checking out the new Nexus 7

[Binarycow]

was at Best Buy this morning and they had a demo unit on display and I was thoroughy impressed by it after checking it inside-out. It was a 16 GB version (with a bit over 11 GB free space).

I thought from looking at the pix online how ugly it looked because of the thick bezel at the top and bottom but, in person, they are pretty ok on the eye. If anything, it makes the tablet more endearing-looking because of its elongated shape. They even had a mini-iPad on display next to it and it's definitely a tossup in my case.

The screen is pretty amazing to me (coming from someone who owns an Ipad 3) but what really impresses me is how smooth this thing is. IT IS BUTTER-SMOOTH!. As smooth as my other iPad, an iPad 2. Phonearena and engadget web sites loaded as fast as any device that I have seen.

Overall, it's pretty easy on the eye and very nice to hold. High build quality, definitely.

I would have picked it up if I hadnt already owned too many portable devices and invested too heavily on iOS eco.

Google-Asus definitely have a winner on their hand.

 

[Mopetar]

They even had a mini-iPad on display next to it and it's definitely a tossup in my case.

Maybe once the iPad Mini gets updated and a retina display, but right now I can't think of much of a reason to prefer the mini over the new Nexus 7, unless you're heavily invested in the iOS ecosystem.

 

[QueBert]

Maybe once the iPad Mini gets updated and a retina display, but right now I can't think of much of a reason to prefer the mini over the new Nexus 7, unless you're heavily invested in the iOS ecosystem.

3rd party accessories, compatibility with head units in cars and other devices. And a not even close better selection of better app. If you need a 1080p screen, have a limited budget, or just generally hate Apple - those are really the only reasons I'd see why someone would get a Nexus 7.

Personally I'd take a Windows 7 PC with a 1024x768 monitor over XP with a 1920x1200 one, but hay that's just me



Edit:
I have no idea what happened to the chronological ordering of posts in this thread. I'll flag it as an issue and I'll report back with what the deal is when I know more details.
Moderator PM


Edit #2:
There's definitely an issue with the forum servers that they are looking into. Maybe one of the servers has the wrong time set. Anyway, it's in progress.


On a totally unrelated note, I'm locking this thread as a dupe of the other Nexus 7 thread. Which is something that I had intended to do until I got sidetracked over the chronological ordering thing.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2332242

Moderator PM

 

[Binarycow]

3rd party accessories, compatibility with head units in cars and other devices. And a not even close better selection of better app. If you need a 1080p screen, have a limited budget, or just generally hate Apple - those are really the only reasons I'd see why someone would get a Nexus 7.

Personally I'd take a Windows 7 PC with a 1024x768 monitor over XP with a 1920x1200 one, but hay that's just me

wow, timewarp, big time!

 

[Roland00Address]

3rd party accessories, compatibility with head units in cars and other devices. And a not even close better selection of better app. If you need a 1080p screen, have a limited budget, or just generally hate Apple - those are really the only reasons I'd see why someone would get a Nexus 7.

Personally I'd take a Windows 7 PC with a 1024x768 monitor over XP with a 1920x1200 one, but hay that's just me

Why did this need a new thread? You quoted a person in another thread and you started a new one? I am trying to understand why you did such a thing?

Edit: Nvm you had a different post originally, and then you edited your main post to quote someone that was a reply to your original post.

 

[openwheel]

this thread smells fishy.

Too much love fest going on at the official N7 FHD thread?

Let's face it the iPad mini is outclassed badly by the new Nexus at 2/3 the price.

 

[QueBert]

Why did this need a new thread? You quoted a person in another thread and you started a new one? I am trying to understand why you did such a thing?

Edit: Nvm you had a different post originally, and then you edited your main post to quote someone that was a reply to your original post.

Time warp, I wasn't the 1st to post it just appears I was.

 

[QueBert]

this thread smells fishy.

Too much love fest going on at the official N7 FHD thread?

Let's face it the iPad mini is outclassed badly by the new Nexus at 2/3 the price.

I like apps, Android tablet app selection sucks balls, maybe specs wise it outclasses it, but in the end specs only mean so much. I won't even get into how one's a full generation newer.

 

[swanysto]

I think you also have to take into account the price. $100 more for the 16gb, and $160 more for the 32gb. Those with lighter app needs might not see the mini as a better value. I know in my case, there is nothing in the appstore that I can't get on the play store. I could not see paying the extra money.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Android tablet app selection sucks balls

That doesn't matter for the N7. For 7 inch tablets you can just scale up phone apps (designed for 5 inch phones mind you) and it works fine.

