Accurate take on Nexus 7/iPad Mini

[Southernboyj]

Apple spent a lot of time trash talking the Nexus 7 yesterday.
It was mostly noise though, this is a very unbiased article on the 2 that I think a lot of you would enjoy.

Click here.

I'm interested to hear your opinions on this. This isn't intended to be an "iOS vs Android" thread as it's pretty clear that iOS 6 and Jelly Bean both have pro's and con's and it's all preference. This is more-so about hardware.

 

[satchow]

Thanks for the very accurate and unbiased post from the Android Power blog.

 

[phpmaven]

Apple spent a lot of time trash talking the Nexus 7 yesterday.
It was mostly noise though, this is a very unbiased article on the 2 that I think a lot of you would enjoy.

Click here.

I'm interested to hear your opinions on this. This isn't intended to be an "iOS vs Android" thread as it's pretty clear that iOS 6 and Jelly Bean both have pro's and con's and it's all preference. This is more-so about hardware.

I have both tablets and I agree with pretty much everything Phil said. I think the Nexus is a nice device, but I don't think it's in the same league as the iPad mini. Yes, technically it beats the iPad on specs, but that's meaningless to most people, including me.

 

[Noisemaker]

I agree quite a bit with the article. It's pretty fair in tone, and both devices have downfalls.

I think the iPad Mini will sell as well as any other latest, greatest Apple product. But I don't think it's going to kill the 7" tablet market. It'll dent it fairly well, but won't kill it this gen.

 

[Breaking Good]

Very interesting article.

The author makes the comment that Apple could put its logo on a potato and it would sell. (I'm sure that most of us have heard another version of the same line.)

Either way, it is a valid comment. I will just say that the latest, greatest thing is cool and trendy until it isn't.

With the iPad Mini, I think Tim Cook and Phil Shiller may have bitten off more than they can chew.

 

[mattopotamus]

Thanks for the very accurate and unbiased post from the Android Power blog.

it is very hard to even finish reading biased articles...be it heavily apple fan boys or android =/

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Honestly, an ipad mini for me would be a nice magazine reader. A place where I could read GQ and sports illustrated

 

[aviddk]

The major point that is lacking in all the discussions about Mini's price/value is the fact that it will have residual value unlike the other devices. Use an Apple device and then resell it easily to Gazelle, etc. I can sell a used 6 year old Imac for $150 or the original iPad for $160. The iPhones are the real deal on resale value. I traded a iPhone 4 for a 5 and it cost me $70. I am sure the Mini will make up the difference in price from the competitors at resale. Why is no one else mentioning this?

 

[Candlelight]

I held a Nexus 7 for the first time yesterday and it felt... big.

I think the iPad Mini will be too big for me as well.

I still find the Blackberry Playbook the better form factor. Just a pity it's a dead horse.

Then again I prefer smaller form factors. Hell I'd even go for a Galaxy S 5.0 WiFi if I could.

 

[lamenramen]

The residual value argument is definitely an important point, I agree.

I am not the type of person who lets old gadgets lie around for years. That is, I do not need an ipad 2, ipad 3, and ipad 4 lying around. So I would sell it.

And the resale value of any ios device is far, far, far greater than any android device. The resale value is definitely about perception. The ios or android device didn't really get worse over time (unless you factor in upgradeability issues--android devices rarely get upgrades), but the buying public values the appearance, fit/finish, stability, etc of the ios device much more. People are speaking with their wallets even in the used market.
The resale value is something I have considered as I bought an Android device. I hesitated immediately b/c I knew that a new model would come within 4 months, and what was once cool just 4 months ago is already second-class. As opposed to the general once per year philosophy of Apple. Android, by their rapid release cycles, have hurt themselves. People don't buy when the upgrade cycles are so quick b/c everyone realizes that something new is right around the corner. It irritates buyers. Android once again does not have a real hardware problem. They should fix the software instead of releasing a new model with the fixed software. They really have no clue. Or maybe I don't have a clue b/c when I hear of people saying "yeah I just have to take out my battery about once every 10 days b/c my droid just freezes" and accept it as par for the course, I would never stand for that. But maybe the masses are more forgiving than I am. If my droid froze, I would rather go back to a blackberry.

What Apple has and is (and always will) bet on is the fact that if you build something better, people are going to come up with the money to buy it. Poor people may not be able to afford the "good stuff", but they still want it just as much as everyone else. I'm upset about the ipad mini's pricing, b/c it's an insult to me that Apple thinks that they can pawn off such old technology on us, but people outside this board won't know. I have used the Nexus 7 and it is only tablet that is not crap. The kindle fire is utter crap. If I got it for free, I'd only take it so that I could resell it. So is the nook. The Nexus 7 no doubt has gained ground on the mini. The build quality is not bad at all. And pound for pound, dollar for dollar, the nexus 7 no doubt comes out ahead. But it's the **** ecosystem that Apple has going for it. Android would do well to do whatever it takes to improve the ecosystem. 675,000 apps, yeah, but 670,000 of them are uttery crappery.

