Yeah I used to have a PC and a Harmony remote that would send macros to a custom script and Kodi would do different things or it could switch to Netflix and … Like, we just want to watch a movie or TV show not have to perform tech support whenever Netflix changed their webpage!
My SHIELD would just randomly restart itself until eventually it stopped coming back online.
I definitely got my monies worth out of it, but didn’t like that a device with no ads all of a sudden became a device with ads (and this is a Google thing not an Nvidia one, but still)
You specifically said you use a 3rd party launcher. You know why you specifically mentioned that.
We’re a non-iPhone household and went with the AppleTV when my Nvidia SHIELD died.
Ads were getting put on the SHIELD and I definitely didn’t want to buy another one because of that and it has been a while since its had a refresh, so went with an AppleTV instead.
The device itself is fantastic, the UI is so smooth and so much nicer. OTOH, I miss being able to cast to the TV more than I expected. It works decently with the Macbooks though (we’re a weird household … like Macs, hate iPhones).
So … if ya’ll have iPhones or don’t care about casting, I’d definitely recommend an AppleTV with Plex (the Dropout, Youtube, Disney+ apps are all good too).
ETA: Apple is also making some pretty awesome TV content as well and IIRC you’ll get a couple months free with the purchase … verify that yourself though in case they’ve removed it, but Foundation, Severance & See are fantastic shows if you’re looking for something to watch.
On KBin I believe that it is (or at least was a bug that became a feature). There have been posts about it strongly urging Ernest not to change it and he’s said he’ll open it up to discussion before making major changes to it, if my recollection is accurate.
Name of the room + number.
I’ll give the human readable name a bit more info like if it’s a fan (then it’s ‘Kitchen Fan 1’, ‘Kitchen Fan 2’, etc…), but I’ll usually make a group and expose the group to voice and the group would be based on the human name (Kitchen Fan). For most rooms though, I only really care about the room itself, so, “turn off the kitchen lights” is all that’s really needed and that’s handled by the zones.
We had two of the dumb versions in the kitchen and I was forbidden to install anything smart in there until I found something similar. Then a year later, they made the smart version.
10/10 would recommend, it’s expensive since you’ll also need a hub, but I’ve had less issues with them than my Hue’s at this point.
I’ve got a z-wave dimmer and every now and then it’ll just flip out and start dimming the light for no reason (goes to 1% and then rises to 100%) and needs to be power cycled to fix.
I’ve got my Kasa dimmers, but they just feel cheap. I’ve started hiding those away for locations they’re not really needed to be touched (attic lights, closet lights, etc…)
OP – I would whole heartedly second @lemming741 's recommendation. They’re very good and very intuitive to use in a non-smart fashion as well.
ETA: I’ve had internet die and they continued working as well.
Same, but the Vue 1.
Works very well by my panel looks a fuckin’ mess because of it!
OP, it’s not ‘money is no object’ because it’s actually pretty cheap, but it’s actually very easy to flash and install, so, if I were to do it again, I’d probably choose the same hardware since it went pretty smoothly.
Ah, my apologies for the assumption, it’s been almost a year but I’m still too used to Reddit apparently!
Yes, the default launcher had ads, the SHIELD itself didn’t, but I also didn’t like any of the 3rd party launchers I used but I don’t remember specifically why. Then, the SHIELD stopped booting so I didn’t want to buy another one and went with the ATV instead.
As I mentioned, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to someone who knows they’d regret not having the cast functionality, but, if you just want a device that works very well and doesn’t ever have so much as a hiccup during navigation, it’s been great!
I would still recommend the SHIELD for someone that wants cast or who wouldn’t have a problem with (mostly) relevant ads being shown on the device (stock).