For many..many years I have been running a dedicated HTPC for all my TV, media and gaming needs. The one box to rule them all so to speak. A central place to control and access everything. And to make it simple enough to have the WAF (for those who don't know that means Wife Acceptance Factor).

As time went on though Microsoft dropped Windows Media center, and in their absolute genius didn't add the ability to fully control windows 10 with a remote easily (yet.. I can hope). So now you would need a keyboard and mouse or something like the Lenovo remote keyboards to navigate windows. Not exactly a nice 10 foot user experience and confusing for the non techies.

I could use Plex Home Theater and bit stream TrueHD and DTS-HD to my home theater receiver. (yes I have a plex server with ripping tools... 15TB and counting lol)

I could pop a DVD or Blu-Ray in the drive and play it back.

I could play any of the games I owned.

I Can stream from any of my services (Netflix etc).

I can access pictures, music etc etc (granted though not as easily as before due to lack of good remote support)

While there isn't an app yet, I can access my DirecTV now subscription via browser.

I can access my HDHomerun and even the Hauppauge card in apps to cleanly access local TV. And more.

Anyway With my kids getting older and going off to college the HTPC is used mainly for Netflix when they are home. So I obviously wanted to find a lower power solution than a dedicated HTPC with a gaming graphics card in it. This way when I do go to sit in my living room I can do all the things I want and have been doing all along (and eventually when I get re-married and move in with the fiancee... things need to be simple)

I have been playing around with many streaming devices (I have a Roku 3, Apple TV gen 4, FireTV stick and now shield 2017)

The Roku has always had the advantage of a somewhat clean easy to use interface, but has always been limited by it's own app selection. Plex is nice but no bit streaming DTS-HD or TrueHD (at least on gen 3 last I checked). Right now no DirecTV Now but coming soon. No gaming, no working OTA except one that was ridiculous and required a lifetime subscription.

The Apple TV Gen 4 has been great but I do hate the touchpad input (although voice integration / typing is very nice). The added benefit of HDMI CEC and IR learning allows me to power the TV on and off, Control the soundbar volume etc. This device has the cleanest interface and voice integration throughout has been excellent. But it is an apple product... I'm not invested in the Apple eco system and as with all apple devices as time goes on and features come out the overall experience tends to degrade quickly forcing you to get the newest latest version usually within two years. No Game Streaming, haven't found a working HDHomerun app yet, haven't tried bitstreaming yet.

The FireTV stick has been my favorite device to date. While I do realize it is first and foremost the "Amazon" FireTV Stick I don't like how cluttered it tends to feel pushing amazon video and channels down your throat. Yes I am a prime member now (forgot to cancel the dammed trial after Christmas shopping). But that interface tends to be the most confusing out of all the devices. However it's integration with Alexa is excellent, and I can load android apps on it and it works with my DirecTVNow Subscription as opposed to other Android TV devices thusfar. But since it is the stick it has limited storage that is not expandable. I can use Moonlight also to stream games form my main gaming rig.. but since it is the stick I am limited by the wireless connection which does seem to add quite a bit of input lag at times (even with a AC1900 connection and no one else on). Supposedly I can side load a HDHomerun app for OTA. I haven't tried bit streaming yet. And hey... its CHEAP

Enter what I had hoped to be the one. The Nvidia Shield 2017. It comes with a controller, remote, voice (but due to marketing the voice should be more considered as "coming soon"), expandable storage via USB drives, it can act as a plex server if I wanted it to be one (although I need more than a few USB HDDs lol) and is also geared toward streaming games form my main gaming rig to it. It supports 4K for future expandability and most importantly now supports bit streaming of all the latest HD audio formats so when I do watch in surround I get the full experience. I can buy and use another remote if I wanted to since the included one I would go as far as saying is a bit too simple and not consistent across apps. IR learning and CEC control (still have to set this up BTW) HDHomerun works for OTA, All the apps I need are there (with the exception of DirecTV Now much like the roku... hurry up damn it!!). Gaming support is great so far. And I'm sure I will discover more things to be able to do with it (and on that note things to hate about it... I mean really... I can't change the damned background???? And why the hell did you remove the headphone port from the damned remote!!)

But I got to thinking.. one thing that could be done to really set this Shield apart and further set it as the "one box to rule them all"... DVD and Blu-ray support. Now I know what you are thinking and I'll stop you right there. Not everyone is going to have a media server. Not everyone is going to be subscribed to so many different streaming services. and internet can have outages. Disc based media may be on its way out, but many people still have movies on a disc, you can still go out and buy Blu-rays and DVDs, you can still go to a RedBox and rent a movie. Not to mention direct Blu-ray playback at higher bitrates still blow away much of this supposed 4k streaming. Yes as stated I have a Plex server with all the ripping tools.. but not everyone knows how to do that. And you shouldn't be ripping your RedBox rental or the movie your friend brought over to watch to your own server....

All we would need is a USB DVD or Blu-ray drive (which exist) and someone like cyber link or anyone to create the "App" for it with the appropriate licensed codecs / decoders. Right?

I tried to compose my thoughts here as I needed to get them out of my head ASAP.. but while not trying to sound like some paid reviewer lol.

So what are your thoughts?