Agreed. When I was looking at 7/8" tablets over the summer the Shield ended up at the top of my list for good performance, a reasonable price, and no WTF mis-features. Then I discovered it had gone out of stock following the recall.
The price drop makes it a lot more appealing; but does make me wonder if they're flushing inventory to make room for the next generation model.
Agreed. They would have a hard time selling a tablet based on an older SoC at the price it launched at a year ago. Hence, the price drop.
I'm not so sure Denver is the answers to their woes either as its performance seems very code dependent and inconsistent. It would be nice to see a new K part with newer ARM cores and Maxwell graphics. I'm a little surprised they haven't already released an update with Maxwell given the difference in power efficiency to the Kepler design.
Denver was terrible. THe N9 has extremely inconsistent performance. I want an X-1 tablet. OR better yet, Nvidia's new SOC early next year. It won't be long now.
According to Wikipedia, Parker will feature Denver+Maxwell: --------------------------------------------------------------- Parker[edit] Nvidia Tegra "Parker" will feature Nvidia’s own custom general-purpose ARMv8-compatible core code-named Project Denver as well as code-named Maxwell graphics processing core with GPGPU support. The chips will be made using FinFET process technology, which likely means that it will be made using TSMC's 16 nm FinFET+ manufacturing process.
Nvidia Tegra “Parker” is due some time after Nvidia Tegra X1 (Erista).
When the X1 was announced and people asked Jensen Huang about the Denver part, he said it was always the intention for the next iteration to be a 16nm part. So Denver was still presumably alive as of 8 months ago.
The Shield 2 showed up in the South Korean equivalent of the FCC database (the US version a common source of early product leaks) last month; leading to speculation that it would be out in a few more months.
No doubt, it was inconsistent, but A15s are old for end 2015. The fact that it's so cheap and the A15s run well at high clocks without throttling actually makes up.
Denver posted good benchmarks, but it would choke when anything with more spaghetti code was thrown at it. Probably because of the binary translation bottleneck point. Not sure that it would be better in games.
Because USB cables/chargers are getting to the point where most people already have a junk drawer filled with them and don't need any more; at which point it becomes and added cost/source of additional ewaste to add them to the bundle.
This ^. I recently did some online research when shopping for tablet chargers, and finding 2amp ones with a decent price isn't easy, especially if you want one with more than 1x USB port.
If you use a cheap charger with lower amp rating it will take forever to charge the tablet. Using the cheap 1 amp chargers that ship with most mobile phones it will take 16+ hours.
I wish more companies were more open regarding their roadmap. Apple is usually quite predictable (except this year there was no iPad Air 3). Google sometimes releases a Nexus tablet, sometimes doesn't... And now this. Is Nvidia going to release Shield Tablet X-1, (or X-2 early next year) ? It would be really helpful if companies were more open. I bought a cheapo $180 tablet a few months ago. I definitely would have waited for this. And I'd rather wait further for an X-1 tablet. If you're Apple, people will wait. But for Android, where there is a lot of choice, being open would increase their sales. I'd know when to wait, and when to buy.
Everything depends on the tablets sale around the world...there was a big drop in the last few years that's why we saw no many socs competition in this market...
"This was quite unfortunate, and it left a gap in the Android tablet market that I really haven't seen any vendor fill." What about the Acer Predator 8?
Waiting for the next iteration of this tablet, as the screen quality on this Shield tablet is horrible, to say the least. If you care at all about display quality, I'd stay away -- the rest of the tablet is great though. I bought one last year and was psyched to try it out, and then when I powered it on I was shocked at how poor the quality of the screen was. Returned it a day or two after that. As $150 tablets have better screens than this tablet, I'm confident the next iteration will have a good display. Glad to see this one got a decent drop in price at least.
The price is pretty compelling. The CPU cores feel pretty old, but if the display and other components are good and Nividia keeps Android updates flowing quickly this could replace my 2nd gen Nexus 7.
My Xiaomi MiPad has very similar specs (except a 2048 x 1536 screen) and can be had for less I believe (direct from China tho)... Like others, I'd have expected an X1 by now with stylus included (and a heck of a lot cheaper controller)...
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Devo2007 - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
From what others are saying, this version omits the stylus and charger/USB cord.Devo2007 - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
There's also no slot for the stylus (which will be available as an accessory)Brandon Chester - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
The stylus is available but as a $20 add on.hans_ober - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Was hoping for Denver instead of A15.On the other hand, multi-threaded perf is still very competitive.
DanNeely - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Agreed. When I was looking at 7/8" tablets over the summer the Shield ended up at the top of my list for good performance, a reasonable price, and no WTF mis-features. Then I discovered it had gone out of stock following the recall.The price drop makes it a lot more appealing; but does make me wonder if they're flushing inventory to make room for the next generation model.
Morawka - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
i would think this has to do more with the recall and relaunching than it does with a newer updated model..The handheld is due for a update however.
BurntMyBacon - Wednesday, November 18, 2015 - link
@MorawkaAgreed. They would have a hard time selling a tablet based on an older SoC at the price it launched at a year ago. Hence, the price drop.
