I got my Nexus 7 tablet two weeks ago. I got the 8GB version. When I ordered it, the 16GB unit wasn’t available. The day I got the email saying my new tablet had shipped, I got another email saying the 16GB unit was available. The Nexus 7 does not have a cellular modem. It gets all of the data wirelessly over 802.11N WiFi. I was able to connect it through my cell phone’s mobile hotspot feature without difficulty, so I use that when I can’t find a free WiFi hotspot. I have almost ceased checking email on my computer at home. I have the tablet right there. It’s also become my principle reading source. I have subscribed to a couple of magazines, and there are lots of books available on the Google Play store but you can also download the BN Nook app or the Amazon Kindle app and both work pretty well. I’ve used the device to rediscover old classics that are free to read. I’m about two thirds the way through Tom Sawyer right now.
While I read the email on the tablet, for anything more involved than a simple one or two sentence reply, I still really need a computer, but ymmv. This is our second Android tablet, our first being a Toshiba Thrive 10.1in unit. That being the case, we may buy one of those small bluetooth keyboards, but I haven’t decided that yet. And besides, we still have two desktops and two laptops in the house, so we’re not lacking for keyboard time.
Watching Netflix movies works very well as does Hulu+. I love the interface changes in the new OS. Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and its immediate successor, 4.1 (Jellybean) are smooth, slick, and intuitive. The Thrive just got 4.0 on an over-the-air update, replacing 3.1, and nary a hitch occurred. The Thrive is my wife’s tablet. Neither of these devices are replacements for full size computers, but one could easily have a tablet and a desktop with all the bells and whistles (a person like me, IOW) and not miss having a laptop. Everything for which I need portability I have a tablet, and everything for which I need power I have a desktop. Again, ymmv, and this really only applies to my personal life right now. A laptop is invaluable for my work.
As a note to all of this, I use Google Drive and Boxcryptor for my cloud storage. If you have any cloud storage at all, you should be encrypting it on your side, before you store the documents/data on the cloud, and that is what Boxcryptor does. Also, too, open thread.
raven
Have you tried the NBC Olympic app?
Anya
Whar’s up with George Michael’s gigantic mustache? Also, too, his voice is not what it used to be.
BGinCHI
“He gets high on you, and the space he invades…”
Arguably Rush’s best song.
Wait, no, The Spirit of Radio.
Argument about Canadian Rock starts…..now.
Anya
@raven: I am watching the live streem from the bbc.
raven
@Anya: On a Google Nexus 7?
Soonergrunt
@raven: I used it to watch the olympics at work. It was very handy.
@BGinCHI: It’s also perfectly synchronized to the universe according to a Chuck episode.
raven
@Soonergrunt: Great!
WereBear
Because I blog and write books, the Chromebook is my goto portable device.
To get a laptop with such lightness and battery life (six hours) I’d have to pay four times as much.
But I don’t know anyone who isn’t in love with their tablet once they get one.
Anya
Imagine is soooo timeless. Loved how Lennon’s style in that old clip still looked so hip and contemporary.
mechwarrior online
I’ve got an ASUS Transformer PRIME and I love it. I has a keyboard dock that’s much better than any other tablets because it was made with that in mind, it adds on another 6 hours of battery life, USB port, and another memory card slot, tablet will spit out video via HDMI as well.
The lines are going to get blurred real soon though. ASUS was teasing a transformer that used Android or Windows 8 in tablet form and Windows 8 in laptop form. The guts can be a tad beefier, not that the transformer is bad (it’s faster than any other tablet out there and will be till the new ARM tech moves along, the krait CPUs are going to be where it’s at) but it can also run off x86.
If MS and Adobe get off their ass and publish full office and photoshop suites for ARM a combined tablet laptop would really work with OS switching… granted they’d still be held back as ARM isn’t as up to the task as x86, but it would be good enough for most people. Let’s face it, office apps, facebook, basic video, and internet browsing aren’t really that demanding.
Mike in NC
We pretty much have no use for the laptop we got three years ago now that we got an iPad3 in June. Probably a candidate for eBay.
Yutsano
Posted this in a dead thread: The Invasion of the Owlets!!
Anya
@raven: IP proxy
BryanS
From what I have seen, the Kindle app chops lines off at the bottom of some pages. You may notice a sentence doesn’t seem to pick up correctly and then if you resize the font, the end of page changes and remaining sentence fragment is there.
I like mine well enough. I wasn’t gooding to pay $400 for an Ipad and I can stick this in a cargo short pocket. I keep a couple of exercise books on it and use it to review them without shlubbing a book around. I can also use the timer when I need to and play songs while going through the routine
Corner Stone
@Soonergrunt:
Big Gubmint Moocher!
Trentrunner
Soonergrunt: How/why did you choose Boxcryptor over other encryption apps?
Anya
wow this is like a concert. Amazing show.
jeffreyw
I’m on my Transformer Prime now, sans the dock/keyboard at present. It’s great for reading – I use the Kindle app and it works well. I may get the 7″ tablet just for the portability.
Anya
I am trying not to do spoilers but Gallagher brothers are major duchebags. THey couldn’t get over their stupid feud for this once and participate in this once in a life time event. What fuckwits. Also, too, I LOVE MONTY PYTHON!!!!!!!!!
