

Seven Days With a Nexus 7 - sogrady
http://redmonk.com/gearmonk/2012/07/30/nexus-7/

======
thought_alarm
I haven't been terribly impressed with the Nexus 7, and it certainly hasn't
changed my opinion of the 7" form factor. To get an idea of the size of this
thing, hold your iPad in portrait orientation and then cover the top 55% of
the screen. There's your Nexus. It's tiny.

One problem with this 7" form factor is that the portrait orientation isn't
wide enough to display most regular web pages without having to zoom in and
scroll around; it's just like browsing on your smartphone. I'm also struggling
to find any software that wouldn't look and work in exactly the same way on a
regular sized smartphone. It makes for a better e-book reader than a regular
smartphone, but that's just about it.

There are some good things. This device exists almost solely to tie you into
Google's on-line services, so if you're a Google user then the integration
with their services is slick in a lot of places.

But I'm mostly interested in the quality of the software, and unfortunately it
isn't that great, at least when compared to iOS. The browser is particularly
poor, which surprised me. It's difficult if not impossible to reliably tap on
small links. There's no visual indication of what you've tapped, or the
indication is delayed, or that indication is completely hidden under your
finger. Often you will tap on a link and a magnifier winder will pop up
instead; I still haven't figured out how to trigger that. Taps may not
register at all, and there's virtually no visual indication that the browser
has begun loading a new page. It makes the browser seem fussy and unreliable,
and consequently is not a joy to use. As a result, if I need to look something
up then I'll grab my iPhone before I grab the Nexus. The browser is also
missing some important iframe performance and usability improvements that
appeared in iOS 5.

It's hard to argue with the price, but if you already own an Android phone
then I'm not sure why you'd buy this device. And if you want to see the best
of what modern tablet software can offer, you won't find it on a 7" 16:9
screen.

~~~
omaranto
The magnifier pops up only when you click on a spot that's very close to two
links, you then disambiguate on the magnified links. It's perfect, I love it.

------
darklajid
My brother and I imported one each from the UK. After 4 days of use I am very,
very happy with the hardware (display, sound, weight), but still have to get
used to the software (changes in 4.x seem to confuse me, my phone still
doesn't offer it. Sidenote: Never ever buy a phone from LG if you can avoid
it).

Especially Google Now, while certainly interesting, seems to be useless to me
so far (or I just don't get it?).

Even after this short time I'm confident that I'll bring this thing with me
wherever I go and it already feels _wrong_ to look at the phone display again.

Do yourself a favor though and install Firefox Beta. Give it a shot against
Chrome - for me the experience is so much better that I'd wish for a way to
uninstall Chrome.

~~~
sogrady
> Especially Google Now, while certainly interesting, seems to be useless to
> me so far (or I just don't get it?).

this is interesting, because for my usage, Google Now was one of the most
useful additions in Jelly Bean. i use it all the time, and love the
notifications about nearby public transit, time and distance notifications for
appointments from my calendar and so on.

it's pretty basic at present, but it's already useful for me day to day and if
they were to open the API could be dramatically more so.

> Do yourself a favor though and install Firefox Beta. Give it a shot against
> Chrome - for me the experience is so much better that I'd wish for a way to
> uninstall Chrome.

several people have said this as well, so i will definitely be giving it a
shot.

~~~
Roritharr
I guess you are living in one of the rare places on earth where google maps
works for public transit.

It's sometimes really frustrating to use technology in a place that is not the
San Francisco...

~~~
weenis
Works great in Seattle as well.

~~~
njs12345
For me, it's not as good as OneBusAway (although obviously the UI is much
better); the bus times are a bit off for the bus I get to work.

------
antidoh
>Q: How do you use the Nexus 7 differently than you used your Xoom?

>A: Mostly, I use it more. It’s just small enough that it will fit in my
shorts pocket (though admittedly sagging them to dangerously teenage levels),
so if I’m walking over to lunch at the sushi bar, I’ll bring it. It’s replaced
my Galaxy Nexus as the device I carry around the house or the property for
browsing, Twitter and so on. And once I start traveling again, it will be
making every trip, not just the long haul ones the Xoom was relegated to by
the end. And it will replace my MBA for the short duration visits, an up and
back to NYC, let’s say. In short, I think Tim is correct: the 7″ form factor
is the correct one for personal use. My personal use, at least. Portablility
might be its most compelling feature.

The best computer is the one you have with you.

