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Nexus 7 Test Drive Part 3

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battery life
Here is the final part of the test drive.
Day 5
 
Went to use the Nexus this morning and I had put it on charge overnight so it should be full again. Unplugged it and switched it on and everything OK. Used it for a few hours on and off, in between laptop usage etc. Then glanced at the battery symbol to see it was very low. Brought down the info and it indeed was at 31%. I then thought through all I had done and thought there must have be a battery issue. Sorry it wasn’t the Nexus fault it was mine. I realised I had indeed plugged it in overnight, but had not pushed the connector in until it clicked into the Nexus. So it had not been on charge at all. DOH!
Anyhow back to the unit and all its uses. Today I played with it and pushed it to switch between Apps and Surf the net and my usual Facebook and social media feeds for checking. I read and answered emails on it and did it falter? No, it just kept producing the same high level of performance.
I intend tomorrow to take a screen shot of the battery in the evening after the unit has been used during the day, just to prove to you that it does live up to the praise I am heaping upon it.
I have also asked two contacts of mine, one who is an IT Guru and super GEEK and another who is a discerning architect. Both have the Nexus 7 and I simply asked what are your thoughts. They both heaped praise on it. One stating that he uses it more than his laptop now. The other said very fast Internet surfing. No complaints, even his kids use it and think it its brilliant. So it’s not just me that is experiencing this performance.
 
I will report tomorrow and sum up my overall opinion of the Nexus 7.
I bet you can’t wait.
 
Day 6
 
Used tablet most of the day today. External locations connecting to networks easily and fast. Tried screen tester programme to see graphics and speed. All I can say is it doesn’t phase this unit at all.
I will miss this tablet when giving it back and can easily see myself getting one of my own.
Just to round things up and to prove the battery usage I have attached a photo screenshot of the battery at the end of day 5.
 
To summarise
 
This has been a great test drive and I can only recommend all aspects of the Nexus 7. It has not let me down no matter what I have thrown at it. Even moving from a 10 inch to a 7 inch has not phased me due to the excellent resolution.
The cost of this unit is also excellent and the apps available through the play store are just amazing.
How would I rate it? 9 out of 10. I had to drop one point just to seem fair.
Hope you found this useful, let me know your thoughts.

Nexus 7 Test Drive Part 2

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Google nexus 7

Here is the much anticipated part two of my journey with the Nexus 7 tablet test drive.

Day 3

Not using it today as fixed to my desk, however went down to switch it on and take a photo and it would not switch on. Did some Googling and found that this happens and holding the power button is the only way to get it to come on. So held the power button in for 30 to 40 secs and she came to life. Put her on charge just in case.
Will check later today. That’s not a good feature though, is there a problem here with the Nexus 7, the only one I have found so far, but could be major.
Have been using the Nexus since around 5pm and no problems to report. 10pm at night and battery is still 73%. This is exceptional. Read a few chapters of a book today using it at lunchtime and it was very easy to read and battery not really affected.
Overall day 3 and still very impressed. More positives than negatives. Exceptional for the money they are asking for this unit, £159 for 16Gb at time of going to print. And fast and very responsive. I think one of the main things that impresses me is the responsiveness of the screen to touch. The latest jelly bean keyboard using a form of swipe is amazing. Using it to type this. Well see you again on day 4.

Day 4

Sorry guys it’s been a quieter day today. All has gone well. I am to be honest finding it difficult to find negatives with this unit. One maybe the lack of camera on the rear of the unit. It might be handy having one. However, it is not something I am missing, so this might be a personal choice.
Other than that I can’t find any other negatives. Battery has been Perfect all day and I have used it a lot this evening to check Facebook and the Internet about various topics. At end of day Battery was still showing 28%. I am putting it on charge anyway as I intend to use it a lot tomorrow. I can’t seem to phase this unit. It handles all my important apps, such as email, two separate email clients and 3 accounts. Internet browsing using Chrome. Social media packages such as Facebook, Hootsuite and LinkedIn.

No, there has so far only been the one occasion when it did not start and had to have the power button held in. Other than that it has been exceptional. The weight is right, the size is right and the speed and responsiveness is perfect. Most of all the battery life is the best I have experienced on a tablet computer.

