Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, David, mac_h8r1, Nelliesboo

 
NTMBK
Gerbil XP
Topic Author
Posts: 371
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:21 am

Shield K1 out of production?

Wed Apr 19, 2017 2:47 am

My wife's Nexus 7 is starting to die, and I'm looking for a good replacement for her. The Shield K1 seems like the best option (decent performance, stock Android, decent support) but I can't find it new in stock anywhere. Did NVidia kill production of it?

On a related note... anyone got any good recommendations for a tablet to replace a Nexus 7?
 
Flying Fox
Gerbil God
Posts: 25690
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 2:19 am
Contact:

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Wed Apr 19, 2017 3:28 am

B&H seems to be out of stock. Newegg, Best Buy and Amazon seem to still have them listed. Get it while you can.

Nothing else at that price which is as good. Or else you will need to jump to the $300 bracket, which will be touching the new iPad territory (if you are into the 9" class tablets) and the choices will be a bit more tricky.
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Gerbils unite! Fold for UnitedGerbilNation, team 2630.
 
fullbodydenim
Gerbil
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun May 10, 2015 12:01 am

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Wed Apr 19, 2017 4:25 am

I just bought my uncle a used Google Nexus 9 which might be appropriate for your wife as an upgrade path. It has the custom Denver Tegra dual cores while the Shield K1 tablet has the ARM Cortex default quad cores. The only drawback is the Nexus 9 is mostly found used but you can still get a brand new Shield K1 for about the same price.
 
NTMBK
Gerbil XP
Topic Author
Posts: 371
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:21 am

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Wed Apr 19, 2017 5:11 am

Flying Fox wrote:
B&H seems to be out of stock. Newegg, Best Buy and Amazon seem to still have them listed. Get it while you can.

Nothing else at that price which is as good. Or else you will need to jump to the $300 bracket, which will be touching the new iPad territory (if you are into the 9" class tablets) and the choices will be a bit more tricky.


Sadly I'm in the UK, so Bestbuy and Newegg are out for me. Amazon UK only has it through "third party sellers", who are price gouging on it- the lowest New price is almost £300!

fullbodydenim wrote:
I just bought my uncle a used Google Nexus 9 which might be appropriate for your wife as an upgrade path. It has the custom Denver Tegra dual cores while the Shield K1 tablet has the ARM Cortex default quad cores. The only drawback is the Nexus 9 is mostly found used but you can still get a brand new Shield K1 for about the same price.


Not really a fan of buying devices used, no idea how much the previous owner has abused them (and less chance of getting it repaired if it malfunctions). Plus I've heard that the Nexus 9's performance is pretty... inconsistent, to say the least. Thanks for the suggestion though :)

It's pretty appalling how little Android tablets have improved since 2013, and in some regards have actually gotten worse. The Nexus 7 had a quad-core Krait CPU, with pretty powerful out-of-order cores. Most devices in a similar price range these days have crappy A7/A53 in-order cores.
 
K-L-Waster
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 576
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 8:10 pm
Location: Hmmm, I was *here* a second ago...

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Wed Apr 19, 2017 7:14 am

I suspect a lot of the market for powerful tablets has migrated over to convertibles like the Surface and the Yoga.
Main System: i7-8700K, ASUS ROG STRIX Z370-E, 16 GB DDR4 3200 RAM, ASUS 6800XT, 1 TB WD_Black SN750, Corsair 550D

HTPC: I5-4460, ASUS H97M-E, 8 GB RAM, GTX 970, CRUCIAL 256GB MX100, SILVERSTONE GD09B
 
NTMBK
Gerbil XP
Topic Author
Posts: 371
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:21 am

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Thu Apr 20, 2017 2:29 am

K-L-Waster wrote:
I suspect a lot of the market for powerful tablets has migrated over to convertibles like the Surface and the Yoga.


