NVIDIA SHIELD teardown shows clean, but complicated assembly
Our review of the NVIDIA SHIELD popped up yesterday, and we discussed a ton of things. One thing we didn’t get to discuss, however, was how easy the thing could be repaired. Quite frankly, we’re just not ballsy or insane enough to try and pry any of these devices open on our own. That’s why we’re thankful for folks like iFixIt, who are glad to do the dirty work of taking devices apart and putting them back together.
Beneath the SHIELD is no surprise — a bunch of circuitry and silicon keeps its gears rolling. The assembly beneath the chassis is interesting, though, as it’s quite complicated. It’s clean, but complicated. The trickiest part about the whole thing is the display, apparently, which was enough to push iFixIt’s repairability score down to 6/10 (with 10 being the easiest to repair).
Other than that, the SHIELD gained positive marks for being quite modular in design, which should make for cheaper repair. If you want to see the full walkthrough of the teardown process, be sure to head over to iFixIt’s website. Remember — doing something like this will void your warranty, and should only be attempted by someone who knows their way around a motherboard or two. I’d say keep the thing shut and let NVIDIA handle any repairs you might have to facilitate in the future, but if you prefer the DIY route then you’ve been amply warned.