Ghetto Shield Disapproval

[Xorbot]

To jump to the conclusion of this post, I disapprove of the "Ghetto Shield".

 

Now, onto my reasons.  I feel that this project makes a mockery of the new nVidia Shield.  There is plenty to write about, but I will try to keep this as brief as possible.

 

The nVidia Shield is a device that certainly looks like it is just a cell phone glued/taped to a gamepad.  But I believe it goes further than this for an overall positive user experience.  The following things are true for the real shield, and not-as-true for the ghetto shield:

 

- portability

- connectivity

- usability

- cost effectiveness

 

The ghetto shield is not as portable as the real shield.  The main reason here is because the ghetto shield cannot fold-up into a convenient, self-case form factor.

 

Depending on the phone used, the ghetto shield does not have a simple way to connect to a TV, which is used mostly for the native Android games.  Certainly some phones do have HDMI-out, but this is not always a guarantee.

 

The usability is a bit of a mixed-bag in this instance.  If the Android games are properly designed for gamepad use, then the real shield wins.  For the ghetto shield, there must be a compatibility layer/driver/connection to play the native Android games.  If the ghetto shield's gamepad is meant only to be connected to the PC for remote gaming, then indeed, the real shield wins.  However, if the ghetto shield has all features of the real shield, then they are on the same playing field.  Not much testing has ben performed on either device, so the final verdict here is unknown, but it appears that the real shield wins in terms of usability.  This is more true when you factor-in the ease of launching Steam games directly through UI.  The ghetto shield requires a previous connection through Splashtop, and using a "virtual mouse" with your finger on a high-ppi screen is not as usable.

 

The cost effectiveness is terrible for the ghetto.  The presumption is that a lot of the parts are already in possession.  If a phone must be bought, along with a wireless gamepad, dongle, Dremel tool, and spare metal parts, the cost is way higher for a ghetto shield over a real shield.

 

This last point launches into my real-world comparison why I feel that this whole Ghetto Shield idea is not up to the standards of Linus Media Group.  Let's take the following scenario:

 

-- Begin Scenario

 

Johnny makes a post on the forum.  He is new to water cooling for his desktop PC.  He doesn't understand much about the parts including their quality and assembly.  Seeing as how he already owns a garden hose, he just instead cuts up the hose, uses a lot of elastic bands already in his possession, and rigs up a water cooling loop.  Upon reading the post, both Linus and Slick do a facepalm.

 

-- End Scenario

 

In the above scenario, it is my assumption that both Linus and Slick would think this is a terrible water-cooling solution.  According to existing videos, both Linus and Slick would demand only the highest quality parts and solution for water-cooling in a gaming rig.  Here is another scenario:

 

-- Begin Scenario #2

 

Billy has a spare, old 15" monitor lying around.  He also heard of something called an Intel NUC.  Since Billy already has some old SO-DIMMS, he decieds to spend roughly $400-$500 on a NUC, small SSD, and battery pack.  Billy then proceeds to build his very own "Ghetto Laptop", whereby he double-sided velcros a NUC to the back of the monitor, and then uses half-a-roll of duct tape as a makeshift hinge for an old keyboard to the monitor.

 

-- End Scenario #2

 

The issue still exists; Billy is much better off buying a cheap ultrabook such as the latest Fujitsu Lifebook for around the same price.  He will have much better battery life, and each of the following areas including portability, connectivity, usability, and cost effectiveness is much improved over his "ghetto solution".  Once again, such a silly project would be laughed-off by both Linus and Slick, whereby Linus just looks downward, shakes his head, and mutters "no... just, no."

 

As a result, I believe the LMG's "Ghetto Shield" is a partial mix of humor and seriousness.  I do truly understand that the Ghetto Shield is supposed to be just for fun (shits and giggles), but I also feel that the general audience perceives that the nVidia Shield is a joke of a product due to the comparison that it is just a cell phone taped to a gamepad.  I would disagree.  I believe the overall usability and user experience warrants a non-condescending look.  