It's not like I need a Core i7, 256GB of storage and 8GB RAM- I just want something more powerful than an A53, more RAM than this 4 year old budget tablet, and good long term software support. Surprisingly hard to find!
 
NTMBK
Gerbil XP
Topic Author
Posts: 371
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:21 am

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Sun Apr 23, 2017 5:25 am

Hardware wise, the 8" Xiaomi MiPad 3 looks decent- but it's got some crap skin on top of Android, and I doubt it will be supported long term. Same with the Huawei Mediapad M3. I wish Google would just slap the Nexus brand on one of these Chinese designs and guarantee clean, supported software.
 
LostCat
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2107
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Earth

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:10 am

I think the Switch being hard to find is making people buy alternatives.

It's a weird time for mobile gaming hardware.
Meow.
 
LostCat
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2107
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Earth

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:13 am

NTMBK wrote:
It's pretty appalling how little Android tablets have improved since 2013, and in some regards have actually gotten worse. The Nexus 7 had a quad-core Krait CPU, with pretty powerful out-of-order cores. Most devices in a similar price range these days have crappy A7/A53 in-order cores.

I just found it funny the Samsung Tab As seem to be better than my Lenovo Tab 2 in literally every way...except the GPU :lol: (Mali T760 on the Tab 2 to Mali T830)

If I was buying right now I'd get the new iPad, and I don't own a single Apple device.
Meow.
 
NTMBK
Gerbil XP
Topic Author
Posts: 371
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:21 am

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:52 am

LostCat wrote:
NTMBK wrote:
It's pretty appalling how little Android tablets have improved since 2013, and in some regards have actually gotten worse. The Nexus 7 had a quad-core Krait CPU, with pretty powerful out-of-order cores. Most devices in a similar price range these days have crappy A7/A53 in-order cores.

I just found it funny the Samsung Tab As seem to be better than my Lenovo Tab 2 in literally every way...except the GPU :lol: (Mali T760 on the Tab 2 to Mali T830)

If I was buying right now I'd get the new iPad, and I don't own a single Apple device.


Sadly the new iPad is a bit big for her, she wants something more book sized.
 
LostCat
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2107
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Earth

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Sun Apr 23, 2017 7:10 am

NTMBK wrote:
Sadly the new iPad is a bit big for her, she wants something more book sized.

I guess I have no idea what the specs are on the Minis, but it's a thought.

I'm just tired of every Android build being an uncomfortable compromise unless you're spending $500 on the thing. (Except Shield, possibly.)
Meow.
 
Flying Fox
Gerbil God
Posts: 25690
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 2:19 am
Contact:

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Sun Apr 23, 2017 5:23 pm

NTMBK wrote:
LostCat wrote:
NTMBK wrote:
It's pretty appalling how little Android tablets have improved since 2013, and in some regards have actually gotten worse. The Nexus 7 had a quad-core Krait CPU, with pretty powerful out-of-order cores. Most devices in a similar price range these days have crappy A7/A53 in-order cores.

I just found it funny the Samsung Tab As seem to be better than my Lenovo Tab 2 in literally every way...except the GPU :lol: (Mali T760 on the Tab 2 to Mali T830)

If I was buying right now I'd get the new iPad, and I don't own a single Apple device.


Sadly the new iPad is a bit big for her, she wants something more book sized.

At this point, just pay the 4 bucks additional shipping from Newegg before the last units get snatched up. Then get a Fintie/Infiland case, and you are done. ;)
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Gerbils unite! Fold for UnitedGerbilNation, team 2630.
 
NTMBK
Gerbil XP
Topic Author
Posts: 371
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:21 am

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Mon Apr 24, 2017 10:05 am

Okay the K1 is back in stock at a UK seller at a sane price, trying not to immediately hit buy... my only concern is how much longer it's going to be supported for. I mean, this is a 32-bit 2015 product, and we're already 18 months in... is it really likely to get support for much longer? NVidia have been really good so far, but they're not a charity, they'll stop support eventually.

