Today Google announced Nexus 7 tablet. With decent screen resolution (1280 x 800, 7"), quad-core processor, latest version of Android - 4.1 Jelly Bean, and $199 price tag, it is very appealing device for every gadget lover, but how it will work for regular user? How it will work for me?
First I must decide what I need. You probably heard of media consumption tablets. They should be ideal platforms for surfing the web, playing some games, and watching the pictures and videos. I'm not so much into videos, two main reasons being lack of time and lack of content providers operating in Croatia. What I really need is text consumption tablet: device on which I can comfortably read news feeds, books, web pages, PDFs and just about anything. I would also like to create small chunks of content, like emails and blog posts.
Two devices that I use the most, as well as desktop computer, are Kindle DX and Google Nexus S. While Kindle is great for reading, it lacks consumption of more dynamic text content, and despite of its large screen, it displays complex PDFs poorly. I guess that this won't ever change; for Amazon, PDFs and large e-readers are out of focus. Nexus S is too small to do most of the tasks comfortably (but it's good enough to write this article). What are my options then?
iPad-not-three is both cheap and amazing device. Cheap? If I filter out all low-density sub-10" tablets, cheapest device is iPad. What's more,it runs smoothly and screen is gorgeous. But is it ultimate text-consumption device? Sadly, no. Screen is too glossy. Yes, colors are vivid and yes, it is great if you are paranoid because you can see what's behind you, but it is too distracting for reading. It is also a bit too heavy to use it single-handedly. Even my much lighter Kindle feels heavy after brief period.
There is also new contender from Android world, Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, but this device was just announced so it is too early to conclude anything. It should have price similar to iPad; optional keyboard gives it advantage but at the higher cost. Microsoft Surface is another great tablet, whose included package will do wonders for business user, but it is too heavy and too expensive.
That brings me back to the original question: to buy Nexus tablet or not? For $199, hell yes! Google made very smart move to attack iPad: tablet is so cheap that even people who didn't plan to get one will buy one. It is also more capable than Kindle Fire, which lack of front camera for video calls and low-res display were no-go for me.
Whatever type of user you are, it takes only $199 to take it for a test drive.
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