When comparing Chromecast (2015) vs NVIDIA SHIELD Console, the Slant community recommends Chromecast (2015) for most people. In the question“What are the best devices to stream Netflix to a TV?” Chromecast (2015) is ranked 1st while NVIDIA SHIELD Console is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Chromecast (2015) is:
Chromecast costs only $35 which makes the overhead to jump into the ecosystem pretty minimal on the consumer's part.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Pretty cheap for what is on offer
Chromecast costs only $35 which makes the overhead to jump into the ecosystem pretty minimal on the consumer's part.
Pro Can be powered using TVs USB port
If you have a USB port on your TV, you can use that to power the Chromecast. The Chromecast is powered through a standard micro USB port.
Pro Does the processing on a different device
Unlike other set top boxes, the Chromecast just takes in a video stream in VP8 or H.264 format, and can stream that content either directly from the provider, or through a device that processes video to those formats. Because everything is done on a different device, you wont need to upgrade the Chromecast as often as other set top boxes, and anyone can play content from their phones, tablets, or computers.
Pro Available SDK means any app can utilize chromecast
With the amount of apps available on the Play Store, seeing that an SDK is available for any of them to use means that a large swath of apps can and do use Chromecast making for a very large ecosystem for what is a pretty cheap streaming device.
Pro Easily support multiple bands of Wi-Fi
Dual-band Wi-Fi support with 2.4GHz and 5GHz allows for easy connection to multiple different routers, this way no one is left out with a non compatible device as well as support for faster speeds which is helpful with HD content.
Pro Color choices available for easy matching or preferences
The device has red, yellow and black options which allows for one to match some of their other devices in their living room as well as offers a choice to be more of an individual through a color option.
Pro Simple to use once setup
Once the device is set up, using Chromecast is straightforward. Just click the the cast icon from within apps or programs to stream it to your TV.
Pro Kodi is installable from the Play Store
Kodi media center is now available on the Play Store for Android TV devices which is very convenient since the old method of installing the app was to sideload, which can be difficult for new users.
Pro 50 curated games at launch
There will be 50 curated games at launch of the device including the likes of Borderlands and Crysis.
Pro NVIDIA Tegra X1
The NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet has an NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor, which is reported as having twice the performance of an XBox 360.
Cons
Con Limited OS support
The device is designed for Windows, OSX, Android and iOS. Linux support is limited and Windows Phone support is nonexistant.
Con Somewhat lengthy setup process
To set up Chromecast, attach it to your TV, download the Chromecast app on your host device, pair it, connect the Chromecast to your Wi-Fi, wait for the updates to download and from there you are ready to cast.
Con Can only have 2 USB hard drives
There are only two USB ports built into the device, which limits how many hard drives one can hook up, but the kicker is, even when using a USB hub the device will still only read two USB devices hard drives at a time, no matter how many are plugged into the USB hub.
Con Only capapable of low end gaming
Even the demos of the games shown at the unveiling shows that any type of console quality game is going to be too taxing for the system, all running at only 30fps. Adding to that, the majority of console ports for the system are years old which shows that it is pretty obvious how limiting the system will be.