Advice on Nexus 7

[Incorruptible]

I am looking at getting a Nexus 7. I will be using it for web browsing and youtube along with a lot of reading for e-books. I will be using it in the house and take it outside mostly for flights.

I have read many reviews on the Nexus 7 and it gets high ratings. I can't find much negative information about the Nexus 7.

Does anyone have a nexus 7 and offer their thoughts on it? Would it work good as an e-reader?

 

[AustinInDallas]

My fiance bought one and loved it. I then bought her a laptop for school and she never used it so I inherited it.

So far I love it. used it on a few flights and has great battery life. Dont do much reading on it, but the screen should be fine for that. I read At on it if it counts?

 

[Bateluer]

The Nexus 7 is pretty much the best 7in tablet there is. Right now.

You may want to hold off on your purchase until Google IO though. It'll probably be getting a refresh there.

 

[jidery]

If you plan on using it for flights, I would get a 10 inch. 7 inch tablets are notorious for weak battery life, which may be a problem on a plane.

 

[Bateluer]

If you plan on using it for flights, I would get a 10 inch. 7 inch tablets are notorious for weak battery life, which may be a problem on a plane.

You could always get one of those 10K-15K mah external battery packs, but I don't think he'll have a problem with N7 battery life on domestic flights.

 

[jidery]

You could always get one of those 10K-15K mah external battery packs, but I don't think he'll have a problem with N7 battery life on domestic flights.

Heck yeah, that is a great option! In all honesty, the N7 is probably the best 7 incher out there. As I stated, so long as your fine with the battery life, or just buy an external power pack, you will love this tablet.

 

[Evadman]

I have an N7 and I use it on cross country flights all the time. Never had a battery issue.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I had multiple Nexus 7s... I'll start with the bad.

The speaker is weak and might be one of the worst speakers found in a tablet.

The screen colors are a bit washed out, particularly green and yellow if memory serves me correctly. Though if you aren't comparing it side by side with another tablet you possibly may not notice this.

After playing a video the screen will look oversaturated. This has something to do with the Nvidia Tegra Prism thing. Not sure if it was ever corrected, but there is a tweak for rooted tablets to disable the power saving feature that causes this problem. Otherwise the effect usually goes away after a few seconds by itself.

Early batches of the Nexus 7 had loose glass on the left side. I assume by now ASUS isn't having this problem with manufacturing.


Now on to the good. If you are looking at this as a e-reader, this is probably the most perfect tablet for that.

The Nexus 7 has narrow bezels in portrait mode that makes this take the most comfortable by far to hold while reading books, comics, manga, and such.

The soft touch back feels really nice to hold and doesn't leave fingerprints.

Tegra 3 is still a pretty nice processor compared to other popular 7 inch tablets (like the Kindle and Nook tablet using OMAP 4s). Runs games pretty well.

Overall for the price it's a freaking awesome tablet and the issues I list are mostly minor (though the speaker quality was a real downer for me).

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

N7 is great. I watched like 4-5 episodes of Homeland no problem. Domestic flights aren't even that long. Heck it served me just fine on my international flights. There's enough other stuff to do on those flights like watching a movie that my N7 wasn't even out that long.

 

[Fardringle]

When used only for reading and other 'light duty' use I can easily get 8-9 hours of screen time out of a charge on my Nexus 7. If I use it for watching locally stored movies, I still get over 7 hours. Netflix (heavy wireless usage) and games that really stress the GPU sometimes drop it down closer to 5-5.5 hours, but that's still more than enough for a domestic flight. The relatively quiet speaker (which isn't bad, but isn't loud like some other devices) that Rayvinmagi mentioned doesn't even bother me since any time I use sound I do it with headphones.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

i woodunt git one now. youd be getting it like three weeks before the refresh, which will have a much superior qualcom chip, bug/design fixes, a new os and will be available with lte. getting it now would be like building a core 2 desktop, itll work ok but youll envy everyone with the new version

i think the current one is clocked at 1 ghz, the new one will be like 1.4-1.7, big difference

 

[mrrman]

If you plan on using it for flights, I would get a 10 inch. 7 inch tablets are notorious for weak battery life, which may be a problem on a plane.

Use mine all the time on flights up to 6 hours. No problems with movies, music and long battery life.

 

[Ashenor]

Check Craigslist in your area, i bought a literally brand new one for $150 about 3 weeks ago and love it. Guy wanted 180, just have to negotiate some. I will upgrade to the new N7 when it comes out.

