[bruceg]

Hello-

I am brand new to this and don't even own a box yet. I am hoping someone can give me a quick jump start on what I can expect to get out of a Kodi system.  I don't even know what to buy nor do I know what the availability of content is - what is free and what is subscription-based. I currently have cable and trying to determine if this will really wind up being a good solid choice.  My interests are news, sports, and movies - I'm based in the US.

I've been looking at the Nvidia Shield but really don't know why I should or shouldn't get it.

Thank you in advance.

[Karellen]

You don't need to buy anything.

Kodi is distributed freely. If you have a computer at home (obviously you do as you are accessing the internet) then just download it and install on your computer. Do that now... https://kodi.tv/download

Play with it. See how it works and what it is capable of. Read our wiki... http://kodi.wiki/

[Tinwarble]

No one can give you a recommendation for any device without at least knowing what you want out of Kodi. But you can start by reading the "Start here" thread: https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916

Keep in mind Kodi is just a media player, it is not a replacement for cable. Though there is a lot of content that you can get for free using Kodi, there is also a lot of piracy and we don't support any Banned add-ons (wiki). If you don't know the difference, just use common sense, if you normal would have to pay for something and you can get it for free, it's pirated. For some of what you can get, freely or via paid subscription, look through the Kodi Repository: https://kodi.tv/addons/browse?keyword=&c...=title+ASC

Also, check out the wiki for First time users (wiki) and for setting Kodi up the Quick start guide (wiki). As @Karellen stated, you don't need to buy a device to try Kodi, just install it on a PC, or even an Android device (install it directly from the Play Store), and try it out.

EDIT: If you are interest in the Shield TV, check out the thread here: https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=304226