 

Splashtop ruthlessly eats through battery life, as was my experience when working remotely outdoors on a laptop connected to my work-PC.  Also, I believe (though have not verified) that nVidia's streaming solution has almost no lag, and certainly less lag than Splashtop.  Splashtop recently released support for nVidia GPUs, however, which is probably something similar to streaming for nVidia Shield.  At the end of the day, the responsiveness of the stream whether it's nVidia Shield or Splashtop will be much better for nVidia Kepler GPUs.  As a result, your "works for AMD, also" comment is a little weak.

 

With all that said, the Ghetto Shield is an inferior comparison.  I am not an adamant defender of Shield (no pun intended).  If/When you get a review unit, and the user experience of the nVidia Shield is terrible, if it crashes, drops streams, or is in fact laggy, then by all means give it the bad review it deserves.  If after playing with the device you feel that the $300 price tag is unjustified, then go ahead, give it bad marks.

 

If you want to make cool mods such as Logan's retina display arm, then I would like that very much since there are no claims that it is a near-equivalent replacement to something else.  My ending remark is that the "Ghetto Shield" is something that I feel like is substandard and low-quality to what I view as a premium YouTube channel and online community, which is Linus Tech Tips.

 

[I'm Batman]

Omg i never read that much words in 1 go ever nefore

[1funnygame]

Awwww hell no i ain't reading that wall of text!

[Matsy]

Oh please....

Its a cool little thing that actually works, they arnt saying its better than the shield just its a cool little mod.

[Xorbot]

Awwww hell no i ain't reading that wall of text!

 

It is more of an open reply to one of Slick's Tweets:

 

https://twitter.com/SlickPC/status/365389178663485441

 

It's ok if everyone does not want to read it, I'd understand.

[target39]

 

To jump to the conclusion of this post, I disapprove of the "Ghetto Shield".

 

Now, onto my reasons.  I feel that this project makes a mockery of the new nVidia Shield.  There is plenty to write about, but I will try to keep this as brief as possible.

 

The nVidia Shield is a device that certainly looks like it is just a cell phone glued/taped to a gamepad.  But I believe it goes further than this for an overall positive user experience.  The following things are true for the real shield, and not-as-true for the ghetto shield:

 

- portability

- connectivity

- usability

- cost effectiveness

 

The ghetto shield is not as portable as the real shield.  The main reason here is because the ghetto shield cannot fold-up into a convenient, self-case form factor.

 

Depending on the phone used, the ghetto shield does not have a simple way to connect to a TV, which is used mostly for the native Android games.  Certainly some phones do have HDMI-out, but this is not always a guarantee.

 

The usability is a bit of a mixed-bag in this instance.  If the Android games are properly designed for gamepad use, then the real shield wins.  For the ghetto shield, there must be a compatibility layer/driver/connection to play the native Android games.  If the ghetto shield's gamepad is meant only to be connected to the PC for remote gaming, then indeed, the real shield wins.  However, if the ghetto shield has all features of the real shield, then they are on the same playing field.  Not much testing has ben performed on either device, so the final verdict here is unknown, but it appears that the real shield wins in terms of usability.  This is more true when you factor-in the ease of launching Steam games directly through UI.  The ghetto shield requires a previous connection through Splashtop, and using a "virtual mouse" with your finger on a high-ppi screen is not as usable.

 

The cost effectiveness is terrible for the ghetto.  The presumption is that a lot of the parts are already in possession.  If a phone must be bought, along with a wireless gamepad, dongle, Dremel tool, and spare metal parts, the cost is way higher for a ghetto shield over a real shield.

 

This last point launches into my real-world comparison why I feel that this whole Ghetto Shield idea is not up to the standards of Linus Media Group.  Let's take the following scenario:

 

-- Begin Scenario

 

Johnny makes a post on the forum.  He is new to water cooling for his desktop PC.  He doesn't understand much about the parts including their quality and assembly.  Seeing as how he already owns a garden hose, he just instead cuts up the hose, uses a lot of elastic bands already in his possession, and rigs up a water cooling loop.  Upon reading the post, both Linus and Slick do a facepalm.

