It's nice to see new tec being launched. The Nexus 7 looks at first glance to be a decent piece of kit and the price is very exciting. £159.00 for a quad core tablet with I think a twelve core GPU? That's some serious horse power for the money. Yep I would still have to pay the UK price hike, £159.00 in the UK against £128 in the US. But it's still dirt cheap and might even make Apple take a look at it's pricing. Yes the iPad is a far more potent piece of hardware but it's also ridiculously expensive too.
What worries me is whether the Nexus 7 is just a portal into Google Play like the Kindle Fire is to the Amazon Store, or whether it will actually have any serious utility. How's the keyboard and business apps going to stand up to a dedicated tablet such as the Motorola Zoom etc? I'm currently using a Samsung N110 netbook. With it's hardware keyboard it's perfect for writing documents, forum posts like this one, surfing, emailing etc etc. It's not so hot as a media device though. And it's also getting a bit long in the tooth as well. I'd be interested to see how the Nexus 7 stands up as a workhorse rather than a media toy. I'm assuming that as I can install any app from Google Play I can therefore build my own tablet with document reading and writing capabilities, work planners, note takers etc. But will this be pure Android where I can build my own home screen or will I be dumped into my media library every time I fire it up? I'm guessing the Nexus 7 is being sold at a loss and that Google plan to make their money back by selling me loads of movies, games, books and such like. So the likelihood of Google continuously shoving their content in my face seems high.
So if anyone is planning on getting one of these in the next few weeks or already uses an android tablet more for work than play then I'd be interested to hear about how Android apps on a Tablet hold up against more traditional Linux/Windows software on a traditional laptop/netbook.
Cheers
Tablets are media devices. That's what they do well, some might say all they do well. I can watch videos on my tablet all day long (3 hours of video and games and browsing typically takes my "scroll extreme" down to 75% battery), a netbook or a laptop typically can't match that...or at least will only match it when brand new. That is why people buy them, unfortunately they don't really beat laptops in other aspects.
Having tried doing serious work on a tablet (both iPad with keyboard dock, and ASUS transformer) these platforms simply aren't up to it (iOS being the worse of the two). I haven't run the tests for a while but neither had good apps and I ended up more frustrated than productive. I fear that the situation is still the same. Lugging around a keyboard and/or propping up the tablet on a train still sounds unappealing. The Surface RT hopes to address both these with built in physical keyboard and stand, as well as a version of MS Office.
I think that is a significantly better investment if you plan on doing work, but it's significantly more expensive (probably, I don't think official prices are out, but think £500ish).
As far as the nexus goes, I don't think it will have in your face adverts as it'll run stock android. They make the money from integration of all your services. If you use Gmail, You Tube, Google search, Calendar etc etc they can serve up personalised adverts which are worth significantly more than the buck shot sort. Their money is made by not belting you with adverts that you tune out, but eventually offering you a very select few which people will be likely to click on, and thus business are willing to pay more for.
I mainly use a Samsung N110 for out and about stuff. It's a great little netbook with an 8-9 hour battery. I use it mainly for Email (via Gmail), web browsing, creating the odd invoice, You Tube and keeping notes, schedules and to do's. I don't do much movie watching or game playing and all my book reading is via the excellent Kindle (not the new Fire). The Samsung is doing it's job pretty well but it's getting a bit old now, and the Linux OS I'm running (Lubuntu) while super fast is a bit bland. So I guess the Nexus would serve as a replacement for the Samsung at a pinch. Assuming I can get to grips with a touch keyboard. Shame I can't try a Nexus 7 out for a few days.
I had a Ipad (the first) for a while, it was fun at first, but got boring really fast.. (and i wasnt able to use it for work) so i sold it
A Android or windows based Tablet is something im looking into atm, both for work related stuff.. depending on how well the Win8 tablets and Jelly bean will be..
I love my iPad for checking out emails and browsing on the move and it solves 90% of the stuff I need to do at client meetings such as show photos, website connect to projectors etc. The other 10% I can live without or use a client machine as needed. Yes, it's pointless trying to do any real work on one so alternatives are interesting.
As a social too, the iPad does work great, movies and games galore and enough to keep the kids amused for long car journeys.
This has a pretty high spec for the price and packs a lot of features into a small package.
