The folks over at iFixt have finished breaking down the Shield's defenses, and took a good look around the inside. While the device didn't score as well as some other gaming systems, the Shield got points for modularity of design, with a button board that can be separately replaced if it suffers trauma from angry gaming sessions. The screen is replaceable, but iFixit warns a repair of this type would be extremely difficult.
The following chips were found lurking within —
- Nvidia Tegra 4 Quad Core mobile processor
- Samsung KLMAG2GE2A eMMC
- AzureWave AW-AH691 wireless module
- SK Hynix H5TC4G63AFR 512 MB DDR3 SDRAM (4 ICs for 2 GB total RAM)
- InvenSense MPU-6050 6-axis gyroscope and accelerometer
- Realtek AL5639 audio microcontroller for mad beats
Also found hiding in a few nooks and crannies were three Sanyo batteries, responsible for the Shield's performance in the battery life department. They were three-cell, 3.7 V, 7350 mAh that were found to be only moderately difficult to replace.
The take away message? "Don't use the Shield as a shield, or go throwing it around a concrete-floored room." Good advice indeed.
Source: iFixit