 

-- End Scenario

 

In the above scenario, it is my assumption that both Linus and Slick would think this is a terrible water-cooling solution.  According to existing videos, both Linus and Slick would demand only the highest quality parts and solution for water-cooling in a gaming rig.  Here is another scenario:

 

-- Begin Scenario #2

 

Billy has a spare, old 15" monitor lying around.  He also heard of something called an Intel NUC.  Since Billy already has some old SO-DIMMS, he decieds to spend roughly $400-$500 on a NUC, small SSD, and battery pack.  Billy then proceeds to build his very own "Ghetto Laptop", whereby he double-sided velcros a NUC to the back of the monitor, and then uses half-a-roll of duct tape as a makeshift hinge for an old keyboard to the monitor.

 

-- End Scenario #2

 

The issue still exists; Billy is much better off buying a cheap ultrabook such as the latest Fujitsu Lifebook for around the same price.  He will have much better battery life, and each of the following areas including portability, connectivity, usability, and cost effectiveness is much improved over his "ghetto solution".  Once again, such a silly project would be laughed-off by both Linus and Slick, whereby Linus just looks downward, shakes his head, and mutters "no... just, no."

 

As a result, I believe the LMG's "Ghetto Shield" is a partial mix of humor and seriousness.  I do truly understand that the Ghetto Shield is supposed to be just for fun (shits and giggles), but I also feel that the general audience perceives that the nVidia Shield is a joke of a product due to the comparison that it is just a cell phone taped to a gamepad.  I would disagree.  I believe the overall usability and user experience warrants a non-condescending look.  

 

Splashtop ruthlessly eats through battery life, as was my experience when working remotely outdoors on a laptop connected to my work-PC.  Also, I believe (though have not verified) that nVidia's streaming solution has almost no lag, and certainly less lag than Splashtop.  Splashtop recently released support for nVidia GPUs, however, which is probably something similar to streaming for nVidia Shield.  At the end of the day, the responsiveness of the stream whether it's nVidia Shield or Splashtop will be much better for nVidia Kepler GPUs.  As a result, your "works for AMD, also" comment is a little weak.

 

With all that said, the Ghetto Shield is an inferior comparison.  I am not an adamant defender of Shield (no pun intended).  If/When you get a review unit, and the user experience of the nVidia Shield is terrible, if it crashes, drops streams, or is in fact laggy, then by all means give it the bad review it deserves.  If after playing with the device you feel that the $300 price tag is unjustified, then go ahead, give it bad marks.

 

If you want to make cool mods such as Logan's retina display arm, then I would like that very much since there are no claims that it is a near-equivalent replacement to something else.  My ending remark is that the "Ghetto Shield" is something that I feel like is substandard and low-quality to what I view as a premium YouTube channel and online community, which is Linus Tech Tips.

 

You over-thought this.

[nightlitezzz]

Remember this is ONE person's opinion on it.

[Lays]

buying tl:dr version 50 dollars :O

[wkronbaek]

Well, still a cool idea to use a wireless remote and a tablet for gaing while in bed/couch IMO.

[target39]

buying tl:dr version 50 dollars :o

Ghetto NVIDIA Shield by LinusTechTips = EA (in his/her opinion).

[MdX MaxX]

Dude.

 

Linus said in the freaking video that this is NOT supposed to be a Shield replacement.  It's nothing more than a fun little experiment.

 

Obviously Ghetto Shield is not going to be nearly as practical as the actual Shield.  Hence the name Ghetto Shield.

[Matsy]

buying tl:dr version 50 dollars :o

 

The Ghetto shield comes across in a way which viewers might think that the real shield is useless because the ghetto shield can stream games AND DATS BAD!

 

50 dollars plz

 

Anyway OP, you could get the same form factor by simpily putting a hing in the metal that is attached the battry back so the holder folds down on top of the controller.

[target39]

I'm waiting for Slick's opinion on this. He's lurking....

[qwertywarrior]

its called ghetto for a reason you dumbo

 

argh

 

EDIT:

word edited because i have two warning points

one more and im shipped to Guantanamo

[AraSarkisyan]

Slick is reading this, cool. 

Dude, this is such bull. Linus said it was so you can test if you would use a shield and for fun. Honestly. 

[Slick]

I skimmed this - sorry for not thoroughly reading it but i wanted to give this reply before I read any further

 

this is GHETTO shield

 

NOT, i repeat NOT a great replacement for shield

 

as stated in the video shield has MANY MAJOR advantages over this fun but cheesy project

 

a LOT more functionality

less cumbersome

MASSIVELY better batterylife

great build quality compared to random piece of metal strapped to plastic

etc etc etc

 

If you want the shield experiance BUY an NVIDIA SHIELD, I know I am planning on it!

