This is a quick guide on how to open up the NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet (2014).
Every time a Nexus 7 tablet came out, I bought one. The 2012 Nexus was so cheap and the specs were such that I couldn't resist; the 2013 Nexus 7 even more so. I really came to rely on my 2013 LTE Model as a small, quick and convienient on the go device and really came to rely on it. However, there was one fatal flaw with mine which turns out it looks like the touch screen grounding issue which causes the screen to become very unresponsive to touch. Occasionally I have to press very hard, to the point that I think I'm going to break the thing for it to register a touch. I've almost flung the thing across the room or barely contained the urge to smash it on the ground a couple of times.
Because of this, I've been on the lookout for a replacement device for some time, mostly waiting in eager announcement of the 2014 Nexus 7 -- which never came. When the NVIDIA SHIELD tablet was announced, the LTE model sounded nearly like it was almost the perfect replacement except for one thing...no Qi flavored inductive charging. With my Nexus 5 and 7, I really came to view inductive charging as a necessity. One thing that seems to wear out on my devices sooner than anything else, is the USB port. Wireless charging eliminated the need to constantly plug and unplug the USB port, and really extended the life of the physical port.
So I waited eagerly for the overlords at Google to announce the new Nexus line for a few months. After that letdown, I ordered a NVIDIA SHIELD tablet.
My paper impressions were that the NVIDIA SHIELD was almost the perfect tablet: good sized full HD screen, builtin stylus (which I missed from my stint with the oriinal Samsung Galaxy Note), microSD slot, good amount of memory and storage space, good sound, physical power and sound buttons, two cameras, decent battery life and a very speedy processor. NVIDIA also seemed to have a pretty good reputation for not packaging bloatware and keeping the Android OS stripped down, and providing timely and constant system updates. The only thing it was missing was inductive charging and a couple of physical buttons for the home, and back keys. Yes, the onscreen versions suck!
I hoped that I might be able to hack in my own inductive charging coil in the SHIELD. So I ordered one.
I recieved my sheild on the 28th of October. Overall, my impressions were very good. The device seemed a little thick, especially with the SHIELD cover on it, and maybe a few grams too heavy. However, it's a good size, looks great and the build quailty seems very good. It just may be a bit too large to shove in a few of the pockets that I was jamming my Nexus 7 into.
The other good part, was that there is a nice seam along the back edge of the tablet, so it looked like it might be pretty easy to open.