Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2014
edit: some games (Ashalt 8 and Asasins Creed Pirates), ya can move to microSD ... others (Arc Redux and GTA SA) ya can't ... I'm not normally a gamer, but with a device like this, it's neat to install cool games ... but with 16gb, and the inability to move some games which are 1gb or 2gb+ each, and the ROM already taking up a few gb, it doesn't take long to hit the wall ... I've got a 32gb microSD in, but if I can't move stuff to it, it's of little help ... Nvidia should've made the wi-fi version 32gb, and the LTE 64gb, if they wanted em to be different
edit: with some more testing, I was able to write somewhat ok with my palm/wrist touching the screen ... this is awkward for me, as I normally rest the side of my hand, where my pinky/ring-finger may be touching ... and, apparently, that's what was causing the problem ... at which, this may not be a problem for some folks ... and will be, for others ... a problem ya likely would not see with an active/digitizer stylus/tablet ... it ya can write well/comfortably while ensuring none of your fingers make contact with the screen, it should work quite well ... if not, it's likely to be very frustrating
most 8in tablets are 10.4 - 11.7oz ... Shield weighs in at 13.8oz ... on average, a 24% increase in weight
rather than having a rounded edge, the Shield has a very straight chamfer that results in a little more of a sharp edge ... certainly not overly uncomfortable ... just noticeable ... this was likely done to try to make the Shield appear not quite as thick as it actually is ... not horribly more thick than most others ... but again, noticeably so
like the Tegra Note 7 and HP Slate 7 Extreme (more er less the predecessors to the new Shield), the Shield has a magnetic back ... strong enough to hold itself up on a fridge ... this "feature" likely accounts for a good portion of the significant mass
IMO, the performance of the Shield stylus is noticeably better than the HP Slate 7 Extreme ... however, IMO, the performance of the HP was already quite good ... with the Shield, even with the "stylus only" mode engaged, trying to write with my hand resting on the screen (as you would with most notepads and a pen), the tablet picked up my hand instead of the stylus, for a few seconds, here and there ... with very poor results ... in once case, entirely missing a 4-letter word (no, not that one) ... if you can write fairly well w/o letting your hand touch the screen, the stylus is remarkably precise, accurate, and there's very little lag ... as to my hand on the screen, I expect this may vary, person to person ... I have a very electric personality, which may account for the problem
the screen is probably the single biggest improvement over the HP and the Tegra Note ... of course, it's significantly larger ... sharper ... and IMO, brighter ... it's likely still no AMOLED ... but it's perfectly fine for my needs ... regardless, the improvement is much appreciated
the ROM is mostly stock Android ... with a few stylus/gaming bloat apps ... one, "Nvidia Hub", I disabled after a couple days, as it seems its only purpose is to post a notification that there's a gaming app out there, it thinks I should try
those who had the HP and Tegra Note may be happy to hear that both the USB and HDMI ports have a far better purchase ... in fact, the HDMI is now, indeed, a mini (vs the old micro)
along with the screen, the sound/speakers are also much improved ... still front facing (looking identical to my HP), I believe the bass ports are something new ... and they make a very nice difference ... you'd probably still wanna use earbuds for music ... but for movies/games, I like it just fine
the power button is a bit squishy ... it typically takes me 2-3 tries to actually turn it on/off ... it works ... and it may be best that it can't easily be engaged, by accident ... just something noteworthy
there's at least one immediate OTA update to the ROM ... among other things, this includes the ability to record the screen (with audio) ... at first, I was discouraged, as the quality was far less than what was originally on the screen ... but then I found where you can adjust the quality, and it was low, to start with ... even at high quality, the recording is darker ... not sure why ... but otherwise, I think it's a very neat feature ... makes the old screen-shot feature seem like rubbing sticks together
general navigation and all the apps I've used are noticeably "snappier" than the HP ... however, Minecraft (serving 4 players) and Asphalt 8 seem about the same ... but I wouldn't read too much into that ... this is vs the HP, which sports the Tegra 4 ... and if the games' timing is unchanged, and already performing well, there would be almost no difference ... I also loaded Assasin's Creed Pirates ... I had never played this before ... the water on the Shield looked amazing (to be fair, it's the first time I've seen it, so it may look amazing on other tablets, as well) ... bottom line here, if for these games or similar type games, on a Tegra Note or HP, you're unhappy with the performance, I wouldn't get my hopes too high, for the Shield
despite being another 1in diagonal over the HP, it's only about 1/4in wider ... the HP is sort of a "fat" tablet to start with ... so while this may be too wide for some people to hold one-handed, it's not much worse than the HP ... I can do it ... but not for terribly long (part of that is the weight, as well)
aside from the shortcomings, this is a very nice tablet ... w/o the shortcomings, it would literally be perfect
that said, if the size/weight is an issue, I'd take a hard look at the HP Slate 7 Extreme, while it's still available