 

[bigjnyc]

Apple, for example, devoted ample energy to pointing out how its new iPad Mini has a larger screen than Google's Nexus 7 -- and yep, it sure does. The "7.9-inch" figure listed for the iPad Mini's screen can tell you that. You know what else has a larger screen than the Nexus 7? Every other tablet with a screen size greater than 7 inches. A larger screen on a smaller tablet is not inherently better; the whole point of the smaller tablet is that, you know, it's smaller. By design.

He does make a good point there lol. That was pretty silly of Phil to point out.

That being said this is not a bias write-up... you can most certainly see the Authors dislike of Apple and preference for Android coming through.

 

[Southernboyj]

The residual value argument is definitely an important point, I agree.

I am not the type of person who lets old gadgets lie around for years. That is, I do not need an ipad 2, ipad 3, and ipad 4 lying around. So I would sell it.

And the resale value of any ios device is far, far, far greater than any android device. The resale value is definitely about perception. The ios or android device didn't really get worse over time (unless you factor in upgradeability issues--android devices rarely get upgrades), but the buying public values the appearance, fit/finish, stability, etc of the ios device much more. People are speaking with their wallets even in the used market.
The resale value is something I have considered as I bought an Android device. I hesitated immediately b/c I knew that a new model would come within 4 months, and what was once cool just 4 months ago is already second-class. As opposed to the general once per year philosophy of Apple. Android, by their rapid release cycles, have hurt themselves. People don't buy when the upgrade cycles are so quick b/c everyone realizes that something new is right around the corner. It irritates buyers. Android once again does not have a real hardware problem. They should fix the software instead of releasing a new model with the fixed software. They really have no clue. Or maybe I don't have a clue b/c when I hear of people saying "yeah I just have to take out my battery about once every 10 days b/c my droid just freezes" and accept it as par for the course, I would never stand for that. But maybe the masses are more forgiving than I am. If my droid froze, I would rather go back to a blackberry.

What Apple has and is (and always will) bet on is the fact that if you build something better, people are going to come up with the money to buy it. Poor people may not be able to afford the "good stuff", but they still want it just as much as everyone else. I'm upset about the ipad mini's pricing, b/c it's an insult to me that Apple thinks that they can pawn off such old technology on us, but people outside this board won't know. I have used the Nexus 7 and it is only tablet that is not crap. The kindle fire is utter crap. If I got it for free, I'd only take it so that I could resell it. So is the nook. The Nexus 7 no doubt has gained ground on the mini. The build quality is not bad at all. And pound for pound, dollar for dollar, the nexus 7 no doubt comes out ahead. But it's the **** ecosystem that Apple has going for it. Android would do well to do whatever it takes to improve the ecosystem. 675,000 apps, yeah, but 670,000 of them are uttery crappery.

I can definitely agree Apple does have the best resale value, but 1. Should that really be the main focus of your purchase? And 2. With the Nexus 7 being so cheap.. In 2 years I could see it easily selling for $100 still. Don't take this tread as me being anti-Apple. I actually want an iPad Mini.. I just really wanted a retina display iPad Mini. Not an iPad Mini designed to be a budget product.

 

[brig2221]

He does make a good point there lol. That was pretty silly of Phil to point out.

That being said this is not a bias write-up... you can most certainly see the Authors dislike of Apple and preference for Android coming through.

I think the point Phil was trying to make was that the the iPad mini is very close to the Nexus in actual size (footprint) of the device. However, you get something like 33% more screen real estate with the mini.

In other words, yes, the iPad mini is slightly larger than the Nexus 7, but not by much, but you get a lot more screen real estate in basically the same size. How could that not be something they wouldn't want to exploit and point out? Huge deal to me.

 

[richardmu]

Apple is getting beat up on the price of the mini but I read somewhere that all the other 7" tablets are mostly cheap and cheerful poorly made devices with good specs that are sold as loss leaders.

In my experience Apple produces quality products and you are always going to pay a premium for that. You usually get what you pay for.

In the auto world the Hyundais and Kias etc will always look like a good buy and will sell well because they include a lot of extras. However, if you can afford a premium brand such as BMW, Mercedes or Land Rover you will never touch one of the Korean vehicles with a barge pole!

 

[Rodster]

I don't give a crap what Apple says about the Nexus 7. Money in hand, can't wait for Oct. 29th.