True 10 inch Android apps are lacking yes, I would never buy another 10 inch Android tablet. But at 7 inches its hard to find things that won't work fine.

 

[thecapsaicinkid]

Changing apps for 7" tablets over their phone variant is mostly counter productive imo. The gains you get from making better use of the extra bit space are usually countered by things being just different which is confusing to the user. Take the last version of Maps for example, it was compleeeetly different on my Nexus 7 to my Nexus 4. Every time I opened it I would have to think for a moment where I needed to look for the section I wanted. This is much better now although it boggles my mind why the side bar button is in the lower left on tablet and upper left on phone.

 

[QueBert]

That doesn't matter for the N7. For 7 inch tablets you can just scale up phone apps (designed for 5 inch phones mind you) and it works fine.

True 10 inch Android apps are lacking yes, I would never buy another 10 inch Android tablet. But at 7 inches its hard to find things that won't work fine.

Phone apps are barely any better imho.

 

[dlock13]

Changing apps for 7" tablets over their phone variant is mostly counter productive imo. The gains you get from making better use of the extra bit space are usually countered by things being just different which is confusing to the user. Take the last version of Maps for example, it was compleeeetly different on my Nexus 7 to my Nexus 4. Every time I opened it I would have to think for a moment where I needed to look for the section I wanted. This is much better now although it boggles my mind why the side bar button is in the lower left on tablet and upper left on phone.

Regarding the side bar button... I can see it being in the upper left on a phone for usability reasons. I mean let's say for instance you're using a device with onscreen buttons. There could possibly be more of a chance for you to hit the back button while you try to hit the sidebar button. Now, when you move to a tablet, you have more room from the side of the device to the sidebar button.

I think that makes sense, right?

 

[thecapsaicinkid]

Regarding the side bar button... I can see it being in the upper right on a phone for usability reasons. I mean let's say for instance you're using a device with onscreen buttons. There could possibly be more of a chance for you to hit the back button while you try to hit the sidebar button. Now, when you move to a tablet, you have more room from the side of the device to the sidebar button.

I think that makes sense, right?

Possibly yeah. I generally think all effort should be made to keep stuff consistent personally unless it really makes a noticeable difference.

 

[Mopetar]

3rd party accessories, compatibility with head units in cars and other devices. And a not even close better selection of better app. If you need a 1080p screen, have a limited budget, or just generally hate Apple - those are really the only reasons I'd see why someone would get a Nexus 7.

Personally I'd take a Windows 7 PC with a 1024x768 monitor over XP with a 1920x1200 one, but hay that's just me

Honestly, I mostly only use my iPad for reading and as a web browser and occasionally as a media player, so I guess most of those don't enter into consideration for me.

On another note, what happened to this thread with the weird post order?

 

[Ravynmagi]

I vote this thread be stood up against a wall and shot.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Phone apps are barely any better imho.

5" You can get away with phone apps, but at 7" seriously you need dedicated tablet apps. So if someone is saying they would not buy another Android 10" tablet, then really the same should apply to 7" for experience purposes. Maybe in price this is worth it, but it's been 2.5+ years now and we're still waiting for devs to be really serious about Android tablets.

 

[thecapsaicinkid]

5" You can get away with phone apps, but at 7" seriously you need dedicated tablet apps. So if someone is saying they would not buy another Android 10" tablet, then really the same should apply to 7" for experience purposes. Maybe in price this is worth it, but it's been 2.5+ years now and we're still waiting for devs to be really serious about Android tablets.

There's nothing worse than an app having a completely different UI on a 7" device compared to a ~5" device. If that's your definition of 'dedicated tablet apps' then you can keep it. Gimmicky nonsense. A 7" device UI should have a lot in common with the 'phone' variant, just making use of the extra space by expanding elements into it, ala Google side menus being always somewhat visible. If I hear someone complain the N7 is 'just a big phone', I pretty much switch off.

 

[Red Storm]

5" You can get away with phone apps, but at 7" seriously you need dedicated tablet apps. So if someone is saying they would not buy another Android 10" tablet, then really the same should apply to 7" for experience purposes. Maybe in price this is worth it, but it's been 2.5+ years now and we're still waiting for devs to be really serious about Android tablets.

Not really. The Nexus 7 is mainly used in Portrait mode, and scaled up phone apps work just fine because you hold the device exactly the same as you do an Android phone.

Landscape is where you need tablet optimization.