I was mainly planning on using it to stream and watch videos from my Plex server. If I had go for the Shield TV Pro, I was going to use it as the server.
I was mainly planning on using it to stream and watch videos from my Plex server. If I had go for the Shield TV Pro, I was going to use it as the server.
Do you have a laptop or desktop PC?
Shield is great and all but overpriced and a standard PC CPU now transcodes video really well.
Worth it meaning $? Yes, both options are not expensive. It's going to get alot of use so avoid the desire to upgrade later by getting what you want now.
What is your Plex server running on now? Do you need Dolby Vison or Dolby Atmos? Do you plan to playback 4k remux files with your server.
I use Chromecast with Google tv for Plex. Works fine
I had my Plex server running on a 2015 Shield Pro for several years, then my SSHD failed and I swapped in an SSD. It was a little faster, but I wanted to swap drives again, so I briefly set up Plex on a 2020 Mac mini (M1) just to keep my family entertained for the holidays while I had the Shield offline...
Wow. Why have I been putting up with such slow load times and such spotty performance that seemed completely forgivable a week ago? The Mac makes the Shield look like an aging $20 Roku stick.
Of note, there were several videos that actual Roku sticks could not play off my Shield TV server for some reason, and there were oddball issues with other devices as well.
I realize the Mac is in a totally different class than the Shield and everyone has a different budget, but I'm older now and I have more money than I do time to bang my head against stupid problems. I'm also really impatient, and I like it when stuff works WELL, not just OK.
The Shield still has a place in my house, but it's going to enjoy its retirement doing what it was designed for (gaming) instead of a function that it just barely meets the minimum criteria to perform, and I'll never again run my server on anything less than the Mac.
If you have a decent sound system then yes. None of the cheaper options will passthrough TrueHD Atmos. If you don't have an Atmos setup, want to save some cash and your current server can transcode audio then you can go with the cheaper option.