Why my most hated tablet device is the one I'd probably recommend getting...
I have owned a fair few touch devices, from a Galaxy Ace phone to a Note tablet to an iPad to a Surface Pro 4. Of these, the one I disliked the most, and very nearly got rid of, is proving invaluable, and that's the rarely considered nVidia Shield Tablet.
It was hailed as a perfect device. It offered not only world-beating processing power and graphics, but also pressure sensitive stylus support with amazing tech processing the screen input. What I received was a rather clunky lump with a battery that kept draining and with a stylus that's fairly uncontrollable and not at all comparable to proper styli like the Galaxy Note or Surface Pro. This was replaced with a tablet with a working battery but a propensity to burst into flames. And this tablet was recalled and replaced with my current one that has a screen that distorts the colours in the middle at the slightest pressure.
It's not surprising then that I was thinking about selling it on to a new home. After all, I had a Google Nexus 7 for core development - probably the classiest and best value Android tablet ever released. But I never did, and am very pleased as I reflect on this decision.
ionAXXIA has released and a few users are reporting that the game crashes at start. This seems related to Android 8, or 'Oreo'. Unless you have an Android 8 device, you can't really discover these things, and that's the first big win for nVidia. Even better than Google at supporting their devices, the Shield Tablet has received every Android flavour since it launched, currently on 7 and due to get 8. Google stopped updating the Nexus 7 at 6. So, get an nVidia tablet and you can be sure to get Android updates where no other manufacturer, not even Google themselves, offer that much post-sales support.
Secondly, it has HDMI out, so is immediately awesome for gameplay capture via and external video card (Elgato HD60), showcasing the different play methods of ionAXXIA as no other single device can.
Thirdly, it is incredibly powerful, able to showcase ionAXXIA with all the lighting effects. For the asking price there's nothing else like it.
Lights casting shadows in the nebula dust. Takes a mighty tablet to play with this effect enabled
I find myself quite enamoured at the moment, and would definitely consider a new nVidia Shield tablet if nVidia create an update. Something more svelte and classy with a better build quality and their latest chipset...that'll be one helluva machine. Until then, if you need an Android device for development, consider a Shield Tablet.
(Except it won't connect to ADB for debugging!)