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Apple is getting beat up on the price of the mini but I read somewhere that all the other 7" tablets are mostly cheap and cheerful poorly made devices with good specs that are sold as loss leaders.

In my experience Apple produces quality products and you are always going to pay a premium for that. You usually get what you pay for.

In the auto world the Hyundais and Kias etc will always look like a good buy and will sell well because they include a lot of extras. However, if you can afford a premium brand such as BMW, Mercedes or Land Rover you will never touch one of the Korean vehicles with a barge pole!

I guess you missed out on all the iPad 3 complaint threads on how the quality has dropped on the iPad 3.

 

[richardmu]

I don't give a crap what Apple says about the Nexus 7. Money in hand, can't wait for Oct. 29th.

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I guess you missed out on all the iPad 3 complaint threads on how the quality has dropped on the iPad 3.

Got a 3 but returned it after a week as I decided to stay with my 2. No issue with quality but I do appreciate that some early adopters of any idevice sometimes get unlucky.

Always best to wait a couple of months but what the hell, there's no fun in that!

Get that pre-order in as soon as possible on Friday. Which one to go for is the big question.

 

[d123]

I have both tablets and I agree with pretty much everything Phil said. I think the Nexus is a nice device, but I don't think it's in the same league as the iPad mini. Yes, technically it beats the iPad on specs, but that's meaningless to most people, including me.

Almost the same, I had a Nexus 7 when they launched and sold it quite quickly, just found the actually handling inferior and difficult to use for text input and editing.

It got sold, and I've been using my "big" iPad in anticipation of the mini's arrival.

To me, there is no real comparison.

 

[jrswizzle]

Almost the same, I had a Nexus 7 when they launched and sold it quite quickly, just found the actually handling inferior and difficult to use for text input and editing.

It got sold, and I've been using my "big" iPad in anticipation of the mini's arrival.

To me, there is no real comparison.

User of both the N7 and iPad 3 and concur with the above post. Sold my N7 a few days ago - my complaints were with the build quality, the scaled-up phone apps (which Phil beat to death, but was nevertheless extremely right), and the fact that I was missing my Apple ecosystem. Great form factor for the most part (browsing the web on a 16:9 device is odd in landscape) but I'd gladly pay the premium for the mini.

People don't realize, you aren't paying for specs. Its the ecosystem, quality of the hardware/software/apps, ease-of-use, customer service etc....

Not once did I ever encounter a time on my N7 where I thought "I could never do this on my iPad" which further solidified my desire for an iPad mini.

 

[advan031]

Soon to be ex Nexus 7 owner here and to me the iPad 2's screen looks much crisper than the Nexus 7. I'm replacing the Nexus 7 with an iPad mini.

 

[Southernboyj]

I think the point Phil was trying to make was that the the iPad mini is very close to the Nexus in actual size (footprint) of the device. However, you get something like 33% more screen real estate with the mini.

In other words, yes, the iPad mini is slightly larger than the Nexus 7, but not by much, but you get a lot more screen real estate in basically the same size. How could that not be something they wouldn't want to exploit and point out? Huge deal to me.

Schiller was quick to suggest that there's a huge difference when you tack on that 9/10th of an inch. Sure, when factoring in the total viewable screen, the iPad Mini has 29.6 inches of space where the Nexus 7 has 21.9 inches. But is that really a big deal? Though Schiller says yes, let's take his logic and apply it elsewhere.

I'd be curious to hear what he thinks of the difference between the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen and, say, the 4.8-inch display on Samsung's Galaxy S3. And what about the even larger Galaxy Note 2? Would those differences not be considered gigantic, too? Also, while some might argue that it's resolution that really matters, the iPad Mini's 1,024x768-pixel resolution doesn't quite stand up to the Nexus 7's 1,280x800-pixel screen.

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Thanks for the very accurate and unbiased post from the Android Power blog.

Thanks for the response from the "Retina everything" signature.

 

[brig2221]

Schiller was quick to suggest that there's a huge difference when you tack on that 9/10th of an inch. Sure, when factoring in the total viewable screen, the iPad Mini has 29.6 inches of space where the Nexus 7 has 21.9 inches. But is that really a big deal? Though Schiller says yes, let's take his logic and apply it elsewhere.

I'd be curious to hear what he thinks of the difference between the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen and, say, the 4.8-inch display on Samsung's Galaxy S3. And what about the even larger Galaxy Note 2? Would those differences not be considered gigantic, too? Also, while some might argue that it's resolution that really matters, the iPad Mini's 1,024x768-pixel resolution doesn't quite stand up to the Nexus 7's 1,280x800-pixel screen.

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Thanks for the response from the "Retina everything" signature.