 

this is just an awesome tinker project for people out there that like to make things - have fun with it

[Joshua]

 

To jump to the conclusion of this post, I disapprove of the "Ghetto Shield".

 

Now, onto my reasons.  I feel that this project makes a mockery of the new nVidia Shield.  There is plenty to write about, but I will try to keep this as brief as possible.

 

The nVidia Shield is a device that certainly looks like it is just a cell phone glued/taped to a gamepad.  But I believe it goes further than this for an overall positive user experience.  The following things are true for the real shield, and not-as-true for the ghetto shield:

 

- portability

- connectivity

- usability

- cost effectiveness

 

The ghetto shield is not as portable as the real shield.  The main reason here is because the ghetto shield cannot fold-up into a convenient, self-case form factor.

 

Depending on the phone used, the ghetto shield does not have a simple way to connect to a TV, which is used mostly for the native Android games.  Certainly some phones do have HDMI-out, but this is not always a guarantee.

 

The usability is a bit of a mixed-bag in this instance.  If the Android games are properly designed for gamepad use, then the real shield wins.  For the ghetto shield, there must be a compatibility layer/driver/connection to play the native Android games.  If the ghetto shield's gamepad is meant only to be connected to the PC for remote gaming, then indeed, the real shield wins.  However, if the ghetto shield has all features of the real shield, then they are on the same playing field.  Not much testing has ben performed on either device, so the final verdict here is unknown, but it appears that the real shield wins in terms of usability.  This is more true when you factor-in the ease of launching Steam games directly through UI.  The ghetto shield requires a previous connection through Splashtop, and using a "virtual mouse" with your finger on a high-ppi screen is not as usable.

 

The cost effectiveness is terrible for the ghetto.  The presumption is that a lot of the parts are already in possession.  If a phone must be bought, along with a wireless gamepad, dongle, Dremel tool, and spare metal parts, the cost is way higher for a ghetto shield over a real shield.

 

This last point launches into my real-world comparison why I feel that this whole Ghetto Shield idea is not up to the standards of Linus Media Group.  Let's take the following scenario:

 

-- Begin Scenario

 

Johnny makes a post on the forum.  He is new to water cooling for his desktop PC.  He doesn't understand much about the parts including their quality and assembly.  Seeing as how he already owns a garden hose, he just instead cuts up the hose, uses a lot of elastic bands already in his possession, and rigs up a water cooling loop.  Upon reading the post, both Linus and Slick do a facepalm.

 

-- End Scenario

 

In the above scenario, it is my assumption that both Linus and Slick would think this is a terrible water-cooling solution.  According to existing videos, both Linus and Slick would demand only the highest quality parts and solution for water-cooling in a gaming rig.  Here is another scenario:

 

-- Begin Scenario #2

 

Billy has a spare, old 15" monitor lying around.  He also heard of something called an Intel NUC.  Since Billy already has some old SO-DIMMS, he decieds to spend roughly $400-$500 on a NUC, small SSD, and battery pack.  Billy then proceeds to build his very own "Ghetto Laptop", whereby he double-sided velcros a NUC to the back of the monitor, and then uses half-a-roll of duct tape as a makeshift hinge for an old keyboard to the monitor.

 

-- End Scenario #2

 

The issue still exists; Billy is much better off buying a cheap ultrabook such as the latest Fujitsu Lifebook for around the same price.  He will have much better battery life, and each of the following areas including portability, connectivity, usability, and cost effectiveness is much improved over his "ghetto solution".  Once again, such a silly project would be laughed-off by both Linus and Slick, whereby Linus just looks downward, shakes his head, and mutters "no... just, no."

 

As a result, I believe the LMG's "Ghetto Shield" is a partial mix of humor and seriousness.  I do truly understand that the Ghetto Shield is supposed to be just for fun (shits and giggles), but I also feel that the general audience perceives that the nVidia Shield is a joke of a product due to the comparison that it is just a cell phone taped to a gamepad.  I would disagree.  I believe the overall usability and user experience warrants a non-condescending look.  

