Nexus 9.... I went with a SHIELD Tablet instead

[angry english]

I was all set to go with the Nexus 9. Pre registered at T-Mobile and couldn't wait.

Today I got hands on time with a 16gb Nividia Shield Tablet, and it changed my mind totally.

For $125 cheaper I could not see the Value in the N9, 64bit is all well and good but its not going to be a major factor. After all isn't the Nexus 6 32bit.

Screen is great on the shield, the dual front facing speakers and side speakers sound fantastic, has the stylus feature and runs games like a champ thanks to the K1. Its already been promised lollipop also. I also prefer the screen ratio, not a lover of 4:3.

So in essence I don't see what of why anyone would really chose the $400 N9 over this

Thoughts?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[omegafiler]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

That's certainly a practical view point as I too have considered the same facts. I haven't decided on a tablet yet, but I'll probably wait for the N9 and Z3 Tablet Compact to show up in users hands before making a final decision. It doesn't look like any of these are selling out any time soon, so no rush!

 

[quadtronix]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

The Shield tablet would have been my top choice after the N9, but I went with the N9. Already have the Shield portable for games and the Shield tablet is a little chunky for non-gaming purposes... That said, the Shield tablet looks like a great tablet and got some great reviews. Maybe I'll eventually pick one of those up too but strictly for gaming on the go. My shield portable is heavy and awkward in my backpack.

 

[Shilohcane]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

Both The Shield and Nexus 9 have a NVIDIA Tegra K1 CPU, only the Nexus 9 has the newer 64 Bit Denver version of the NVIDIA Tegra K1. The Shield is limited to 32 bits. I would have a hard time buying a 32 bit Shield when clearly 64 bit is the future with Android 5.0 Lollipop for only a extra $100. 64 bits would be less important to me in a Cell Phone but in a larger screen tablet that is designed for high graphic games I would go for the improved graphs that is the primary feature that 64 bits delivers over a 32 bits CPU.

HTC Nexus 9 vs Nvidia Shield Tablet - Top 14 Reasons for the HTC Nexus 9


HTC Nexus 9 vs Nvidia Shield Tablet - Tablets Specs Comparison

 

[Shilohcane]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

Check out this article before you decide on Shield vs Nexus 9

"The Shield Tablet's Tegra K1 SoC is a big part of the appeal. Before you get too excited, note that this isn't the 64-bit version of the chip with custom Nvidia cores. That Denver-based duallie has been missing in action since it was revealed at CES in January. Instead, the Shield uses the pin-compatible Tegra K1 variant with quad ARM Cortex-A15 cores. The off-the-shelf CPU components are clocked up to 2.2GHz and limited to 32 bits. They're also pretty much the same as what's found in the old Tegra 4, so they're not terribly exciting.

The Tegra K1's integrated graphics are far more interesting. They employ a single Kepler SMX unit with 192 DirectX 11-compliant stream processors, which is a heck of a lot for a mobile SoC. If you're looking for a desktop reference, consider that the low-end GeForce GT 640 has dual Kepler SMX units. The high-end GTX 780 Ti, meanwhile, has 15 SMXes."

Nvidia's Shield Tablet reviewed - The Tech Report - Page 1

 

[angry english]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

But what is 64bit going to do for you that I can't do on the 32bit, right now its nothing. Maybe next year but also the fact the N9 is $499 for 32gb its even more of an off putter. With 64bit comes larger app installs and I don't the think the 16gb is going to cut it.

Basically the Nvidia shield tablet will become the 2nd fastest tablet on the market when the N9 comes out but will have SD expandable storage, stylus support and $125 less and that's only if I went with the 16gb N9. If I went with the 32gb that's over $200 more.

Like I said, 64bit isn't going to mean much over the next few months, otherwise the N6 would have been 64bit also

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[angry english]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

Also that Versus.com is a terrible website... They not only list the dual core Denver as a quad core but they also list a compass as a reason to buy the N9....

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[quadtronix]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

Don't forget though, the N9 is a 1. bigger screen 2. with a higher resolution, 3. faster SOC and it's a Nexus so will get updates first... The first 3 points are all likely contributing factors as to why it costs more... The updates are an added bonus. I'm a big fan of the Shield Tablet, at least from what I've heard about it, but I'm an even bigger fan of Nexus. My N7 has served me well this past year and I'll be keeping it around as a backup and for some tasks but the larger screen on the 9 was a major selling point for me. As for the Shield Tablet, I may pick one up. It's got a good price for great specs but I may have to wait for version 2. We'll see.

 

[raptir]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

But what is 64bit going to do for you that I can't do on the 32bit, right now its nothing. Maybe next year but also the fact the N9 is $499 for 32gb its even more of an off putter. With 64bit comes larger app installs and I don't the think the 16gb is going to cut it.

Basically the Nvidia shield tablet will become the 2nd fastest tablet on the market when the N9 comes out but will have SD expandable storage, stylus support and $125 less and that's only if I went with the 16gb N9. If I went with the 32gb that's over $200 more.

Like I said, 64bit isn't going to mean much over the next few months, otherwise the N6 would have been 64bit also

Posted via the Android Central App

The N9 is $479 for 32GB, but I understand your point. The N9 does outperform the Shield Tablet on single- and dual-core tasks, but the Shield Tablet edges it out on quad-core optimized tasks. It's basically a wash for performance and I wouldn't decide on one vs the other on a performance basis.

 

[littleemp]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

Disregard the different processors for a second. You'd be much closer trying to compare the usable area of a 10.1" 16:10 screen than an 8" 16:10 screen with the 8.9" 4:3 screen. Your choice is valid, but your reasoning was flawed, because you're comparing different products segments that only seem to overlap because there's nothing else to compare them to.

