Google Nexus 7 Tablet A Lightfooted, Nimble, And Inexpensive Alternative To Apple’s Larger iPad

Low End Mac’s Alan Zisman recalls that back in 2010, Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs famously suggested that no one wanted a 7″ tablet. Apple’s iPad has a 10″ (9.7″ to be precise) screen, and Mr. Jobs’s reasoning was that 7″ was too large to fit in a pocket like a mobile phone but too small for more data-rich tablet apps. That, and none of that first generation of non-iPad tablets had sold particularly well.

However, Google wants to prove Jobs wrong, and its new Nexus 7 tablet, manufactured ASUS and powered by Google’s new Jelly Bean Android 4.1 mobile operating system, has a 7″ display and an attractive price: US$199/Can$209 with 8 GB of storage, US$249/Can$259 for a 16 GB model.

The low prices, says Zisman, don’t equate to low-end specifications, noting that on the Nexus 7 apps open quickly, screens display smoothly, and links and special effects run without a hitch – which was not the case on other Android tablets he’s tested. Google had claimed a design objective for Jelly Bean was to make Android feel “buttery,” and Zisman says it has succeeded, although the fly-in-the-ointment is that compared with Apple’s huge library of tablet-optimized apps, relatively few Android apps have been designed for tablet use.

However, he points out that the Nexus’s 7″ screen works to its advantage in that context because Android apps designed for mobile phone screens work just fine, although the smaller panel is not nearly as touch typing-friendly as the larger iPad’s virtual KB. Back in the positive column, Zisman notes that the smaller size display works well for ebooks – perhaps better than the larger iPad since you can comfortably hold it in one hand and it fits into large pockets, and battery life is at least the equal of the iPad.

Applying the automotive analogy, Zisman says using the Nexus 7 makes makes going back to his laptop feel like driving a truck and his iPad like the family sedan. Most of the time he’d rather use the Nexus 7, which feels more like driving a peppy sports car for most of his city driving.

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