Delivery was quick, 2 business days. The unit was nicely packaged with an Apple like classiness to it. Even the same cool clear plastic wrap on the unit itself.
I turned it on and bumbled and fumbled my way around but began to figure out the Android way of things. Here are my pro and cons on day one.
Likes:
Really like the size. 7 Inches is very easy to hold. I would definitely like to see a 7 inch iPad.
The screen is very good. Equal to the ipad 2 at least but things are smaller and can be a bit harder to read.
Flexible layout - you can drag anything around and also intermingle your app icons. Nice use of widgets. See the shot above.
GMail integration - Since it's a Google device it's not surprising that all your Google related info shows up automatically.
Voice recognition and Google now- A VERY cool feature is Google Now. You don't just talk to it like Siri, it actually keeps track of where you are and tells you things like traffic conditions etc. This video does a nice job of explaining.
One thing that isn't mentioned is that since this is a Wifi only device, unless your at home or Starbucks Google isn't going to know where you are at all. Oh well!?
Android file transfer - There is a nice little application that you load on the mac, plug in your Nexus and it shows the file system so it's a cinch to to copy your pictures, music files etc. to the Nexus.
Android Music Manager - Let's you upload as many as 20,000 songs to the cloud and then access them from any device.
10 tips for the nexus 7 owner
Good article with some nice tips.
10 tips for the nexus 7 owner
Good article with some nice tips.
Unlikes/Cons -
App issues! Though the advertising builds a comfort level by stating over 600,000 apps, there is a noticeable absence of many of my favorites. Several apps crashed on launching, including Sugar Mobile. This could be because of the new highly touted Jelly Bean Android 4.1 operating system. Still it's not a comfort to an ipad user where things rarely crash. In some cases text was overlapping other text. In CNBC real time some of the features were absent, like market futures.
No built in screen rotation- Amazing! But good news there's an app for that. It's $3.00 and it's called Ultimate rotation control.
Bottom line: After almost a day, the jury is still out. I'll be looking for some app updates in the next couple of weeks so I can use my must have apps. If that doesn't improve it could find it's way to eBay. Of course any announcement of a 7 inch iPad could mean an end to the Nexus 7.
I have had my iPad 2 since it came out, and while I love it, I also wanted a smaller tablet that was easier to take with me. A coworker at Dish recently won a Google Nexus 7 in a contest and I figured I’d take a look at it. I recently got it and it is great for what it is. I normally watch a lot of movies and TV on my phone and iPad, but the Nexus 7 was great for it. I stream my live TV from my DVR connected to a Sling Adapter straight to my device using the Dish Remote Access app and it’s a pretty good picture to watch. I will probably continue to use my iPad for streaming football games, but everything else will go straight to the Nexus 7!
ReplyDeleteNexus 7 is my first tablet computer and I'm quite pleased with it. I'd never had an Android device until a few days before when I had to replace my cell phone. I got an HTC Vivid which runs Android 4.0, so the learning curve for the Nexus when it arrived was greatly reduced.
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm back into music I keep thinking how much easier it would be to use a tablet to read music at the organ bench instead of hauling my music books around. Unfortunately the display of the 7" is too small for that so if and when a 10" Nexus appears I'm on top of that!
Thank you for the Ultimate Rotation Control app - works like a charm!
One thing I really like about the Nexus is the Google Drive app. Five free gigs of free storage space that's available from any of my devices is working out nicely.
Another good feature is the Music Player: you upload your music files (up to 20,000 songs)to the cloud and they're playable from any of my devices. This is going to work very well in my composition classes! And it's free!
Again - thanks for your review.
Fester - a.k.a. Richard H (formerly of Cambridge)
Here's an update. So after a month or so with nexus, I like it. But as we now hear rumors of the 7" iPad on the near horizon, I have to say I'm not sure what I would do. Because I'm an Apple addict I might just run out and buy an iPad mini on day one. But! I have to say that typing and reading on the 10" iPad is much easier.
ReplyDeleteIf you have to be mobile, the nexus is ok, but when you are laying on the couch, you will pick up the iPad.