I'm not an "old" Apple user in the sense that my first Apple device was the first iPhone. I've been pretty much hooked ever since then, upgrading iPhone's when eligible, and purchasing an iPad 2 when it came out. I recently rounded out the lineup by purchasing my first ever MacBook Pro. Just thought I would give a little history of my Apple user experience up to this point.
Like many of you, I follow the tech community fairly closely as it's a hobby of mine being a gadget enthusiast. I read positive review and positive review about the recently released Google Nexus 7. I also really like the idea of the smaller form factor of a 7" tablet device, so I took the plunge last night and picked one up. Suprisingly enough, I had to make several phone calls before I could find a retail store that had one in stock, thank you Staples!
My very first impression of the device was how nice the build qualify was. The outside rim of the device looks to be aluminum, looking very similar to the iPad casing. However, that is where the similarity ends. The entire bottom portion of the backplate is some type of rubbery leather with small stippling. It makes the device a pleasure to hold in the hand, isn't slippery at all, and you don't feel the need to baby it when setting it down (for fear of scratches).
If you have watched any reviews on the device, the one thing that just about every reviewer keyed in on was the fluidity of the updated Jelly Bean OS, or smoothness if you will. I had to agree, as I did not run into any stuttering or screen lag at all. The screen was also very much a pleasure to look at. It was bright enough, had good contrast, and offers a PPI over 200, so text was very clear and crisp. This is where I run out of positive things to say about the device. Now on to what I believe are it's shortcomings coming from an iPad and what I expect out of a tablet device....
I did not like the 16:9 (guessing here) aspect ratio. Sounds great on paper, but in real world use, I much prefer the iPad 4:3 aspect ratio. I just couldn't use the Nexus comfortably when in landscape mode, not nearly enough vertical real estate to be comfortably used IMHO.
I did not like the Google Play store. I'm sorry, but it is a freaking mess compared to Apple's App Store IMHO. When I would try to search for something, I would get multiple iterative versions, having no idea what was what and which (if any) were optimized for tablets. I'm sure I would get more used to this after time. However, after having used Apples App Store for some time, that is where my bar was set, and the Google Play store did not come close to reaching it in my opinion.
The wifi signal sucked on the device. I was only getting about half reception on the Nexus, while my iPad and iPhone sitting next to me were getting full bar reception. The Nexus was all over the place. Speedtests run on my Apple devices were getting about 19 Mbps download (against my 20 Mbps connection), while my Nexus was getting 6-8 Mbps due to the reception issues I was experiencing. Being a device that only offers Wi-fi as a connection, it better be pretty darn good IMHO, and mine was not.
I did not like the OS that much. Yeah, I can tell it offers more customization than iOS, but that doesn't matter much when it isn't intuitive. Again, I'm sure I am biased here after having been in the iOS ecosystem since the beginning, but I was not really impressed with how everything was laid out from getting to and changing settings, etc. I think a lot of this would most likely be overcome with time using the device though.
In the end, I really do think it's a great device for the money ($200), and being a Nexus device, the end user will have access to all future Android upgrades, which is good. All that said, with the rampant speculation that is out there today about an upcoming iPad mini, I just could not justify keeping the Nexus, so it is going back to Staples later on this evening.
After having used the Nexus, I'm even more confident than ever that a 7" tablet is workable, and that a 7" (7.85" I hear) iPad would be killer, which is what I will now be patiently waiting for.
Like many of you, I follow the tech community fairly closely as it's a hobby of mine being a gadget enthusiast. I read positive review and positive review about the recently released Google Nexus 7. I also really like the idea of the smaller form factor of a 7" tablet device, so I took the plunge last night and picked one up. Suprisingly enough, I had to make several phone calls before I could find a retail store that had one in stock, thank you Staples!
My very first impression of the device was how nice the build qualify was. The outside rim of the device looks to be aluminum, looking very similar to the iPad casing. However, that is where the similarity ends. The entire bottom portion of the backplate is some type of rubbery leather with small stippling. It makes the device a pleasure to hold in the hand, isn't slippery at all, and you don't feel the need to baby it when setting it down (for fear of scratches).
If you have watched any reviews on the device, the one thing that just about every reviewer keyed in on was the fluidity of the updated Jelly Bean OS, or smoothness if you will. I had to agree, as I did not run into any stuttering or screen lag at all. The screen was also very much a pleasure to look at. It was bright enough, had good contrast, and offers a PPI over 200, so text was very clear and crisp. This is where I run out of positive things to say about the device. Now on to what I believe are it's shortcomings coming from an iPad and what I expect out of a tablet device....
I did not like the 16:9 (guessing here) aspect ratio. Sounds great on paper, but in real world use, I much prefer the iPad 4:3 aspect ratio. I just couldn't use the Nexus comfortably when in landscape mode, not nearly enough vertical real estate to be comfortably used IMHO.
I did not like the Google Play store. I'm sorry, but it is a freaking mess compared to Apple's App Store IMHO. When I would try to search for something, I would get multiple iterative versions, having no idea what was what and which (if any) were optimized for tablets. I'm sure I would get more used to this after time. However, after having used Apples App Store for some time, that is where my bar was set, and the Google Play store did not come close to reaching it in my opinion.
The wifi signal sucked on the device. I was only getting about half reception on the Nexus, while my iPad and iPhone sitting next to me were getting full bar reception. The Nexus was all over the place. Speedtests run on my Apple devices were getting about 19 Mbps download (against my 20 Mbps connection), while my Nexus was getting 6-8 Mbps due to the reception issues I was experiencing. Being a device that only offers Wi-fi as a connection, it better be pretty darn good IMHO, and mine was not.
I did not like the OS that much. Yeah, I can tell it offers more customization than iOS, but that doesn't matter much when it isn't intuitive. Again, I'm sure I am biased here after having been in the iOS ecosystem since the beginning, but I was not really impressed with how everything was laid out from getting to and changing settings, etc. I think a lot of this would most likely be overcome with time using the device though.
In the end, I really do think it's a great device for the money ($200), and being a Nexus device, the end user will have access to all future Android upgrades, which is good. All that said, with the rampant speculation that is out there today about an upcoming iPad mini, I just could not justify keeping the Nexus, so it is going back to Staples later on this evening.
After having used the Nexus, I'm even more confident than ever that a 7" tablet is workable, and that a 7" (7.85" I hear) iPad would be killer, which is what I will now be patiently waiting for.
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