Thinking of buying NVidia shield...tips..and ease of use for 80 year olds....

by Fur_hat_linux

hey guys, quick question about android tv. was thinking of getting NVidia shield for my grandparents to watch ethnic tv because ROKU is shit and constantly deletes the app for it. If i install the app for ethnic tv on a NVidia shield/minix neo u9 will it get deleted as well with updates? Or can we safely watch what we want to watch without having to constantly reinstall it? What is the ease of use of the device? Is it easy to teach 80 y.o. to use it? I plan on having one/two apps on it so they have an easier time finding ethnic TV app.

Also, if i wanted to use terrarium for it, does it work effectively on a large screen TV? I tried streaming terrarium from my phone via DLNR onto my TV and it was a terrible experience.

JimboLodisC

If they were okay with using a Roku, then using an Android TV device like the Shield should be no problem.

As far as if the Android box you mentioned would work, I don't know. Those Android boxes are like a dime a dozen and usually have crap builds of touchscreen Android on them. That's why the Android TV operating system exists on devices like the Mi Box and Shield. It's optimized by Google for the living room TV experience. Software is much more polished and kept more up-to-date. Plus you get all the certifications for HD and 4K streaming, and Google Cast aka 'Chromecast Built-in' is available as a feature on devices running the Android TV OS so you don't have to deal with DLNA or Miracast. Android boxes for TVs are not the same as Android TV devices.

I haven't used the Terrarium app on my Shield so maybe someone else can add their experience with it.

koshergoy

If your parents are ethnic Chinese or Korean there may be better options.

Please specify what language(s) you are looking for.

raptor75mlt

TerrariumTV Will work fine

koshergoy

With Russian language apps being the driving force and with a babushka involved you should first focus on a suitable input device. A full sized Logitech keyboard/touchpad device, possibly a native Russian version or at least large cyrillic key cap overlays will make life much easier.

From the software angle, consider terrariumtv a poor choice. Very little content with Russian language and a difficult process to find cyrillic subtitles makes it impractical.

Likely your chosen app is designed for touch screen and not an Androidtv simple remote. Ergo, the Logitech will be needed regardless of the hardware platform you choose.

Nvidia shield does not buy any greater ease of use. In fact, it complicates matters.

Buy a decent generic android box. Minix in general are seriously overpriced.

You can get more meaningful info at 4pda.ru if you can read cyrillic.

Good luck

H0unter

I think mibox is chepear option with the same results.