Ten reasons I dont need the new$200 NEXUS7

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by foreverjuly

But would you pay $200 for that?

If you give me a banana with 5 64GB microSDs inside? Sure I would! Though I would prefer one of our locally grown bananas to a chiquita.

[Jessica Lares]

^ Steve Jobs is dead though, let's not forget that. There will be choices going forward that will most likely not be Jobs approved, but it's going to go through no matter what and it's going to either be good or bad for Apple. That new Retina MacBook Pro is something that would have been saved for another year for example. And it would have been different. RAM for one thing would have been replaceable.

Apple doesn't NEED more features to succeed in the smaller tablet space. Their iTunes store has everything that Google Play has, but with much more selection, and much better polished applications done by amazing developers for iOS. Their iTunes U section is AMAZING, I can't even fit all of it in my 500GB hard drive, and it's a breeze to browse podcasts.

[geoffwood]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

^ Steve Jobs is dead though, let's not forget that. There will be choices going forward that will most likely not be Jobs approved, but it's going to go through no matter what and it's going to either be good or bad for Apple. That new Retina MacBook Pro is something that would have been saved for another year for example. And it would have been different. RAM for one thing would have been replaceable.

I'm not sure I agree with that. My MacBook Air was designed in Steve's time, but the memory is firmly soldered in, not user replaceable. I think Steve was a big driver behind the drive to non-replaceable batteries and memory. Geeks want everything to be upgradeable or replaceable. End users want things to be simple and non-intimidating. Steve was trying to remove processor specs and memory specs from the buying decision and have people focus on what really matters to most which is the storage capacity and the screen. You don't see iPad's with replaceable parts. I suspect the Retina Macbook was well through the design process before Steve left us, as were most products we will see in the next 12-24 months.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by rgc2005

Steve Jobs said that Apple would never make a smaller iPad. Putting the new iTablet into the "Touch" family would preserve his wishes and re-energize a soon to be irrelevant product line. This could provide Apple a smoother upgrade path for non-iPhone users into the IOS.

There's a problem with this so-called "upgrade path". Quite a few of us have media players (iPod touche/ Galaxy Player) instead of smartphones, because we refuse to pay for data plans.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

There's a problem with this so-called "upgrade path". Quite a few of us have media players (iPod touche/ Galaxy Player) instead of smartphones, because we refuse to pay for data plans.

I don't have an cellular data plan either--just data for TXT messages, no mobile email. That is why I have a high maintenance Android phone rather than an iPhone--iphones require a data plan. However, you and I are SOL as the trend seems to be to push us into the cloud, and without a parachute I might add! I think the push to the clouds is why none of our new devices from Apple, Amazon, and Google have SD card slots. I'm afraid the big boys are saying in effect, "Either use our cloud or do without!" Its pretty much extortion in my opinion.

As far as Apple possibly coming out with a smaller iPad (or larger iPod touch) goes, I'll believe it when I see it. I hope they do as i love my iPad and my iPod touch much better than all the Android devices I've ever owned. But I fear that all we will get this year will be a slightly larger touch with a 4 inch screen, if we even get that. Rumors are going about that the next iPhone will have a 4 inch screen, so that is why I think it might also get put on the touch. After all, 3.5 inch screens are way too small these days.

I personally would prefer a new iPod touch with a 5 inch screen and a battery that will actually last more than 2 to 3 hours over a 7 inch iPad, but I'm probably one of the few who thinks that way. A 5 inch touch would be pocketable unlike a 7 inch iPad. I already own a 9.7 inch iPad and all the 7 inch tablets I owned were too small. I hate to agree with Jobs, I hated that jerk and the Apple culture of fanboism in general, but for my experience a tablet smaller than the iPad is just too small for internet browsing, document editing, spreadsheets, etc. Perhaps 7 inch tablets are okay for books, games and audio, but that is about all.

[rgc2005]

All valid points.
Whatever devices are released this summer Apple has a huge advantage in content offerings with iTunes and a 5 year head start.
Google has just set a new market price point with the $199 Nexus 7. Aimed squarely at the Kindle Fire, either by accident or design, they also entered the fray with an iPod Touch competitor. I am pretty sure Apple is thanking their lucky stars that Google released the N7 so early giving them plenty of time to react.
I am waiting until this fall to get a replacement for my Kindle Fire.

[geoffwood]

Originally Posted by jswinden

for my experience a tablet smaller than the iPad is just too small for internet browsing, document editing, spreadsheets, etc. Perhaps 7 inch tablets are okay for books, games and audio, but that is about all.

