My Asus neXus 7

The Opening of the Nexus

 • I won my 8 Gig neXus ⁷  in a Tablet Forum contest based on creativity of posts. Here is my winning post entry

 • Prologue:  I did more research for this tablet than any other electronic product I have ever purchased before.  I have researched tablets for nearly a year, and now my choice is finally made. After a few first thoughts and a quick gloss over of the specifications we'll take a look at my own usage of this tablet. 

 • First Thoughts:  I like the rubber grip back. The specs as seen below are just awesome rivaling most other popular tablets.  It is indeed is a good bang for the buck. This tablet looks like a tablet that will last me for many years. The narrower than usual 4.7" width than most 7" tablets is optimal for my pocket usage. It fits in my front suit pockets just fine, even in its slim portfolio case.

 • Specifications: Made by Asus, the first neXus tablet was released June 27 with a 7” 1280x800 HD screen, Scratch-resistant Corning glass. 1.2MP front-facing camera. 1 GB RAM. 4325 mAh (8-9 hours of active use) battery. NVIDIA 4-PLUS-1 (5)core 1.3Ghz Tegra 3 CPU. Nvidia ULP GeForce 12 core graphics. WiFi 802.11 b/g/n. Bluetooth 4.0. Microphone. Audio dock port pogo pins. NFC (Android Beam). Accelerometer. GPS. Magnetometer. Gyroscope. 7.8"(H)x4.79 (W)x.41"(D), 11.9 OZ. Open to all app markets. 8Gig for $199 and $249 for the 16 gig.  Here is a comprehensive review from the Verge.  Here is my spreadsheet about what I have done with my neXus.

 • Current competition: The new Amazon Fire HD has improved resolution and more memory than the first Amazon Fire tablet for the Amazon consumer for $199. It will be a popular tablet as many will see it advertised prominently on Amazon's popular online store. Its 16Gig memory for $199 will be a powerful attraction by many. It is only a dual core tablet but will do nicely for many users. never the less From reviews it is still just a storefront for Amazon products.

 • The neXus 7 started shipping in mid July 2012  from the Google Play Store.  It is also sold at many brick and mortar retailers.  I entered a creative forum post contest at NexusTablets.net and was 1 of 7 winners of an 8 Gig neXus 7 on July 17th and received on the 21st. Boy, is it getting a lot of loving use.

 • Packaging:  It is packed well and quite tight in a nice box along with its vague quick start guide, USB sync/power cable, and USB outlet charge adapter. It had the typical protective film over the screen and back. It comes partly charged but will need to be put right on the charger to assure you don't go dead while your setting it up. Here is the real Guidebook you will want to have access to for more setup help.

 • My Pictures: I have taken unboxing pictures and put them in this album that I made for my Nexus.

Here is my unboxing video slideshow

 • Further thoughts:  I am very pleased with the neXus. At this point I would definitely recommend it to my friends. Audio port placement on bottom is awkward when holing in portrait aspect, but I just rotate it upside down and use it. Button placement seems well placed although I do often bumped the off button til i got used to its placement. The camera for Skype video calls, works great. It is very snappy moving around the menu's. Starting and running apps is buttery smooth.  I love all the extra screen space compared to my old Palm E2's 2.5" screen.

 • My Usage: I use it in bed, on my recliner, sitting out in my yard, at meetings and on our vacations.  It's great at meetings as an aid to follow along when I am not functioning well. Its is nice to have it as a back-up to my forgetful brain. Its pocket-ability for me is great, as I have large inside pockets in most of my coats. It also fits the outside pockets of my suit jackets just fine even in its slim SupCase I bought. I have a waist pack that it fits in nicely.

 • Memory: I wanted a 16 Gig model for twice the local memory storage but I ended up with the 8 Gig model. With my music on it it about uses up over 3.6 gig right there. Along with WiFi access and 30 Gig Google Drive space for even more storage online(I get it for $5 a year) I do fine.  A simple approach for more memory without rooting to read a Flash drive with a standard USB OTG cable and an app called Nexus Media Importer. More local external drive space is welcome when your not around a WiFi connection.

 • As an eReader:  I tried JW Reader to read my Epub publications but it does not underline as easy as Moon+ Reader does. I also use iSilo as it works best with my large publications with lots of internal and external links. Some of my publications come in the PDF format and I have been using ezPDF reader for them. I purchased a Caseen Vibe Long stylus that works quite well, even at low angles, to select links and highlight text, and seems more natural and less cumbersome to use to me than my fingers particularly at meetings.

 • My Apps:  For Isilo I already had a previous license for my Palm E2 so I got an addition license for Isilo 6.x Android for $11.19.  I have gotten most of my Apps from the Google Play Store. Check out my Abbs.. er.. eh.. Apps I use at AppAware.com ;)

 • My Case and Protection: I chose a thin portfolio case by SupCase for $9.99 to protect it but yet to look business like while discreetly using the tablet. The magnetic wake/sleep on open/close flap feature is very handy. I wanted a case that  fits in several of my inside jackets without adding to much pocket hindrance, but it does add some bulk and weight.  It still will just fit in my front suit pockets as well. I also have an ArmorSuit screen protector as I need to use this tablet for years without accidentally scratching the screen, it installed easily and works great. A full coverage insurance policy for tablets can be costly, however I purchased a Square Trade accident and defect insurance for the 8 Gig neXus 7 for 39.99 for 2 years

 • All the research I did to compare 7" tablet features and prices comes down to one simple choice, the neXus 7. This tablet totally blows all other 7" tablets out of the water. With the introduction of this tablet there is now no decision to make as to what 7" tablet to pick. Just so long as you know how to live without an Micro SD card reader.