I don't think you can compare the size issue of the GS3/iPhone5 to that of a tablet. By definition, a tablet is supposed to be larger and have more workable space. Also key here, and what I mentioned before, is that Apple's tablet gives all that extra space in essentially the same size/footprint of the Nexus 7, which again, I think is a big deal and a bonus. For a tablet, who in there right mind (assuming usability wasn't affected) wouldn't want more screen real estate on a tablet device if you could keep the overall same dimensions (for the most part)? I think that is a no brainer.

If you look at the Nexus, it has an awfully big bezel, which is made to look even bigger when placed around a 7 inch screen. I haven't, nor has anyone else for the most part, had a chance to hold and demo out the new mini. However, if the smaller bezel (which allows it to have a bigger screen, but maintain a very similar overall size) doesn't affect functionality at all, I again think that you would absolutely want to trumpet that as an advantage over your competition.

As far as the screen resolution goes, the Nexus 7 probably wins hands down, although I have yet to see the mini's display with my own eyes. However, I think any reason minded individual would concede that the Nexus has the nicer display. That said, how much nicer it is will certainly be a matter of interpretation. Looking forward to getting my hands on a mini so I can review the quality (or possibly lack thereof) of the display.

 

[THFourteen]

http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/1...-nexus-7-a-showdown-of-miniature-proportions/

A better comparison.

 

[Southernboyj]

I don't think you can compare the size issue of the GS3/iPhone5 to that of a tablet. By definition, a tablet is supposed to be larger and have more workable space. Also key here, and what I mentioned before, is that Apple's tablet gives all that extra space in essentially the same size/footprint of the Nexus 7, which again, I think is a big deal and a bonus. For a tablet, who in there right mind (assuming usability wasn't affected) wouldn't want more screen real estate on a tablet device if you could keep the overall same dimensions (for the most part)? I think that is a no brainer.

If you look at the Nexus, it has an awfully big bezel, which is made to look even bigger when placed around a 7 inch screen. I haven't, nor has anyone else for the most part, had a chance to hold and demo out the new mini. However, if the smaller bezel (which allows it to have a bigger screen, but maintain a very similar overall size) doesn't affect functionality at all, I again think that you would absolutely want to trumpet that as an advantage over your competition.

As far as the screen resolution goes, the Nexus 7 probably wins hands down, although I have yet to see the mini's display with my own eyes. However, I think any reason minded individual would concede that the Nexus has the nicer display. That said, how much nicer it is will certainly be a matter of interpretation. Looking forward to getting my hands on a mini so I can review the quality (or possibly lack thereof) of the display.

Your point on screen size importance of phone vs tablet is extremely subjective. I've owned both a Galaxy S3 and an iPhone 5 btw. The Galaxy S3 is easy to use in one hand in my opinion.

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http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/1...-nexus-7-a-showdown-of-miniature-proportions/

A better comparison.

I read the whole article, and I have to say.. I agree with almost all of it. Except he doesn't own an OS X/iOS device and I've owned many.

 

[brig2221]

Your point on screen size importance of phone vs tablet is extremely subjective. I've owned both a Galaxy S3 and an iPhone 5 btw. The Galaxy S3 is easy to use in one hand in my opinion.

I agree that screen size preference is EXTREMELY subjective, no arguments here. That said, the GSIII is HUGE in comparison to the iPhone5. I have no doubt that the size of the GSIII is a positive for a lot of people and is easy for them to use.

However, when talking about these 7" tablets, I'm talking about getting a lot of extra screen real estate while retaining the same overall size, which is really key here.

 

[Southernboyj]

I agree that screen size preference is EXTREMELY subjective, no arguments here. That said, the GSIII is HUGE in comparison to the iPhone5. I have no doubt that the size of the GSIII is a positive for a lot of people and is easy for them to use.

However, when talking about these 7" tablets, I'm talking about getting a lot of extra screen real estate while retaining the same overall size, which is really key here.

Yeah I won't lie, I prefer the 4:3 aspect ratio of the Mini to the 16:10 of the N7. However, some people really like the widescreen for watching movies. I kind it kind of pointless as most movies are shot in wider aspects (1 to 2.35) than the Nexus 7s (1 to 1.78) screen.

 

[JSalig]

I wouldn't look twice at a Nexus 7. I've always hated thick bezels on 7" inch screens and I find the bezel on the Nexus simply atrocious. It's a shame. I would've paid top dollar for a high-end ipad mini. Hell, I paid around $450 for the galaxy 7.7. I don't regret it a bit because at the time it was the best 7" tablet money could buy. I wanted to say the same about the mini. Not at all angry about Apple though. I'm sure their strategy is sound but purely from a consumer standpoint, I'm just disappointed. I want to see Apple, Samsung, Amazon, etc. all bring their best stuff to the table. Better for consumers all around.