I'm basically torn between buying this and hoping it's still supported, and praying that someone else comes out with a better device in the next couple of months.
 
LostCat
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2107
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Earth

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Mon Apr 24, 2017 10:56 am

I don't know, but it's NV. They're already past where you'd think they'd stop supporting it since they just released an Android 7 update, and it's likely they'll support it at least until they release a new tab IMO.

Unless battery life is actually a concern, it seems like a great device.
Meow.
 
Kretschmer
Gerbil XP
Posts: 462
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:36 am

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Mon Apr 24, 2017 11:04 am

LostCat wrote:
I think the Switch being hard to find is making people buy alternatives.

It's a weird time for mobile gaming hardware.

No one is buying a Shield as a Switch substitute; Switch buyers (or oglers) want Nintendo software.
 
LostCat
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2107
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Earth

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Mon Apr 24, 2017 11:25 am

Kretschmer wrote:
No one is buying a Shield as a Switch substitute; Switch buyers (or oglers) want Nintendo software.

I can only speak for me, but I've been eyeing several gaming tablets to get while I wait for the Switch software market to improve. So 'no one' is definitely inaccurate. (Though technically, I'm eyeing the iPad instead.)

And, speaking as a future Switch buyer, I couldn't care less about any Nintendo properties except Zelda.
Meow.
 
Kretschmer
Gerbil XP
Posts: 462
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:36 am

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Mon Apr 24, 2017 12:26 pm

LostCat wrote:
Kretschmer wrote:
No one is buying a Shield as a Switch substitute; Switch buyers (or oglers) want Nintendo software.

I can only speak for me, but I've been eyeing several gaming tablets to get while I wait for the Switch software market to improve. So 'no one' is definitely inaccurate. (Though technically, I'm eyeing the iPad instead.)

And, speaking as a future Switch buyer, I couldn't care less about any Nintendo properties except Zelda.

I'm comfortable replacing "no one" with "few."
 
LostCat
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2107
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Earth

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Mon Apr 24, 2017 12:34 pm

I'm comfortable with assuming you have no idea what you're talking about, but whatever works. Just ordered the iPad.

eew Apple
Meow.
 
Vhalidictes
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1835
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:32 pm
Location: Paragon City, RI

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Mon Apr 24, 2017 12:55 pm

LostCat wrote:
NTMBK wrote:
It's pretty appalling how little Android tablets have improved since 2013, and in some regards have actually gotten worse. The Nexus 7 had a quad-core Krait CPU, with pretty powerful out-of-order cores. Most devices in a similar price range these days have crappy A7/A53 in-order cores.

I just found it funny the Samsung Tab As seem to be better than my Lenovo Tab 2 in literally every way...except the GPU :lol: (Mali T760 on the Tab 2 to Mali T830)

If I was buying right now I'd get the new iPad, and I don't own a single Apple device.


I'm still rocking two Samsung Galaxy Note 8's. Decent CPU, 2GB RAM, Input pen, SDXC support. Low rez screen, but that just makes the battery life / game performance better.

It's sad that a early 2013 tablet beats most <$900 options...
 
NTMBK
Gerbil XP
Topic Author
Posts: 371
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:21 am

Re: Shield K1 out of production?

Tue Apr 25, 2017 3:11 am

Vhalidictes wrote:
I'm still rocking two Samsung Galaxy Note 8's. Decent CPU, 2GB RAM, Input pen, SDXC support. Low rez screen, but that just makes the battery life / game performance better.

It's sad that a early 2013 tablet beats most <$900 options...


Sadly low rez screen would be a bit of a dealbreaker for her; she does a lot of reading on her current tablet, so good font reproduction is a must. (Also why the Fire HD 8 has been ruled out- who thought a 1280 × 800 in 2016 was good enough? The Nexus 7 had 1920x1200 in 2013!)

Definitely agree about the state of modern Android tablets. :(

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On