Google Nexus 7

[Haesslich]

Let me put it this way - with minimal activity, the Acer A100 would lose 3-5% a night on standby; the Kobo Vox about the same, and the Galaxy Tab Plus would go down 1-2% overnight.

And then you've got threads like this one that show standby drains of 1% per hour. I'm wondering what services, besides the screen, are running the tablet's WiFi or GPS to cause issues. That's not normal for tablets with a decent OS (Gingerbread was awful) and battery (above 2500 mAH), not given the variety I've used.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Sounds as though the N7 is a good candidate for a ROM that retains the stock config but without the running services responsible for the drain. I'd expect devs at XDA to be all over that, as you strapping young people say.

Re Google Now: Can't it be turned off in the settings menu? I read that on a web page somewhere, so it has to be true!

(Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to check the reading on my sarcasmometer.)

[taming]

Here are google's recommendation for extending battery life:
http://support.google.com/nexus/bin/...answer=2569202

[Prestidigitweeze]

Thanks for posting that, taming. It looks as though those rather generic recommendations might either have been written before the Nexus 7 (and Jellybean generally) or were written so as not to disinclude devices running on earlier iterations of Android.

Perhaps this page is an adjunct (though one could argue it's a really separate page because it addresses privacy issues):

How to Turn off Google Now

This part bothers me:

Turning off Google Now stops the display of cards and returns Google Now settings to their defaults. . . . Turning off Google Now and location history doesn’t delete existing history or turn off location reporting.

If you haven't turned off location reporting by turning off Google Now, does that mean the location function can or can't be disabled by turning it off under "Location" the way one does in Gingerbread (which is what my hoary Galaxy S with the fabulous Wolfson DAC is running)?

On the surface, I'm sure it looks that way, but stock Android often likes to run battery-depleting services on the DL (as you strapping young people say to one another whilst slapping hands, wearing backward-turned baseball caps and listening to contemporary music by "rap" groups like Naughty by Nature on their minidisc players).

[taming]

What you are really trying to remove (I believe) is stored location history. See: http://support.google.com/nexus/bin/...answer=2667502

There is a lot more under the link, but this part may be what you are looking for:

Delete location history details

Even if you turn off both location reporting and location history, your previously recorded history is still available to Google services such as Google Now.

To delete location history details follow these steps from a desktop computer:

Open a web browser and make sure you’re signed in with the account whose location history you want to manage.
Visit location history.
A page appears that allows you to view your location history for any date.

To delete all your recorded location history, click Delete all history.
Alternatively, from this screen you can delete a portion of your location history starting from a date you choose in the calendar.

Click OK.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Thanks for that.

What I'm actually trying to determine is this: Whether the battery-depleting behavior of Google Now is entirely curbed by turning it off in the settings.

That's the sort of thing Google's instructions rarely tell us, and my unfamiliarity with Jelly Bean and Now is the reason I don't have an answer.

Typical threads on battery life:

Hey, look, people discussing battery life in sleep mode!


O the overwhelming neatitude: Ordinary folks just like us talking about Jelly Bean and battery usage as we talk about their talking about it!

[taming]

I haven't had enough experience with the N7 to know much about this. I do know that with my Nexus S phone, turning all location related services made a huge difference as did turning off automatic syncing.

BTW, I just used the 1.5.2 toolkit to unlock the bootloader and get root. It was easy. I chose that one over the one click because of the backup and restore options in the proggie.

[jackastor]

Well as you all are aware that google has had a number of reports of loose screens or screens falling out. I had the issue with the screen being loose. It was definately not secured properly on the left hand side of the device as viewed from portrait mode.. Also I had noticed that there was some lack of response to touch. This has left me very disapointed with the google device, at least as far as some of the manufactureing goes. Which is strange since I have had in the past Kick ass performance from Asus manufacture. So I was forced to return it to staples and will wait awhile for the second run of products.

Regards

Jack

[taming]

That is one reason I unboxed it at Future Shop, checked for dead pixels, loose screen etc. The staff there was great--had heard about the issues and were happy to assist in this way.

[jackastor]

Just curious to see how happy people are with their Nexus 7 currently?


Regards

Jack

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by jackastor

Just curious to see how happy people are with their Nexus 7 currently?


Regards

Jack

So far I am happy with mine. Any issues I have are just part of the learning curve, having had very little android experience in the past. The battery life is reasonable considering that the display has a backlight.

I am very happy with how much computing power and how many features they packed into this device. It can simultaneously sense the position of all ten fingers. It has a built-in magnetometer (compass), and much more hidden in there.

And I can mount USB flash memory devices using the StickMount applet (after rooting the device).

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

And I can mount USB flash memory devices using the StickMount applet (after rooting the device).

How do you do it if you don't want to root?

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

How do you do it if you don't want to root?

The Nexus 7 supports USB mouse and keyboard, but because Google intentionally removed USB storage access (as an incentive to use their "data mining" cloud storage, it is unlikely that a future firmware update will fix that. The missing external storage also was more profitable because the 16GB devices are selling fast, and there is a much larger profit in that internal storage upgrade.

You can get wireless storage devices, but they cost much more than a USB flash stick or SD card.

The alternative to rooting is to sell your Nexus 7 and buy a device that did NOT remove USB storage access.

If anybody knows of a better way, please post some information about it. Thanks.

Rooting is easy if you use the latest "One-Button" rooter.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

The Nexus 7 supports USB mouse and keyboard, but because Google intentionally removed USB storage access (as an incentive to use their "data mining" cloud storage, it is unlikely that a future firmware update will fix that. The missing external storage also was more profitable because the 16GB devices are selling fast, and there is a much larger profit in that internal storage upgrade.

You can get wireless storage devices, but they cost much more than a USB flash stick or SD card.

The alternative to rooting is to sell your Nexus 7 and buy a device that did NOT remove USB storage access.

If anybody knows of a better way, please post some information about it. Thanks.

Rooting is easy if you use the latest "One-Button" rooter.

Thanks; that's what I thought. Would've been a nice tablet...

[taming]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Thanks; that's what I thought. Would've been a nice tablet...

Didn't we already have this discussion elsewhere on MR?