~~~
sogrady
> The best computer is the one you have with you.

best summary i've heard of the device's utility. the nexus 7 may well be the
cameraphone of tablet devices.

~~~
taligent
If you are sufficiently 'large' enough that it will fit in your pant's pocket
of course.

If you aren't then the existing combination of phone/tablet or phone/MBA still
seems optimal.

------
adestefan
The Nexus 7 is my first table and I'm still sitting on the fence about the
whole experience. The version of Chrome is superb and it's a pleasure to surf,
but there really are a lack of tablet specific Android apps. Some Android apps
are also missing features present in their iOS counterparts. For example, the
MLB app is very basic compared to the iOS version. I was hoping the 7 would be
useful for reading PDFs, but it's merely passable when there's nothing better
around.

Android 4.1 is a pleasure to use and is snappy. The hardware is nice, but I
had to call for a replacement since my screen started to peel off after about
10 days.

~~~
huggyface
_The version of Chrome is superb and it's a pleasure to surf_

I have to strongly disagree with all of the lauding about Chrome on Android.

Chrome on Android was terrible on my Galaxy S2. Chrome on Android was terrible
on my Galaxy S3. In both cases perhaps because Samsung heavily optimized the
basic, unbranded browser (full hardware acceleration, etc), but also because
Chrome has some bizarre rendering behaviors (for instance it separately sizes
text on sites like HN or Reddit).

So I got a Nexus 7. Pretty powerful device, and I was used to browsing full
sites like The Verge and The Toronto Star with no issue. Load Chrome -- they
removed the unbranded browser -- and it is _atrocious_. Huge, multisecond
pauses on either of those sites (<http://www.theverge.com> and
<http://www.thestar.com> \- be sure to go to the full sites and not the gimped
mobile version). Scrolling is a hilariously bad affair.

Note these observations online and am given the standard "oh no must be your
unit, etc. etc." Only my second Nexus 7 was just arriving (from Google Play,
while the former came from Staples, fwtw) -- exactly the same behavior.

I do not understand the expressions of love for Chrome on Android. Perhaps
it's the chrome of the browser -- bookmark management, etc? I don't generally
use that but instead simply punch in auto-completed URLs and browse sites, and
there it is profoundly, catastrophically deficient.

~~~
adestefan
Mainly because those websites run like trash even on my desktop.

~~~
huggyface
They run beautifully in Safari on the iPad. Indeed, they run quite well in
Firefox (beta) on the Nexus 7. They ran quite well in the stock browser pre-
JB.

Those are only a couple of sample sites, but there is an endemic inefficiency
of Chrome on Android that makes it unusable as a primary browser. Metacritic
-- forget about it. I could go on and on.

I have to think that people who like Chrome on Android must actually stay
within the ghetto of mobile sites, where its inefficiency is less pronounced
and things like the bookmark manager stand out more. The massive delays and
largely non-functional scrolling on richer sites just makes it hard to believe
that people are praising that browser.

~~~
incision
Get over yourself.

You're a web browsing snob of discerning and demanding tastes, we get it.

It's plainly evident by your own admission that the browser is widely lauded
in the first post that Chrome on Android is not unusable. Your self-
aggrandizing generalization about "people who like Chrome" and the "ghetto of
mobile" sites is ridiculous.

Honestly, you should be happy. If your favorite places on the web keep
rendering poorly in Chrome it will surely keep your requests from mingling
with those of undesirables in the cache.

~~~
huggyface
Out of morbid curiosity, are you always this obnoxious?

