The AnandTech Podcast: Episode 24

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• dylan522p - Saturday, August 3, 2013 - link

  Yup that would be him.

• Someguyperson - Saturday, August 3, 2013 - link

  I know you guys went really, really long, but I was looking forward to a discussion about the Nvidia Shield. I am still undecided whether to get a Shield or a new Nexus 7 and I was hoping Brian's level of enthusiasm would help with that.

• xTRICKYxx - Sunday, August 4, 2013 - link

  I am in the same boat. I was surprised at how many reviewers love the Shield. The Nexus 7 is a great device too.
  
  I think I'm leaning towards the Nexus 7.
  
  I looked at iFixit's tear down of the Shield and they noted how uniquely complicated it is. The nexus 7 just seems more polished.
  
  The next version of NVIDIA's shield will include an implementation of Kepler which should provide better performance while the Shield gets a nice makeover.
  
  There still is no good way to use the touch screen and I want a good gaming and tablet experience into one form factor.

• Krysto - Monday, August 5, 2013 - link

  I hope Nvidia continues with Shield 2.0 and mobile Kepler next year. But they need to drop that price somehow, at least to $250, although $200 would really be the sweet spot, but not sure if that's doable.
  
  But if they could be even slightly profitable on $200, they should do it, because they would sell a lot of them and it would be very good marketing for them. They can start getting profitable with next-generations, by maintaining some of the specs the same (with lower cost every year).
  
  For example they can keep the 720p screen for next year. The resolution is fine on such a small screen. They could even make the screen a bit bigger. Plus, you WANT a lower (but not too low) resolution on a gaming device. At 1080p the FPS would be cut in half, and would make the device cost more, and also reduce battery life. Just use a higher quality IPS panel perhaps, but keep the resolution.

• lilmoe - Saturday, August 3, 2013 - link

  Interesting. Just got a stability update on my SGS4 (i9500) yesterday, and my Antutu score dropped to 24000. Seems like Samsung removed that "booster".

• Mondozai - Sunday, August 4, 2013 - link

  "Interesting. Just got a stability update on my SGS4 (i9500) yesterday, and my Antutu score dropped to 24000. Seems like Samsung removed that booster."
  
  Interesting indeed.

• lilmoe - Sunday, August 4, 2013 - link

  Actually, what's more interesting is while the score dropped, the device now feels much smoother and snappier than before. The battery lasts longer too.

• jiffylube1024 - Sunday, August 4, 2013 - link

  Love the podcasts. I've listened to all 23 so far! Keep em up - I love the depth you guys go into.

• thestryker - Sunday, August 4, 2013 - link

  Greatly enjoyed the podcast, and when I grabbed it I didn't even realize what a long one I was in store for to say the least. Looking forward to hearing you guys discuss the Shield and the place you think it may (or may not) have in the market.
  
  A question I've been wondering about for a while after listening to the podcasts regarding your general acceptance for 7-8" android/ios tablets and decrying the 10-11" android/ios tablets. I want to say that personally I wish my tablet had a lot better usage situation where it actually could replace a laptop (maybe surface pro v2), however at the same time with 5" smartphones is doubling screen area (7" tablet) enough to make you reach for your tablet instead of just using your smartphone?
  
  For myself it wasn't until hitting the 10" mark that it became worthwhile, but I don't need a laptop for anything productivity related so the downsides of an android/ios tablet don't effect me right now. I use mine primarily for web, video and comics so the 10" size does make a direct impact on what I'm doing.

• Zink - Monday, August 5, 2013 - link

  I agree, with the 5" size becoming standard for flagship smartphones and 5.5" - 6.5" screens on large smartphones a 7" tablet doesn't provide much benefit. I also prefer 4:3 at 10" (Retina iPad and HP Touchpad) to widescreen tablets for reading PDFs and web browsing which is about all I use my tablet for.
  For Windows 8 tablets I can see 10"-12" 16:9 making some sense because of the way apps run full screen with no button or menu bars at the top or bottom. Widescreen in this case allows for multitasking in landscape but the aspect ratio and size almost completely wreck portrait use.