Hi there,
sorry, that i can’t describe this post precise in the subject. My english is not the best around also .. 
I’m using Kodi for a long time now, and over the years, i used some client’s (RPI1, 2, an ION-PC, Notebook with WinXP/7, AFTV1, AFTV2, FireTV Stick 1. Gen, Intel NUC, …).
My actual problem is the following:
I used till some month ago the AFTV2 with sideloaded Kodi APK. After a Update of the AFTV, the passtrough of DTS-Sound was broken.
Then i switched to an unused Intel NUC (dn2820fykh) with Windows 10, where DTS-Sound worked. The integrated IR-Receiver works good, Bootime is okay. Now i ran into the issue, that one of my movies stuttered – i don’t know it to 100%, but i think, the GPU can’t decode the Stream on the hardwareside, because the CPU is 100% at playback. (If i play the movie on the AFTV2 – no stuttering, all ok, but .. only Stereo, no DD …)
This devices are some years old, and i think, it’s time for something new (maybe – for future – with the possibility to play 4K, and hardware-decoding of h265?). I use them via HDMI on a Denon HDMI-AV-Receiver and a 55″ Samsung 3D-TV with 1080p max.
I read the Newbie-Hardware-Guide and it seams, that the Nvidia Shield would be the best choice (powerful, versatile – i could replace the AFTV + Intel NUC, DD-pass-trough to my AV-Receiver, and i shouldn’t run into my above stuttering-problem..). I haven’t read much about it yet, maybe, you could give me some concrete Feedback to my questions?
1) Is there something other “powerful”, that i should check? I don’t want to build a little x386-PC because of the power consumption (aftv + nuc about 4-7 watt)
2) Can the Android on the Shield configured to auto-start Kodi on boot? (something i miss on the AFTV…)
3) I read, that i have to use SPMC on the Shield – because its a fork, how much time it takes after a new Kodi-Update till the SPMC-Update? I don’t want to wait weeks or so for a new version of Kodi.
Thanks for your help! 