------
wickedchicken
> Twitter has yet to release a tablet specific Android application.

Why would you use the official Twitter client on Android when the incomparable
Twicca[1][2] is available? I'm not sure how well it works on a tablet but its
UI is the best Twitter UI I've seen anywhere. This is especially refreshing
given the significant disagreements I have with Twitter's designers on what
makes a usable site. It also has quite a large number of official[3] and
unofficial[4] plugins, my favorite being the Google+ cross-poster[5].

Note: the author's English is charmingly bizarre (it used to say "retweeted by
1 people" and "retweeted by 2 peoples"), so "twicca is lightweight but it is
not cheap" means it's not "cheap" on features. It is a free application.

[1] <http://twicca.r246.jp/>

[2]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.r246.twicca...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.r246.twicca&hl=en)

[3]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Tetsuya+Aoya...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Tetsuya+Aoyama)

[4]
[https://play.google.com/store/search?q=twicca+plugin&c=a...](https://play.google.com/store/search?q=twicca+plugin&c=apps)

[5]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.zakky.twic...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.zakky.twicca.plus)

~~~
sogrady
[i'm the author]

i'll check out Twicca, but the primary reason i use the official client over
nice alternatives like Tweet Lanes [1] is the integration with Android itself,
i.e. notifications, and so on. they just keep sucking me back in. but i'm more
than willing to give it a shot.

[1] link to the .apk: <https://t.co/rkE4sw0j>

~~~
ConstantineXVI
I decided to just live without Twitter notifications. Not really missing them.
You can wire up ifttt to notify you via Google Talk on @s also.

~~~
sogrady
that was actually one of the things i didn't like about the tablet, now that
you mention it: Google Talk got turned on by default. probably just a personal
preference, but i really don't want to receive IMs on a tablet.

but if you do, then you're right: the Ifttt recipe is your solution.

------
TheBoff
I don't know why he mentions recommending to pure apple households. Surely if
every computer (/phone/tablet) in your house is made by apple, you don't
really care what anybody says about the competition.

~~~
loeschg
_Q: So would you recommend the Nexus 7 overall?_ _A: For straight Apple
households, probably not._

Haha, I'd say I'm in a pure Apple household (though I run a personal Ubuntu
server... perhaps I'm disqualified). I'm still considering the Nexus 7 even
with the iPad "mini" on the horizon. I think there's something to be said from
having familiarity with the different devices/eco-systems (especially as a
developer). The reviews are also hard to ignore.

~~~
TheBoff
Fair enough then, I've got the wrong end of the stick. I must admit, I didn't
really think pure apple households were at all common.

~~~
sogrady
what i meant by "pure" Apple households was those that are not only running
Macs, but things like Apple TV, AirPlay etc.

if you've heavily invested in Apple media, the benefits to an Apple device
would probably outweigh any individual feature wins of the Nexus 7.

if you're more of a casual Apple household, meaning just hardware and no
media, the Nexus 7 is likely a fine choice.

------
ralph
Do people find it's happy with an ad hoc wifi hotspot, e.g. as set up in
Ubuntu 12.04. [http://www.howtogeek.com/116409/how-to-turn-your-ubuntu-
lapt...](http://www.howtogeek.com/116409/how-to-turn-your-ubuntu-laptop-into-
a-wireless-access-point/)

It doesn't work for me, the hotspot isn't listed on the Nexus among the many
local networks, and without other wifi equipment I'm unsure where the fault
may lie; so many possibilities.

~~~
sogrady
i've had no issues with ad-hoc hotspots working off a Galaxy Nexus and a Xoom,
FWIW.

------
dysoco
Does it really fit in your pocket ?

~~~
darklajid
I'm mostly wearing cargo pants (or whatever you call these things with pockets
on your legs as well).

It fits in one of those easily enough. You don't that I carry it, it's about
the same weight as my (too stuffed) purse on the other side and barely
noticeable.