It's the difference between consumption of content and creation of content. For consumption a 7 inch screen should be okay, I can surf and handle email on my Galaxy Note. For document editing I'll step up to my iPad. i did get a Fire in the hope that it would bridge the gap and be "good enough" but it wasn't a very good compromise, too big to be pocketable, but not big enough for real "work". Then again, Apple seems to sell plenty of 11 inch MacBook Air's which are too small for my bad eyes and fat fingers, so what do I know

Originally Posted by geoffwood

It's the difference between consumption of content and creation of content. For consumption a 7 inch screen should be okay, I can surf and handle email on my Galaxy Note. For document editing I'll step up to my iPad. i did get a Fire in the hope that it would bridge the gap and be "good enough" but it wasn't a very good compromise, too big to be pocketable, but not big enough for real "work". Then again, Apple seems to sell plenty of 11 inch MacBook Air's which are too small for my bad eyes and fat fingers, so what do I know

Unfortunately 7 inch tablets make bad web browsers. Many websites force it into a mobile web page designed for even smaller phone screens, full sized pages require lots of side to side scrolling, and web browser that scale down to display the whole page make it difficult to read due to the tiny text. I tried many different browsers on the Fire and they all made web browsing pretty awful. As you said though, email, video, music, and things which look okay on a 7 inch screen are doable. Reading books was pretty good, though the Amazon Kindle app for the Fire was sub par.

[stanleystarrh]

Has anyone had actual usage of both products? I'm thinking about purchasing the Nexus 7

[afv011]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Unfortunately 7 inch tablets make bad web browsers. Many websites force it into a mobile web page designed for even smaller phone screens, full sized pages require lots of side to side scrolling, and web browser that scale down to display the whole page make it difficult to read due to the tiny text.

On ICS and JB you can request the Desktop version of a page. Also, the Nexus 7, in landscape mode, has a width of 1280px; most websites are designed for 1024px, so they should display nicely.

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

There's a problem with this so-called "upgrade path". Quite a few of us have media players (iPod touche/ Galaxy Player) instead of smartphones, because we refuse to pay for data plans.

I'm paying $45/month for my iPhone 4 with unlimited talk/text/data and no contract.

Owning an iPhone is getting cheaper and cheaper. It's not quite as cheap as even the top-of-the-line Android phones but much cheaper than it used to be. That trend will continue.

[Jessica Lares]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

I'm paying $45/month for my iPhone 4 with unlimited talk/text/data and no contract.

Owning an iPhone is getting cheaper and cheaper. It's not quite as cheap as even the top-of-the-line Android phones but much cheaper than it used to be. That trend will continue.

You don't really save money, it's just less going out of your pocket every month. Almost $600 off-contract. $1,080 for two years at $45. Add the phone price and it's $1,680 plus taxes.

The contract phones on the other hand are $200 at 16GB, and around $60 per month which is $1,440 plus taxes.

$200/yr extra just for getting that unlimited plan. It used to be A LOT more cheaper.

[geoffwood]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

You don't really save money, it's just less going out of your pocket every month. Almost $600 off-contract. $1,080 for two years at $45. Add the phone price and it's $1,680 plus taxes.

The contract phones on the other hand are $200 at 16GB, and around $60 per month which is $1,440 plus taxes.

$200/yr extra just for getting that unlimited plan. It used to be A LOT more cheaper.

To correct a couple of points:

1. If your math was correct (which it isn't), that's not $200/year, it is $200 over two years, so $100/year
2. You forgot to factor in the cost of the phone in the second example, so the $200 difference just evaporated. The difference is $40 over 2 years to get unlimited data and be contract free.

Certainly mobile data is not cheap, but for a lot of people it is as important, if not more so, than their home internet connection. I am grandfathered on an unlimited data plan from AT&T, together with a Samsung Note running CM9 I can wirelessly tether any WiFi device at LTE speeds so for me it is money well spent.

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

You don't really save money, it's just less going out of your pocket every month. Almost $600 off-contract. $1,080 for two years at $45. Add the phone price and it's $1,680 plus taxes.

The contract phones on the other hand are $200 at 16GB, and around $60 per month which is $1,440 plus taxes.

$200/yr extra just for getting that unlimited plan. It used to be A LOT more cheaper.

No, I really AM saving money. $1080 + $310 (new 32GB iPhone 4) = $1390 (plus taxes).To get a comparable plan on-contract costs $100/month+$300 (for the iPhone). $2700 for the same 2 year period. A comparable option for a good Android phone is about the same $1390 over the 2 year period.

Besides, where are you getting the $60/month number for unlimited talk/text/data for an iPhone?

[afv011]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

... (new 32GB iPhone 4) ...

Why would you get a 2 year old phone? In this day and age, 2 years is an eternity.