Review - ASUS NEXUS 7 Android Tablet

Thanks to a better then expected Tax Cheque I had some bucks to spare.

Being the good Daddy that I am, I am always on the look out of for the next Birthday/Christmas present for my Zoe Monster (10 year old daughter)

After suggestions from the TWF Geek brother/sisterhood I settled on the ASUS NEXUS 7 Android Tablet

This tablet features include a 7 inch screen and 16 GIG of on board memory and runs the Android 4.1 Operating system aka Jelly Bean. The Nexus 7 is WiFi only.

I will state from the outset that my experience with iPad is limited to 15 minute "fiddle and play" with my Sister-in-laws.

The Nexus 7 is considered a Google Tablet. SO it comes with the full suite of Google Software pre-loaded. Google Play - Googles avenue to the Android App market is very friendly with an amazing range of free and $$$ Apps.

As a media player/ebook reader this is a great unit. And I cannot find fault with it.

I have had some small dramas with this unit as I go along. But this would be my own failings as a pseudo geek and paying attention rather then the tablet itself. e.g. I spent a day trying to get the Tablet connected to my PC via USB and I just couldn't get the tablet recognised. The next day I tried with the USB cable that came with the tablet and the problem disappeared.

The smaller size I believe is an advantage, it fits nicely in to one hand.

I purchased the tablet from EB Games for $318. I have seen them as cheap as $314 from Officeworks, or you can place an order directly with Google for $300. Purchase of this unit now gives you a $25 voucher to the Google Play APP Store plus Transformers Dark Side of the Moon and the ebook Michael Connelly's The Drop.

The Nexus 7 is a couple of inches smaller and in some cases a third of the price of Apples iPad. It doesn't come with a 3G net connection.

This Tablet is awesome. Picture and sound quality are awesome. the speed that it loads software is excellent, ease of use and weight and size are very user friendly. I humbly believe that the only short comings it has against the iPad is the price. How can that be a bad thing?

Looks like I might have to get another one of these tablets, I am not giving this up to pass on to my daughter.

"sorry Zoe, this is daddy's toy"

You might notice the lack of 3G after a while. I don't have it on my gen 1 iPad and I suffer wifi withdrawals pretty badly....but I manage to get by, it helps to have a phone which can act as a wifi hotspot.

Some app recommendations from the gigs household
Dropbox....sharing files might be easy with the android, but never easier than with this cloud storage solution
Kindle. Google play books are fine, but for range, amazon is the king of ebooks, the integrated bookstore on this app is enough reason to buy android instead of apple
Firefox......best third party mobile browser I've ever seen, you'll think you're on the big boy computer.
Go keyboard, the standard keyboard is pretty good, but go hits a home run.....and then adds theme support so you can make it look pretty
While we're talking themes, go also do a theme manager which can completely redefine your user interface, rather than just changing the wallpaper.

It's great that you have some money to spend on play, but I've had my droid for nearly a year now and don't remember spending a cent on it.

Going down the ebook road I've also found kobo to be great on my iPad. I can't speak for how it goes on an android based tablet though

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GIGS20

You might notice the lack of 3G after a while. I don't have it on my gen 1 iPad and I suffer wifi withdrawals pretty badly....but I manage to get by, it helps to have a phone which can act as a wifi hotspot.

Some app recommendations from the gigs household
Dropbox....sharing files might be easy with the android, but never easier than with this cloud storage solution
Kindle. Google play books are fine, but for range, amazon is the king of ebooks, the integrated bookstore on this app is enough reason to buy android instead of apple
Firefox......best third party mobile browser I've ever seen, you'll think you're on the big boy computer.
Go keyboard, the standard keyboard is pretty good, but go hits a home run.....and then adds theme support so you can make it look pretty
While we're talking themes, go also do a theme manager which can completely redefine your user interface, rather than just changing the wallpaper.

It's great that you have some money to spend on play, but I've had my droid for nearly a year now and don't remember spending a cent on it.

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my smartphone is a HTC Wildfire and gives me a WiFi hotspot when required.

I will take the other suggestions on board.

thanks mate.

Nice review Ex.

I can't believe you stole poor little Zoe's toy. You're a terrible dad give it back to her.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Exile

my smartphone is a HTC Wildfire and gives me a WiFi hotspot when required.

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that's the way I play it