This is the latest in the tablet wars, a 7 inch (diagonal measure) one from Google. We’ve all heard about Apple’s stunning success with its iPad line and Amazon’s Kindle line. There are many other tablets, but none as successful as the iPad.
Nexus 7 hopes to rival that success and it is an excellent start toward that goal.
The size is what you notice first. Unless you have been using a full-sized tablet for a while, you can well be quite satisfied with the 7 inch size. I’ve been watching the live Olympics feeds on this tablet and have found it quite viewable.
The innards include a Tegra-3 quad-core chip. Tegra is not a widely known name, but it is made by a highly respected company – nVidia. The quad-core aspect, of course, means that you have four chips working as needed, to give faster performance.
The operating system is Android, the ubiquitous system that powers more cell phones than any other. The Nexus 7 comes with the latest Android version, 4.1 (Jelly Bean).
The screen is highly visible with a pixel density of 216 per inch. The iPad’s 264 pixel per inch density for the retina display is superior, but see below for the vast difference in cost. Resolution is 1280 X 800.
This tablet has a front-facing camera, which may be a drawback for some, since it would be clumsy to take pictures of anyone but yourself with it. Interestingly, Google has included a face recognition feature which can be used to unlock the screen, instead of using a password. The camera is more likely to be used for Skype calls.
Connectivity is through WiFi. Cell connectivity is not available, which may be a drawback for some. Since I will be using the Nexus 7 here at home, that is not a problem for me.
The Nexus 7 comes with several apps already loaded. The latest member of the Bourne series (Bourne Dominion) is pre-loaded and can be read right on the tablet. There are several magazines and a couple of books, too, pre-loaded. It also comes with a $25 credit for Google Play.
Google Play gives you access to a bunch of entertainment. For example, there are more than 600,000 apps and games, millions of eBooks, songs, movies and more. If you stay with the free stuff, you can enjoy your tablet for a long time. The $25 credit goes in a hurry if you find items that cost money.
As you might expect, Nexus 7 doesn’t give you access to Internet Explorer, but Chrome is a very mature and good performing browser. Gmail is built in, but you can use any of the common portals for email that you wish.
The Nexus 7 is light (12 ounces) and easy to hold. The back is sort of rubbery and is not likely to slip from your grasp. There is an on-off-sleep button on the upper right side, and an up-down volume control. There are speakers which give remarkably good sound, and a microphone.
Probably the most important item for Nexus 7 is the price. At $199, it is considerably less expensive than the iPad. The only tablet that comes close is the Kindle. That price gives you 8 GB of storage, which may seem skimpy, but the Tegra chip is much more efficient that other chips, requiring less memory. If you need more, the $249 model has 16 GB.
Battery life is very good. Google says you get eight hours of movie watching and up to 10 hours of Web browsing. I’ve had to recharge several times, with my Live Olympics viewing.
I also used my laptop to view Live Olympics. It was interesting to compare the Nexus 7 with the laptop. I found that the Intel dual-core chip in the laptop provided poorer resolution and produced frame-skipping, which does not happen with the Nexus 7.
This is a great tablet at a great price. There are some disadvantages, when compared to an iPad, but at $300 less, it’s a bargain!
Nexus 7 by Google Use Google search for Nexus 7 Price $199 for 8 GB model
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