How I finally came to accept tablets (as a proud owner of the N7)

[TVF]

Hey guys! I recently wrote an article about my indecision over whether or not tablets were necessary. In it, I describe how the N7 managed to convince me of the fact that these devices are pretty darn amazing.

Here's a small snippet and a link in case you are interested in seeing how I went from despising tablets to being an ecstatic owner of the Nexus 7

I'll start off by saying that I recently bought a Google Nexus 7, and love it so far. For you to understand how I got to this point though, I'll need to start from the beginning...

I was always a skeptic when it came to owning a tablet. In fact, I held fast to the idea that they were pointless. Until now.

It all started in 2010 when Apple came out with the Ipad. It seemed to me like a nice toy to play around with. A luxury item that the rich could flaunt in the faces of us poorer folk while they gleefully loaded up Angry Birds on the morning train to work. In other words, nothing that had any practical use.



I just didn't get it. A 10 inch fragile screen that does everything a budget laptop can do, for twice the cost. On top of all that, it lacked a keyboard, so it would be useless for word documents and taking notes.

As someone who often finds themselves in a classroom, I did not find that at all attractive.

Flash forward two years, and my perspective has completely reversed. This is mainly due to two reasons: the influence of smartphones in my life and the more diverse range of tablets on the market.

Link to full article:

Gain Sense!: How I Finally Came to Accept Tablets

Hopefully this convinces other people who are afraid to make the jump into the tablet world to finally take the plunge!

 

[JunBringer]

Yeah the N7 has opened me up to getting a tablet as well. Especially the price point and pure google experience.

 

[mttfrog13]

I still can't make the jump into the tablet world. I just feel like the nexus 7 is a big galaxy nexus, which already has a huge screen for a phone. The n7 doesn't really offer any functionality that my gnexn't doesn't. I wish the screen was 8". But I guess that if the screen were too big, it basically wouldn't be any more portable than my laptop and not offer the functionality of a laptop so the tablet would be redundant.

 

[Deleted User]

Me too, very anti tablet, but so many good reviews and price I gave in and got one. Just love it for e mail, reading the papers, and love the big screen for texting using the Tablet Talk app. I have always used my phone for watching DVDs when on long budget airline flights so I am looking forward to the enhanced experience when I fly to the Canaries in November. I should also add its made me a convert to pure Android and I think my next phone will also be a Nexus.

 

[breadnatty08]

Nice write up TVF, and welcome to the forums!
Just being a techie, I jumped on the Nook Color last year since I had a B&N gift card to help with the cost. Even with having CM7 on it, it was still sluggish and heavy.
Found out about the $100 discount for a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and figured I'd give it a shot. Even still, with Honeycomb it wasn't terribly fun to use (and it JUST got ICS a couple weeks ago).
Found out about the discounted HTC Flyer at BB and jumped on it for only $100. I really did like it, but running Gingerbread, it wasn't the best tablet experience.
Really love my N7. Find myself using it as the primary tablet in the house just because it's so light, and using Tapatalk for AF is really nice on a 7" device.

 

[ChelsNicole]

Thanks for the post TVF. I'm still trying to decide if I should get the Nexus (or any tablet for that matter). I have a work laptop, home laptop, and Droid Bionic. However, I'm starting to travel a bit for work so I'm thinking that it might be nice to take a tablet along (although WiFi is not always available during travel).

I'm also a grad student, so a tablet might be nice to use during class for reading materials/notes (although again, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to get WiFi at my outdated campus). I definitely can't get WiFi at work.

Any advice anyone can offer? I'm thinking that since WiFi isn't always available, I should get the 16GB, but the extra cash is a bit of a turn off. Also, how long do you expect you'll have your tablet and that it will still be usable (1 year? 2 years?) Thanks in advance!

 

[mttfrog13]

I still can't make the jump into the tablet world. I just feel like the nexus 7 is a big galaxy nexus......

I gave in and just got the N7. It's pretty nice, but I still wish it was 1/2 to 1" bigger to really differentiate itself from my gnex. I guess I will just hold on to this and if 8 or 9" nexus tablet comes out, I will probably sell the n7 at a small loss and get the new version. It will be relatively easy since I won't be dealing with a contract termination with a cell phone carrier.

Any advice anyone can offer? I'm thinking that since WiFi isn't always available, I should get the 16GB, but the extra cash is a bit of a turn off. Also, how long do you expect you'll have your tablet and that it will still be usable (1 year? 2 years?) Thanks in advance!

I'd say that if you travel or are in school, then the tablet will probably be worth it. Personally, one of the main reasons I got it, although I don't travel and I'm not in college anymore is because I was debating on getting an ereader anyway, and also, I play a lot of games which this is really good for. Additionally I like having something around the house that I can pick up and check email or browse a few sites without having to use my laptop (which needs to be replaced. I can't even unplug my laptop without it shutting off after 2 minutes because the battery has gone bad).

Overall I'd say that I'm 90% satisfied with the gnex itself (it could be an inch bigger), but I'm only really utilizing the tablet at about 60% of it's worth. It doesn't completely fill a hole or need between my laptop and cell phone. I'm really still on the fence about this tablet's usefulness and whether I really want and/or need it.

Anyway, as far as the wifi thing, if I were you I would just think about the things you will be using the tablet for and access whether you will need wifi to do those things or not, and if wifi will be available to use. For example, I plan on using it during lunch at work. Although I can't use the wifi at work, I don't need wifi to play games or read books on it. If you're planning on using the internet while you're out and about I would suggest getting a tethering plan, or look into rooting your phone. I am considering tethering the N7 with my gnex, but there is word that verizon can somehow detect when you tether your device and will switch your plan over if you tether while you don't actually subscribe to a tethering plan with them.

Also, unless you plan on playing a lot of tegra games which can be around 1GB, are going to be watching a lot of movies while off wifi, or if you have a ton of music you want to keep available offline, then I'd say 8gb is enough.

just my $0.02

 

[CrackBaby]

. I am considering tethering the N7 with my gnex, but there is word that verizon can somehow detect when you tether your device and will switch your plan over if you tether while you don't actually subscribe to a tethering plan with them.

If you side load foxfi, you should be fine.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2