Nexus 7: Is lack of SD card port a deal breaker for you?

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, it supports USB-OTG, but only for things like mice and keyboards. According to the Nexus user guide, it doesn't support USB memory sticks via USB-OTG.

Does it specifically say it doesn't support USB mass storage, or does it just not mention it?

[taming]

It leaves any mention of USB mass storage out.

[Kumabjorn]

If Play Store and Cloud Services are their raison d'etre it would make sense not to mention anything about USB storage. Basically power users and forum dwellers would be the only segment aware of the "bonus" feature.

[SeaKing]

Folks, I am getting older and crankier and maybe a little lazier. I hate getting nickel and dimed to death.

I don't want a spider web connection of devices with cables and dongles. I want the "whole thing" in one neat smooth functioning package that slides in and out of a pocket or a carrier and is ready to go.

The keyboard cover they talked about for the MS tablet caught my eye immediately.

Sure I understand that throwing everything into a single package may put that package out of reach of some, but there is no reason we can't provide for smooth upgrades.

What happened to the idea of choice. 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64, and so on.
I wouldn't mind them having an economical model like the 8GB and then skipping straight to 32GB internal memory.
Or personally I would prefer them to have 8GB internal for the economical folks and then (TWO) SD slots that could be used as you like.
And of course the USB port/s should be all purpose.

[The Terminator]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Folks, I am getting older and crankier and maybe a little lazier. I hate getting nickel and dimed to death.

I don't want a spider web connection of devices with cables and dongles. I want the "whole thing" in one neat smooth functioning package that slides in and out of a pocket or a carrier and is ready to go.

The keyboard cover they talked about for the MS tablet caught my eye immediately.

Sure I understand that throwing everything into a single package may put that package out of reach of some, but there is no reason we can't provide for smooth upgrades.

What happened to the idea of choice. 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64, and so on.
I wouldn't mind them having an economical model like the 8GB and then skipping straight to 32GB internal memory.
Or personally I would prefer them to have 8GB internal for the economical folks and then (TWO) SD slots that could be used as you like.
And of course the USB port/s should be all purpose.

Then you should just wait for the next gen of more expensive tablets, I might pick up a dongle for Nexus 7 but that depends if I really need it or not (Probably not).


Remember that each new port that they add costs another $20-$30, so don't expect a device that is $199 (Sold at cost when you buy from the Play store) to have a ton of ports. If you want the high res screen and are willing to wait a month or two and then spend $350+ dollars then you will probably get a 32GB with SD, USB, and HDMI.

[spellbanisher]

I'm not in the market for a tablet, but if I was no sd would be a deal breaker.

[taming]

I just read an Engadget review of the $2100 Macbook Pro. You now need a dongle to replace the Ethernet port. It doesn't have an optical drive. Some folks are fine with it, some not so much. No matter what price point we are talking about, the companies that make our toys and devices select what they will include. Some of the decisions may be entirely price driven, others by design concerns, and still others because they want to have the devices used in ways that are advantageous to them over the life of the machine.

We show how we feel about these decisions with our dollars--our buying decisions. Part of that means being willing to pay more if we want more.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

Does it specifically say it doesn't support USB mass storage, or does it just not mention it?

AnandTech has confirmed that USB mass storage isn't supported, see MHL and USB-OTG on the Nexus 7 - Mounting USB Storage Not Supported.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by taming

I just read an Engadget review of the $2100 Macbook Pro. You now need a dongle to replace the Ethernet port. It doesn't have an optical drive. Some folks are fine with it, some not so much.

Remember this Lenovo commercial from a few years back?

[taming]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

AnandTech has confirmed that USB mass storage isn't supported, see MHL and USB-OTG on the Nexus 7 - Mounting USB Storage Not Supported.

I believe the point was not that it isn't supported (we all seem to know that) but that Google has not ruled out support in the future by specifically listing it as unsupported in the manual. For those that are so inclined, root has been achieved and Stick Mount works for attaching things like SD cards and USB flashdrives. Not for direct play of videos and music at this point, but for file transfers on to the device.

[plib]

Originally Posted by spellbanisher

I'm not in the market for a tablet, but if I was no sd would be a deal breaker.

+1 No USB/SD. No deal.

Originally Posted by taming

I just read an Engadget review of the $2100 Macbook Pro. You now need a dongle to replace the Ethernet port. (snip) We show how we feel about these decisions with our dollars--our buying decisions. Part of that means being willing to pay more if we want more.

In that case, it means paying more to get less.

[plib]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

In that case, it means paying more to get less.

Of course it does. It's a Mac.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

In that case, it means paying more to get less.

Meh, an ethernet port is maybe a good emergency fallback in case a router dies, but optical drives are basically obsolete. Both the drives and the associated media take up a lot of space, as well as generating noise and heat in operation and being extremely prone to failure. Many people rip them out of older Macbooks to install additional hard drives or SSDs. Even for a desktop machine, it makes more sense to keep an external drive boxed in a closet for occasional use.

Certainly there's an element of, "If you want media on your Macbook, you will get it from iTunes!" but it's really not a comparable design decision to omitting all external storage. What optical drives and ethernet ports on laptops have in common is that they go unused 98.72568% of the time, whereas most Android users do take advantage of expandable storage on a more or less constant basis.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by taming

I just read an Engadget review of the $2100 Macbook Pro. You now need a dongle to replace the Ethernet port. It doesn't have an optical drive. Some folks are fine with it, some not so much. No matter what price point we are talking about, the companies that make our toys and devices select what they will include. Some of the decisions may be entirely price driven, others by design concerns, and still others because they want to have the devices used in ways that are advantageous to them over the life of the machine.

We show how we feel about these decisions with our dollars--our buying decisions. Part of that means being willing to pay more if we want more.

Just want to point out that it is only the retina screen model that doesn't have the optical drive and you need a dongle to plug in an ethernet cable. The other models still have those features.