 

[dagamer34]

Unless you get one for super cheap (under $150), wait until Google I/O. Actually, even if you are dead set on getting a Nexus 7 instead of it's likely successor, still wait until Google I/O for a likely price drop.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Two things.

1. Don't drop it, at all. Got 3 of these for the kids for Xmas and 2 broke within a couple of months. I bumped one from the seat in my car to the floorboard and it quit working.

2. I started a thread about them awhile back that may help you get started on it.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2288669&highlight=nexus

 

[Incorruptible]

i woodunt git one now. youd be getting it like three weeks before the refresh, which will have a much superior qualcom chip, bug/design fixes, a new os and will be available with lte. getting it now would be like building a core 2 desktop, itll work ok but youll envy everyone with the new version

i think the current one is clocked at 1 ghz, the new one will be like 1.4-1.7, big difference

Thanks everyone. I really wanted to get the Nexus 7 now but I will wait then. Will the new one still have the same price?

 

[Red Storm]

Thanks everyone. I really wanted to get the Nexus 7 now but I will wait then. Will the new one still have the same price?

Even if it doesn't, it will affect the current generation's price, so it's worth the short wait.

 

[OSULugan]

Who does the warranty work and service for it? Google or ASUS?

I have a TF101 transformer tablet that had problems within 3 months of buying it (wouldn't re-charge). I had to pay shipping to their facility, and jump through quite a number of hoops to get it fixed. Fast forward 6 months and the dock isn't charging. They are claiming that the dock is out of warranty based on the serial number, and making me jump through hoops to prove it is within warranty. Otherwise, the repair is almost as expensive as the part itself (and $65 of the repair is "labor").

I stay away from ASUS support.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Who does the warranty work and service for it? Google or ASUS?

I have a TF101 transformer tablet that had problems within 3 months of buying it (wouldn't re-charge). I had to pay shipping to their facility, and jump through quite a number of hoops to get it fixed. Fast forward 6 months and the dock isn't charging. They are claiming that the dock is out of warranty based on the serial number, and making me jump through hoops to prove it is within warranty. Otherwise, the repair is almost as expensive as the part itself (and $65 of the repair is "labor").

I stay away from ASUS support.

Those that bought it directly from Google Play were able to do our RMAs with Google. Which was fortunate because Google does cross shipping and 2 day air, so you can get a replacement in usually 3 days from reporting the problem. If you buy it anywhere else, you'll have to deal with ASUS and I hear that takes weeks.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Who does the warranty work and service for it? Google or ASUS?

I have a TF101 transformer tablet that had problems within 3 months of buying it (wouldn't re-charge). I had to pay shipping to their facility, and jump through quite a number of hoops to get it fixed. Fast forward 6 months and the dock isn't charging. They are claiming that the dock is out of warranty based on the serial number, and making me jump through hoops to prove it is within warranty. Otherwise, the repair is almost as expensive as the part itself (and $65 of the repair is "labor").

I stay away from ASUS support.

i say stay away from asus period, they make buggy crap albeit with lots of features. quality wise, they are on the same level as acer, or worse

 

[sep]

I had multiple Nexus 7s... I'll start with the bad.

The speaker is weak and might be one of the worst speakers found in a tablet.

The screen colors are a bit washed out, particularly green and yellow if memory serves me correctly. Though if you aren't comparing it side by side with another tablet you possibly may not notice this.

After playing a video the screen will look oversaturated. This has something to do with the Nvidia Tegra Prism thing. Not sure if it was ever corrected, but there is a tweak for rooted tablets to disable the power saving feature that causes this problem. Otherwise the effect usually goes away after a few seconds by itself.

Early batches of the Nexus 7 had loose glass on the left side. I assume by now ASUS isn't having this problem with manufacturing.


Now on to the good. If you are looking at this as a e-reader, this is probably the most perfect tablet for that.

The Nexus 7 has narrow bezels in portrait mode that makes this take the most comfortable by far to hold while reading books, comics, manga, and such.

The soft touch back feels really nice to hold and doesn't leave fingerprints.

Tegra 3 is still a pretty nice processor compared to other popular 7 inch tablets (like the Kindle and Nook tablet using OMAP 4s). Runs games pretty well.

Overall for the price it's a freaking awesome tablet and the issues I list are mostly minor (though the speaker quality was a real downer for me).

As a N7-16GB Owner since day 24 when released, I AGREE 100%.

I now want a 10inch tablet ; )

 

[bigrash]

I love my Nexus 7. Use it all the time. I use it for my daily commute and used it during long flights.

 

[Incorruptible]

I will wait until July then for the new one. Is there any word on an official release date?