 

Splashtop ruthlessly eats through battery life, as was my experience when working remotely outdoors on a laptop connected to my work-PC.  Also, I believe (though have not verified) that nVidia's streaming solution has almost no lag, and certainly less lag than Splashtop.  Splashtop recently released support for nVidia GPUs, however, which is probably something similar to streaming for nVidia Shield.  At the end of the day, the responsiveness of the stream whether it's nVidia Shield or Splashtop will be much better for nVidia Kepler GPUs.  As a result, your "works for AMD, also" comment is a little weak.

 

With all that said, the Ghetto Shield is an inferior comparison.  I am not an adamant defender of Shield (no pun intended).  If/When you get a review unit, and the user experience of the nVidia Shield is terrible, if it crashes, drops streams, or is in fact laggy, then by all means give it the bad review it deserves.  If after playing with the device you feel that the $300 price tag is unjustified, then go ahead, give it bad marks.

 

If you want to make cool mods such as Logan's retina display arm, then I would like that very much since there are no claims that it is a near-equivalent replacement to something else.  My ending remark is that the "Ghetto Shield" is something that I feel like is substandard and low-quality to what I view as a premium YouTube channel and online community, which is Linus Tech Tips.

 

 

So do you work for Nvidia or..

[gauvinic]

Personally I thought it was a cool little mod. Not as "sophisticated" as The Wendell Way, (although he did end up using someone else's pcb design in the end), but still cool. Gives me a way to re-purpose my Xbox 360 controller that I bought but never used. Would love to see more videos like this, from both LMG and Tek Syndicate! They're inspiring me to do some case mods (recolor and texture front panel of 800D, system vitals display, etc.). Keep it up!

[Puppet]

I did it, was good fun too It actually got me using Splashtop which is a great app for other reasons.

 

I don't think this was ever meant to be a replacement for Shield, as long as you have capable hardware, it only costs a piece of metal.

 

You are looking too far into this.

[TechTheWorld]

About that part about you saying it costs too much. YES this is for people who already have a phone and an xbox controller. Thats why its a better solution than shelling out more cash.

[Xorbot]

Dude.

 

Linus said in the freaking video that this is NOT supposed to be a Shield replacement.  It's nothing more than a fun little experiment.

 

Obviously Ghetto Shield is not going to be nearly as practical as the actual Shield.  Hence the name Ghetto Shield.

 

I agree.

 

I also think the Ghetto Shield is obviously not as good as the original.  I make the assumption that everyone thinks this.  I am just suggesting that it's the overall experience of the nVidia Shield makes it much better than a Ghetto Shield, and the ghetto version makes a mockery of the new device by suggesting that the nVidia Shield is nothing more than a cellphone taped to a gamepad.

[tobben]

seems like you have misunderstood just about everything regarding this project .. there is a good reason they call it GHETTO shield 

and aside from that .. i think shield is cool, but i got a 7950 graphics card so the shield is useless to me, and im not going nvidia just for the shield.

The fact that the shield supposedly only works with nvidia cards is a pretty fudging big game breaker.

 

you don't need to put up the attitude of an underdog going super defensive claiming it's making a mockery of the real shield, you don't need that kinda attitude considering the shield isn't generally looked down upon or underestimated, you act as if you are fighting a lost battle, but it never started in the first place.

[Xorbot]

I did it, was good fun too It actually got me using Splashtop which is a great app for other reasons.

 

I don't think this was ever meant to be a replacement for Shield, as long as you have capable hardware, it only costs a piece of metal.

 

You are looking too far into this.

 

Indeed.  I wouldn't suggest that anyone stop making their own versions.  I believe in freedom.

 

I would also say that I didn't want to suggest that the Ghetto Shield was a replacement for the nVidia Shield.  I was suggesting that the video may lead people to believe that the nVidia Shield is nothing more than a cellphone taped to a gamepad.  I believe the overall experience of the real shield goes beyond that.  But of course, viewers are free to make up their own minds.

[Mcdoorknob]

It is in no meant to replace a shield. Obviously a DIY project won't beat a device that is purpose built with a large company manufacturing it. No offense but what you said about this is extreme over reacting and just dumb.

[thirdworldking]

theres a reason why it called a ghetto shield hahaha