Nexus 7

I had a iPad 3 which I really liked except for the size. It always felt too big for me, so I have been looking for a smaller tablet for a while. I thought of getting the iPad Mini, but it was a little above my budget. Today I picked up a Nexus 7 at the local Office Depot. Originally I was going to purchase a 16 GB model, however they didn’t have that model available. So I ended up getting the 32 GB model for a total of $264.99 (tax included), the second to last one they had in stock. I opened it up as soon as I got home and started to set it up. The first thing I noticed was it was heavier than I thought it would be. It feels good in my hands though, the weight is well distributed. I have the hands of an average American woman and I can hold it in portrait mode in the palm of one hand. Although I am not sure how long I would want to hold it that way, since my hand was open as far as it could be comfortably.

The set up was fairly straight forward, first it asked me what language I wanted. It then asked for my Google information and whether it could collect location information. The set up itself took a little while, I already have a Galaxy Nexus phone, so it had to download and than update all the applications. Once that was done I also had to download and install a system update. The tablet is now at 4.2.1 Jellybean.

When the setup was finished I started to place apps into folders and put them on to the screen. When I did that I noticed how small the folders were. They were phone size instead of tablet size. I am hoping the size is adjustable, that something I will have to explore. Right now having really small folders, just looks weird. I really like how widgets look and work on the Nexus 7. I watched a brief YouTube video and it looked and played great. Photos also look great on it. I haven’t taken any pictures with it, so I can’t comment on how well it takes photographs. I am use to either typing on a phone or a large tablet, so I will have to get use to typing on it. Text is crisp and easy to read on it. The battery life seems to be ok, it wasn’t fully charged when I started to use it, so it is hard to judge.

I have only had the Nexus 7 less than a day now, but so far I am very happy with it. I like the way it feels in my hands and how smoothly it runs. If you are on the fence about getting a Nexus 7, I would recommend it.