Nexus 7 owners - advice for a new owner? - Off-Topic

#1 Posted by xyzygy (8613 posts) - 4 months, 26 days ago

I got a 32GB Nexus 7 for Xmas this morning, turned it on, and was completely unaware with what to do with it. I didn't ask for it or anything, my dad just thought he'd try it on me to see what I thought. Maybe I just don't "get" the purpose of tablets or something.

The thing is, I'm getting a 128GB Surface Pro as soon as they're released. It will be where I can do my small amount of PC gaming (Guild Wars 2 and smaller games like Hotline Miami), my schoolwork (being portable and all), where I'll do my reading, where I'll watch movies, and where I'll store my music for playing over my speakers.

I only got the device today and don't see where this actually fits into my life. What are some important things I should know about the device before I decide to get the refund for it towards the Surface? Any hidden or great uses for it? The whole tablet experience just seems so barebones, and I don't understand their appeal.

#2 Posted by MAGZine (348 posts) - 4 months, 26 days ago

@xyzygy: it's a facebook/twitter device that'll also play movies, music and do reading.

If you have a smartphone, it's all of the non-phone related activities that you'd otherwise use your phone for.

#3 Posted by Turtlebird95 (1229 posts) - 4 months, 26 days ago

I can't really think of anything you could do on your Nexus that can't be done on the Surface Pro. Android Apps?

#4 Edited by Sticky_Pennies (1870 posts) - 4 months, 26 days ago

I love mine. If you read comics at all, I would recommend the Comixology Comics app. It's fantastic, and has a really sharp panel-to-panel view. Either the Kindle or Google Books apps are perfectly fine for reading traditional books. I personally feel like a 7" tablet is a perfect reading size.

I also recommend Pocket Casts for any podcast downloading and syncing that you might do, BaconReader for Reddit, and I personally use Spotify for music. There's also a slick Facebook app called FriendCaster, but I don't use Facebook all that much so there isn't much I can say about that.

Aside from that, you can get an OTG Cable for cheap, and use it to attach portable hard drives, flash drives, etc. to the device, allowing you to transfer movies and such. The screen on the Nexus 7 is very well-suited to that. My video player app of choice is MX Player, which also plays .MKV format. There's some weird-ass games that you might not find on iOS on here too. I've recently been playing a lot of roguelikes such as WazHack, Delver, and Pixel Dungeon. Also keep an eye out for the Humble Android Bundles!

I've seen people use OTG Cables to attach things like PS3 controllers to their Nexus 7, too, but I don't really know how that works.

I should also mention that the Nexus 7 makes a really good GPS, from my experience. But then, I don't have an Android phone. I'm stuck with an iPhone until February.

#5 Posted by JJWeatherman (13875 posts) - 4 months, 26 days ago

@Turtlebird95 said:

I can't really think of anything you could do on your Nexus that can't be done on the Surface Pro. Android Apps?

That would kinda be the thing. From what I've heard, the Windows 8 ecosystem is slim.

I use my Nexus 7 for email, as an alarm clock, a quick web browser, an e-reader, and a score checker, mostly. I find it's not entirely necessary, but still pretty neat. If taking it back and putting the money toward a Surface is an option, then maybe go ahead and do that. There's nothing super mystical or amazing about an Android tablet other than the large app ecosystem.

#6 Edited by YoThatLimp (1553 posts) - 4 months, 26 days ago

I use it for web browsing, calendar, media (music/video) streaming and a replacement for my kindle. It is awesome, so pumped to have it.

#7 Posted by Ravenlight (7066 posts) - 4 months, 26 days ago

Submerge it in liquid and hit it with a hammer!

#8 Posted by Jams (2674 posts) - 4 months, 26 days ago

@Ravenlight said:

Submerge it in liquid and hit it with a hammer!

Submerge it in a hammer and hit it with liquid!

#9 Posted by ManU_Fan10ne (651 posts) - 4 months, 25 days ago

@Jams said:

@Ravenlight said:
Submerge it in liquid and hit it with a hammer!
Submerge it in a hammer and hit it with liquid!

Hammer it in a merger and lick it with a quid!