I'm not so sure Denver is the answers to their woes either as its performance seems very code dependent and inconsistent. It would be nice to see a new K part with newer ARM cores and Maxwell graphics. I'm a little surprised they haven't already released an update with Maxwell given the difference in power efficiency to the Kepler design.
syxbit - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Denver was terrible. THe N9 has extremely inconsistent performance.I want an X-1 tablet. OR better yet, Nvidia's new SOC early next year. It won't be long now.
nathanddrews - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
According to Wikipedia, Parker will feature Denver+Maxwell:---------------------------------------------------------------
Parker[edit]
Nvidia Tegra "Parker" will feature Nvidia’s own custom general-purpose ARMv8-compatible core code-named Project Denver as well as code-named Maxwell graphics processing core with GPGPU support. The chips will be made using FinFET process technology, which likely means that it will be made using TSMC's 16 nm FinFET+ manufacturing process.
Nvidia Tegra “Parker” is due some time after Nvidia Tegra X1 (Erista).
CPU: Nvidia Project Denver ARMv8 (64-bit)
GPU: Maxwell-based
FinFET transistors
---------------------------------------------------------------
Are you referring to a different one?
hans_ober - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Wikipedia isn't very accurate when it comes to these things :)Yojimbo - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
When the X1 was announced and people asked Jensen Huang about the Denver part, he said it was always the intention for the next iteration to be a 16nm part. So Denver was still presumably alive as of 8 months ago.StevoLincolnite - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Wikipedia is only as accurate as the citations.lucam - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
So this version of maxwell with GPGPU would be much different from current one?DanNeely - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
The Shield 2 showed up in the South Korean equivalent of the FCC database (the US version a common source of early product leaks) last month; leading to speculation that it would be out in a few more months.hans_ober - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
No doubt, it was inconsistent, but A15s are old for end 2015. The fact that it's so cheap and the A15s run well at high clocks without throttling actually makes up.tipoo - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Denver posted good benchmarks, but it would choke when anything with more spaghetti code was thrown at it. Probably because of the binary translation bottleneck point. Not sure that it would be better in games.lucam - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
For games what does count is the GPU I believe...TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
So, android M fixes the SD card woes, but the tablet comes with 5.1.1. Any word on when it would get 6.0?TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
And also, why no charger? Why is that a separate purchase?DanNeely - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Because USB cables/chargers are getting to the point where most people already have a junk drawer filled with them and don't need any more; at which point it becomes and added cost/source of additional ewaste to add them to the bundle.TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
True, but how many people have a 5.2v 2.1a charger lying around?CrimsonFury - Thursday, November 26, 2015 - link
This ^. I recently did some online research when shopping for tablet chargers, and finding 2amp ones with a decent price isn't easy, especially if you want one with more than 1x USB port.If you use a cheap charger with lower amp rating it will take forever to charge the tablet. Using the cheap 1 amp chargers that ship with most mobile phones it will take 16+ hours.
HighTech4US - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Exactly right.We use a multi-USB 5 port charge station to charge our tablets, hot spot and external batteries.
syxbit - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
I wish more companies were more open regarding their roadmap. Apple is usually quite predictable (except this year there was no iPad Air 3).Google sometimes releases a Nexus tablet, sometimes doesn't...
And now this. Is Nvidia going to release Shield Tablet X-1, (or X-2 early next year) ?
It would be really helpful if companies were more open. I bought a cheapo $180 tablet a few months ago. I definitely would have waited for this. And I'd rather wait further for an X-1 tablet. If you're Apple, people will wait. But for Android, where there is a lot of choice, being open would increase their sales. I'd know when to wait, and when to buy.
lucam - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Everything depends on the tablets sale around the world...there was a big drop in the last few years that's why we saw no many socs competition in this market...FelixDraconis - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
If this is the exact same tablet, then won't it have the same overheating issues? Surely it isn't 'exactly' the same and has been fixed?I'd be curious what they did. Heat spreader, maybe. Or changed the throttling firmware?
fivefeet8 - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
What overheating issue? The recall was for overheating batteries which they replaced.digiguy - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
"This was quite unfortunate, and it left a gap in the Android tablet market that I really haven't seen any vendor fill."What about the Acer Predator 8?
Tehk17 - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Looks like a worthy replacement for my Tegra Note 7.ruthan - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
What about 32 GB+ LTE model?twotwotwo - Wednesday, November 18, 2015 - link
Always thought these were neat gadgets, but hard to sell myself on a big phone and a small tablet, even at a great price :)FlyBri - Wednesday, November 18, 2015 - link
Waiting for the next iteration of this tablet, as the screen quality on this Shield tablet is horrible, to say the least. If you care at all about display quality, I'd stay away -- the rest of the tablet is great though. I bought one last year and was psyched to try it out, and then when I powered it on I was shocked at how poor the quality of the screen was. Returned it a day or two after that. As $150 tablets have better screens than this tablet, I'm confident the next iteration will have a good display. Glad to see this one got a decent drop in price at least.Bob Todd - Wednesday, November 18, 2015 - link
The price is pretty compelling. The CPU cores feel pretty old, but if the display and other components are good and Nividia keeps Android updates flowing quickly this could replace my 2nd gen Nexus 7.TesseractOrion - Wednesday, November 18, 2015 - link
My Xiaomi MiPad has very similar specs (except a 2048 x 1536 screen) and can be had for less I believe (direct from China tho)... Like others, I'd have expected an X1 by now with stylus included (and a heck of a lot cheaper controller)...