them anymore.

But the Steam Link did work great, and I still have it somewhere. Maybe one day it will be a collector's item! (/sarcasm)

EDIT: Mine was wired as well. There's nothing a 100' network cable can't remedy!

Just to follow up, my new Shield was delivered yesterday, and I set it up when I got home. Other than trying to remember various passwords and how to set up my share folders on Kodi, it was a cinch and is pretty much identical to the old one, which is to be expected since they are both running the same version of Android TV. It is noticeably faster at some things, particularly Kodi stuff where it was trying to process my thousands of movies and shows and songs. But for everything else, of course there isn't much difference to be seen at all. YouTube navigates just the same as it always did, Netflix, Prime, etc. I haven't actually watched a Netflix 4K Dolby Vision blah blah to see if I can tell the difference. Probably not, but now I know it is supposed to be better, right?!

I love the new remote though, so that's a nice upgrade. Not $200 worth, but it was time to upgrade anyway before my old one shit the bed for good, so I'm happy. But I doubt anyone will really notice much unless they have audiophile quality ears (I don't) or they used it as a Plex server (I don't). I have to imagine that has only gotten better with a new processor. So unless you need the upgrade now, or are in the market for a streaming device right now and can't wait, I'd say you'll be fine waiting until next year for a sale perhaps. No ragrets here, but just trying to be objective about it in case you are thinking about one. If you already have one, you won't notice much change at all. It is a decent bit smaller in physical size is about the only other thing I can think of. Oh, and despite all the pics, just like the old one, it doesn't actually come with the stand to put it upright, but I don't use that anyway. I prefer as much surface area as possible to collect dust and cat hair

You can signup for a basic IPTV for around $6-11/month that is very reliable and is absolutely mint for regular TV/Sports/PPV. No VOD on the service I use, but it's well worth it over the $100+ plan I used to pay for.