Well, I will see you on Day 5 and 6, we will see how things go.

You can also get a 32Gb version of the unit for £199 at time of going to press.

See you again soon.

 

Nexus 7 Test Drive Part 1

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Google nexus 7

Yes I know I am late in this as everyone and their mother seems to have done a review already on the nexus 7. But there is nothing like actually test driving something for yourself to be able to give a honest review and tell your followers all the good things and bad things.

So here I go, I have been given a Nexus 7 to test drive for a few weeks and see if I can adapt from using a 10 inch screen down to a 7 inch. To be honest I thought this would be a major problem and one of my first points to raise in a review, however here is what I am finding so far. You decide: –

Day 1

1. Smaller size. (Positive) (198.5 x 120 x 10.45 mm)
2. Good resolution (Positive) (7” 1280×800 (216ppi))
3. Fast (Positive) (NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 quad-core processor)
4. Stable (Positive) (Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean))
5. Easy to use (Positive)
6. Easy to handle (Positive)
7. Lighter to carry around (Positive)  (340g (WiFi Only))
8. Need a case that stands by itself as opposed to flexible case. (Negative)
9. Smaller screen size not an issue as I thought it would be (Positive)
10. Battery life so far very good, day one (Positive) (4,325 mAh battery)
11. Connection very fast to networks and internet. (Positive) (Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n)

9.30pm day one and battery is still 65%. Have used it a reasonable amount so very good battery usage. Liking it a lot. The screen size does not seem to be an issue and I have adapted very easily to the 7 inch factor. The resolution is amazing of course and this certainly helps.(7” 1280×800 (216ppi))
Struggling to find real negatives with this.

Day 2

Used it on and off today. Battery still 75% at 8pm at night.
Connected to a number of different networks and all went well. Still no problems with anything. Read material on it today and screen was OK with reading in a number of different lighting conditions. The real benefit was it fitted into my inside pocket of my jacket, my 10 inch can’t do this I am afraid.
Negatives today, none to report so far.
Did not charge overnight will see tomorrow how battery is and how long it lasts.
56% when I shut it down at 11.45pm

Will report as the test drive progresses and see what else I find, so far no real negatives to report, but I am sure there must be some. I suppose it would be good to try a Wi-Fi and data package Nexus, maybe next time.

Watch this space and see how this develops.

Which tablet device do you have and why have you chosen it? What rings your bells when you think of such a device?

Ian Thomson

Founder/Senior Trainer/Consultant

IT Turning Point

What should you carry around with you, A Window, an Android or an Apple?

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training and consultancy

Yes that’s the burning question today, the mobile smart phone market is heating up for the next round of devices and various manufacturers are hedging their bets on one of the above.

Nokia have got into bed with Microsoft and have launched their next range of mobile phones with the new Windows 7.5 mobile on board, Samsung have launched some windows based offerings as well. Google have upped the pace by purchasing the mobile side of Motorola so all Motorola offerings in the near future should be running Android and with the launch of Jelly Bean and there is Keylime Pie in the wings. With this latest version the stakes are greater than ever before.

Apple have launched the IPhone 5, with the 5S rumoured as I type, but are experiencing battery drain where some people are reporting it only lasting half a day of usage. Is a phone even a phone anymore?

It is no doubt that this is a lucrative market and an article I read recently said that 60% of the UK market had smart phones. They do so much more than just telephone people and have revolutionised the way we browse the Internet and get fed information. You only have to look at any news broadcast to see the effect that social media via smart phones is changing how we get our information. People even interact with their favourite Television shows via social networking on their mobile phone while watching the television. Instant comment and voting.

So what does the future hold? Well we can look forward to even smarter devices and the more interactivity than ever before. But will you opt for the Window, the Android or the Apple as they all fight for market share and each one trying to top the others dominance of the market. Of course there is even talk of new OS’s coming into the phone market, with Blackberry and LG etc. testing them.

I will try and keep you informed as much as we can with the changes as they happen.

Happy Mobiling

Ian Thomson

Founder/Trainer/Consultant