 

[Aredubu]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

I have a 32 GB Shield Tablet. I just ordered a N9 32gb as well, not necessarily for higher performance, but for the slightly larger screen and battery. Prior to the Shield, In had the LG G Pad 8.3 and I do miss the extra screen real estate. I don't expect to keep both tablets, but it will be interesting using both, side-by-side for comparison.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[fm123]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

The Denver CPU was designed for low power consumption, a completely new architecture. So for people who want longer battery life, it's probably going to do better there, as the ARM A15 was never considered a power efficient design.

For 4:3, some people spend more time reading documents and websites, so it's better in that format. Depends on what you will use the tablet for.

 

[Matt34Bears]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

The thing I'm concerned about is longevity- Nexus tablets have always performed well for years after they are released. We don't know how long it will be until another NVIDIA Shield is produced, or if they scrape the lineup completely.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Nexus tablet should last longer in the marketplace and at comsumer's homes when compared to the Shield.

 

[Aredubu]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

The thing I'm concerned about is longevity- Nexus tablets have always performed well for years after they are released. We don't know how long it will be until another NVIDIA Shield is produced, or if they scrape the lineup completely.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Nexus tablet should last longer in the marketplace and at comsumer's homes when compared to the Shield.

True to some degree. My 1st N10 would reboot several times a day for unknown reasons. It took about a year before that was fixed. Many of the 2013 N7s had phantom screen touches. Mine was completely unresponsive at times. All electrical devices have their share of gremlins at times. The N9:should still turn out to be a very good device for a few years to come.

Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using Tapatalk

 

[someguy01234]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

I think getting the Shield tablet is a better idea too. Especially because of the widescreen, benefit of stylus, all those gaming features that nVidia offers, microSD card and miniHDMI output. I actually heard a lot of positive things about nVidia stylus. Also I heard eVGA customer service is pretty good.

Update and rooting is a non-issue for nVidia devices because they allow bootloader unlock and their update are fairly fast and frequent as well.

I guess the Shield will be a little faster too because it's 1200p instead of a 1536p screen, might not sounds like much but the tablet was designed for highend 3D gaming so it could make a difference.

However, I think Google was correct to go with 4:3 this time because:
-They want to showcase that Android tablets are also good for productivity, and to persuade the developers to focus their design for it.
-They want to attract iPad users. Upping the build quality and features overall to match with iPad was a good decision.

With that said, I don't care to spend a lot of money for a tablet like the Nexus 9 because I personally only use them for media consumption, webpages and forum. Not for productivity, if I wanted to do real work I use my desktop. This is why 4:3 screen ratio would not suit me. I would like to see how big are widescreen video on the Nexus 9 compared to the Nexus 7, considering the letter boxes, I don't think it will be much bigger, I'm guessing the 8" Shield tablet will look biggest.

Yeah I definitely look out for sales on the Shield tablet when once the price goes down to around $200 later next year. But I am more interested in their original Shield being updated with the K1 chip.

 

[quadtronix]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

True to some degree. My 1st N10 would reboot several times a day for unknown reasons. It took about a year before that was fixed. Many of the 2013 N7s had phantom screen touches. Mine was completely unresponsive at times. All electrical devices have their share of gremlins at times. The N9:should still turn out to be a very good device for a few years to come.

Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using Tapatalk

I had the rebooting problem on my Nexus 7 2013... it was really annoying and when the 4.4.3 update was supposed to fix it and didn't, I wound up just getting a new one. I had BestBuy points so it didn't cost full price. Got the 32GB N7 2013 (Black) to replace my malfunctioning 16 GB one and it has worked flawlessly ever since. Normally I would have been turned off to Nexus tablets from that experience but I just love the N7 so much that I can look past that. Still have the malfunctioning one, maybe it will get fixed when Lollipop arrives but I doubt it.

I really hope the N9 doesn't have any issues like that though... if it does, it's going right back to Google... $400 is a bit much for a defective machine IMO. But I am optimistic about it.

 

[someguy01234]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

I had the rebooting problem on my Nexus 7 2013... it was really annoying and when the 4.4.3 update was supposed to fix it and didn't, I wound up just getting a new one. I had BestBuy points so it didn't cost full price. Got the 32GB N7 2013 (Black) to replace my malfunctioning 16 GB one and it has worked flawlessly ever since. Normally I would have been turned off to Nexus tablets from that experience but I just love the N7 so much that I can look past that. Still have the malfunctioning one, maybe it will get fixed when Lollipop arrives but I doubt it.

I really hope the N9 doesn't have any issues like that though... if it does, it's going right back to Google... $400 is a bit much for a defective machine IMO. But I am optimistic about it.

The N7 is made by Asus and was designed to be afford. The N9 is made by HTC and will be a more premium device.

Also I don't know if your issue was software or hardware.

 

[quadtronix]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

The N7 is made by Asus and was designed to be afford. The N9 is made by HTC and will be a more premium device.

Also I don't know if your issue was software or hardware.

Yeah and HTC does have a good reputation, plus I had the HTC One Max for a while and it was great. Great build quality, flawless in the software department too. My HTC Droid DNA was awesome too except for a small problem with the Kindle app that never got resolved. That of course was probably a software issue with Sense...

 

[Crimsonforce]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

 

[littleemp]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

Just an fyi, unless my math is wrong, the 4:3 screen of the N9 works out to an equivalent of 8.391" 16:9 viewable zone. Just thought you should know.