Shield Tablet K1 now or wait for X1?

Insomniator

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2002
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I would essentially just use it to watch twitch streams and movies -- no gaming or game streaming (don't even have an nvidia card anymore). I know the shield is targeted for gamers but I've read its a great tablet/value otherwise also.

The other strong contender for me is the Venue 8 7000 because of that OLED screen which I assume should be a priority since all I do is watch media on the thing. Its at least 50 bucks more expensive, and has somewhat worse reviews however. The only reason I'd want to wait for an X1 is because its a serious generational/tock upgrade (2x as fast GPU wise) but if I never game then who cares.

Now, If I could bring one of these with an HDMI cord and play Dota 2 on them then I'd be interested in gaming. I guess that would have to be a windows tablet then though, and X1 would definitely be much better.
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
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Venue 8's OLED screen is absolutely horrendous. I saw one in person I did not know an OLED screen is capable of looking like that. Go with the K1. X1's cpu is not going to be much faster than K1's, while the GPU is expected to be a huge jump. Unfortunately on Android there is few, if any, GPU-demanding tasks where the X1's GPU can stretch its legs.
 

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
12,045
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Venue 8's OLED screen is absolutely horrendous. I saw one in person I did not know an OLED screen is capable of looking like that.

IIRC the Venue has the same 8.4" screen as the previous Samsung Tab S 8.4 and that never got complaints about its screen. I have the Tab S myself and horrendous is far from the word I'd use to describe it...it's gorgeous.
 

npaladin-2000

Senior member
May 11, 2012
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I'm going to wait a bit, see if an X1 version pops up anywhere. Though even the K1 will make a nice companion for my SHIELD TV.
 

dailow

Member
Oct 27, 2001
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0
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If nothing else, I would expect that the release of the X1 would drive down prices on the K1.

Also, you can kind of play Dota 2 via the K1 tablet, although you would be streaming it from your home PC via Nvidia's GameStream feature. I haven't tried it myself, but from what I've read it works quite well.
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,310
687
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If nothing else, I would expect that the release of the X1 would drive down prices on the K1.
I did consider the possibility but with the Shield tablet currently going for $200, I am not sure how much lower it can go in the future and whether the wait is worthwhile.
 

malabo

Banned
Jan 5, 2016
61
2
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I did consider the possibility but with the Shield tablet currently going for $200, I am not sure how much lower it can go in the future and whether the wait is worthwhile.

It's dirt cheap but some people have had issues with them not charging, the batteries going bad , that's the only reason I haven'gotten one