JenJen
I absolutely love my Nexus. (I also have the 8 gb version.) Ever since the Olympics started, I’ve had the NBC Olympics app streaming on it and I just can’t get over how gorgeous the display is. Best of all? I took it to work on Thursday and didn’t miss a second of USA women’s soccer gold medal game.
This is my first tablet and first Android device (I have a Windows phone I’m not wild about). Without question, the Nexus is the coolest, and also most useful, gadget I have ever bought. I haven’t turned on my laptop for a month, in fact. I’d be typing this post on my Nexus if it weren’t charging after yet another long day of use. :-)
Soonergrunt
@Trentrunner: It was the highest rated app on several of the techie sites I frequent, and it uses AES 256-bit encryption.
Yutsano
@JenJen: Dammit. The therapist told me I should buy a new bed. And October is a three paycheck month right after my next raise kicks in. Damn you vile temptress! But you do haz cute puppeh, so that makes up for it. :)
WaterGirl
@Yutsano: Step away from the toys, Yutsano. Buy the bed. You’ll be glad you did. Plenty of time for toys later.
I say this as someone who has a lot of electronic toys but also as someone with back problems after a run-in with a semi many years ago. Buy the bed.
But if you’re like me, just trying the different beds will make your back ache, so don’t try too many in the same day. :-)
JenJen
@Yutsano: Gotta love those three-paycheck months. Treat yourself!! :)
Brachiator
@Soonergrunt: Thanks for the update on the Nexus 7.
Do you find reading as comfortable on the smaller tablet as on the larger one you own?
Also, do you read magazines or comics on the device? Any issues with scrolling or zooming?
A friend has the 16 gig model and loves it.
I find it a bit odd that the google tablet does not have a rear camera, which I think would be more fun to use than one a larger tablet or the current iPad. I will be curious to see if Amazon comes out with new tablets soon or if Apple comes out with a smaller iPad. Otherwise, the Nexus 7 is looking really good, especially if Amazon ever releases an Amzon Instant Video app for Android.
Oh yeah, Bluetooth keyboards are cool, but this comment was done on an iPad with the onscreen keyboard.
john deVille
@soonergrunt
don’t waste your money on a keyboard for anything smaller than a ten inch..the one i have for my galaxy 8.9 is no better than typing on screen and w/?o predictive text it’s slower
Walker
My wife got one and iPad3 for some research she is doing.
She promptly stopped using the Nexus 7 after few days. The touch screen was too brittle for heavy use. It flexes on one side, to the point where it “squicks”. A review of forums suggests that she was not alone in this regard. She now handles it with kid gloves.
Graphics card is also as slow as the reviews said it would be. But hey, it was cheap.
PeterJ
@Walker:
Seen reviews of both of them where the new ipad is deemed a lot less durable than the nexus 7, especially if you drop them, the ipad had its screen crack rather easily.
Soonergrunt
@Brachiator: I have no problems reading on the device. In portrait mode, it’s crisp and clean, and in landscape, I have to have the text too big to view two whole pages at once. I read a couple of magazines and I have the Comixology app, but I haven’t tried it out yet.
@john deVille: Thanks for the advice. We might get it for the older one though, and if we do, we’ll go ahead and join it to the Nexus just cause we can.
@Walker: I haven’t noticed any problems yet, but I’m sure they’ll show up. I broke my personal rule of “never purchase version 1.x of anything, always wait until 2.x drops” just because our experience with the Toshiba tablet was so positive.
castellan
Still love my original iPad and my wife loves her iPad 2. I’ll probably spring for the next iPad when it comes out. I do wish these things allowed me to do database administration more easily, but my MacBook Pro is great for that. Also too, no Dwarf Fortress on tablets, so gotta have the MBP for some fun :-)
castellan
Still love my original iPad and my wife loves her iPad 2. I’ll probably spring for the next iPad when it comes out. I do wish these things allowed me to do database administration more easily, but my MacBook Pro is great for that. Also too, no Dwarf Fortress on tablets, so gotta have the MBP for some fun :-)
castellan
Still love my original iPad and my wife loves her iPad 2. I’ll probably spring for the next iPad when it comes out. I do wish these things allowed me to do database administration more easily, but my MacBook Pro is great for that. Also too, no Dwarf Fortress on tablets, so gotta have the MBP for some fun :-)
castellan
Still love my original iPad and my wife loves her iPad 2. I’ll probably spring for the next iPad when it comes out. I do wish these things allowed me to do database administration more easily, but my MacBook Pro is great for that. Also too, no Dwarf Fortress on tablets, so gotta have the MBP for some fun :-)
castellan
Still love my original iPad and my wife loves her iPad 2. I’ll probably spring for the next iPad when it comes out. I do wish these things allowed me to do database administration more easily, but my MacBook Pro is great for that. Also too, no Dwarf Fortress on tablets, so gotta have the MBP for some fun :-)
the other Max
I’m finding that the voice dictation works pretty well On my Nexus 7 for text entry of any length. I do have to clean it up a bit, but it sure beats typing. I thought I would be going back to using my 10″ Xoom tablet in the house, but I find myself using the nexus 7 unless the battery is getting low.
BTW, liking the rooCase on this feller. Opening the case to turn the device on is nice.
castellan
WordPress is sick. I clicked the “submit comment” button once and walked away. Folks who are submitting comments multiple times may not be clicking more than once. Something is very wrong.
KSH
I got the 16GB version, and have loved it from the minute it arrived. JB is slick, and battery life is fantastic!! Can’t wait for this fall’s Nexus phone!