If I was on the lookout for a tablet I would definitely get this.
I use my tablet for purely personal use as I have to carry a pretty heft work laptop with me everywhere. The work lappy has a 14 hour life with the WIFI turned off but its too big to watch movies on in the airport or train comfortably and sometimes too slow to use as you need to boot a fully featured OS. My tablet is ideal for pulling out the bag and watching a movie on the tube or playing a quick game and it can be left on in the bag ready to use whenever I get bored.
There are a lot of business uses for tablets but mainly as a flashy frontend or as a bit of a gimmick (like the customer service people who wander around my bank in Cambridge with just a tablet). Note taking (recording audio more than anything) and presentations to a single person or small groups they are VERY useful for.
As for the Kindle Fire... I had a go on one in the US and I wasn't too impressed. It is more geared up towards kindle users rather than your android user which I do not like.
Most of my techie friends and collogues who don't have a tablet like the Samsung galaxy 10.1 already are going for this as TEGA3 and Quad core for sub £200 is a good deal in anyone books!
Hope this helps.
DZ.
Quote from: Penfold;354074I love my iPad for checking out emails and browsing on the move and it solves 90% of the stuff I need to do at client meetings such as show photos, website connect to projectors etc. The other 10% I can live without or use a client machine as needed. Yes, it's pointless trying to do any real work on one so alternatives are interesting.
As a social too, the iPad does work great, movies and games galore and enough to keep the kids amused for long car journeys.
i could do tons of real work on it, but due to Apples locked down grib on the OS, you cant encrypt the whole system, only a certain bit.. so im not allowed to use one for work :(
This im able to on Android, tho im looking forward to see how well win8 handles a full system encryption due to the rumored bootloader restrictions on win8
[h=1]Google charges $50 for $7.50 worth of storage in the Nexus 7 (http://www.zdnet.com/google-charges-50-for-7-50-worth-of-storage-in-the-nexus-7-7000000790/)[/h]
Its a RIP but no SD slot so many people will pay.
I think think its cheap for TEGRA3 though.
Quote from: Blunt;354597[h=1]Google charges $50 for $7.50 worth of storage in the Nexus 7 (http://www.zdnet.com/google-charges-50-for-7-50-worth-of-storage-in-the-nexus-7-7000000790/)[/h]
It's supply and demand. They put out the cheap 8GB version making virtually no profit to compete with less powerful tablets like the Kindle Fire, then they make the profit to subsidise that from the 16GB version. Just look at 1st class flights if you want a comparison. You get a bit more space, but not 2-3x the price worth, that lets them offer economy flights cheaper.
The lack of an SD card slot is a serious oversight for such a powerful tablet. It takes a top of the range android tablet (Tegra 3, good build quality, good battery etc) and shoots it in the foot. I've got an 8GB tablet and it's not enough. I have a 32GB card in it at all times to add to the stuff I carry around, I think that's about enough if you are going away for a couple of weeks, much longer and I'd consider having a second one to swap in with fresh content, or a portable hard-drive.
Was seriously in the market for one of these, until my HTC Desire blew up last week. So I'm now using a Samsung Galaxy S2. Moving up from a 3.5 inch to 4.3 inch screen makes a great difference and I'm seriously wondering if I actually need to invest in a tablet at all. Yes a 7inch screen would be nice but I mainly use mobile devices to pull news and data, manage information and notes, as a media device for music and pod casts and as a Gps device. The line between big smartphone and small tablet is becoming very grey and I think they're at the point where they are actually competing with each other. Point in case is that I'm composing this on the Galaxy S2 rather than going to the trouble of firing up my 10 inch netbook that is sat right next to me.
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Could look at the Note mate it is really well sat in between both :)
The Note is a bit odd IMHO. I'm not sure if it's a phone for my pocket or a tablet for my back pack? As a phone it needs to be quickly accessible to receive calls and I wonder where you'd put it, day to day. A tablet is something you get out when you choose to use it not when it rings. I'm not sure where it would fit. people who carry phones in bags i.e. ladies or men who are confident enough to use a 'man bag'!
My colluage has one and carries it in his pocket and he has a case which also has his CC cards and cash etc. Just a idea mate
A friend of mine has the note. It fits easily in the pocket of a normal pair of jeans. I was surprised but it's true.