Google's Nexus 7 Tablet Has Defeated My iPad

For the last few weeks, I've been using the Google Nexus 7 tablet as my main tablet experience, instead of my iPad. For $200, you get the best bang for your buck compared to the $500 new iPad (or $400 iPad 2)

Just to be clear, tablets are not laptop replacements - they are somewhat "fun" accessories to your main computer. It's great for taking things on the go. And Google has hit the nail on the head in terms of size, power, and battery life.

The Nexus is a 7 inch tablet that offers great portability without significantly sacrificing visual detail. It feels like a book in your hands, which makes it easier to pull out while on a subway or late night reading in the bed. It makes the 10 inch iPad feel unwieldly in comparison.

Being smaller helps. The 7 inch form factor also offers a better gaming experience. Many games that I tend to like - such as side scrolling platformers like Sonic the Hedgehog or first person shooters like Modern Combat - have touch screen versions of control pads and buttons, and it's more comfortable to wrap your hands around a 7 inch device than a 10 inch one.

I enjoy being able to download any file from the internet, even if I can't open it on the Nexus. I can hook it up to a omputer and drag and drop files from the tablet to the computer and vice versa, instead of having to go through iTunes. I can install a video game emulator and play old Nintendo games with a Nintendo Wii controller, something not possible on an iPad. It really feels like connecting a huge flash drive to your computer.

The biggest issue I have with the Nexus 7 is preventing your tablet from slowing to a crawl because too many applications are open. You have to either visit the "Apps" section in settings which is like Task Manager in Windows, or you need to download a third party Task killer application. I went with the latter, and tasks restart after being killed. I found my tablet getting slower and slower, something that was easier to remedy on the iPad.

So the verdict? Power users with some money may still prefer the iPad, but the vast majority of folks should go Nexus 7. It's half the price and close enough in terms of power and available apps to make it the best deal. Just make sure to read up on how to properly close programs so your tablet doesn't slow to a crawl and you'll be good to go!

Two Tablets Is Not As Insane As You May Think

I've been an iPad user from the beginning, but I'm always wary about remaining tied to one brand. I'm always look for new technology out there that gives the best bang for your buck. Because of that, I'm the proud owner of the new Google Nexus 7 tablet. Now, you may ask, what the hell do you need two tablets for? It turns out that if your work involves constantly flipping between different windows to refer to pieces of information, two tablets may make more sense than you may expect.

During a recent visit at a coffee shop, I needed to test some computer programs that I'm working on. Normally I would use a heavy programming book for reference, but I used my iPad, shown on the left, to display the eBook. I connected my keyboard to the Nexus 7 tablet and began typing away.  It worked very well and it was much easier to navigate than a laptop, since I had one device dedicated to reading and the other strictly for typing.

This can definitely be done with a laptop, but you don't have the benefit of two screens that can each be dedicated to a task. And you get the obvious benefits of dealing with touch and the speed of a mobile system that the tablet provides.

This is just one of the interesting intersection points between the Nexus 7 and iPad tablets - I'll have a longer post coming soon that delves into this more.

Keep Up With Tech Without Going Broke

So I blacked out and when I woke up I had a preorder for the new Google Nexus 7 tablet lined up and ready to go. I swear, it's not my fault! Ok, it is. The good news is that I didn't put myself in any financial trouble because I already had the money stashed away for emergency gadget buying.

I prioritize what's important by allocating a large part of my take home pay after bills, savings, and regular expenses to spend on whatever I want. As you can tell by this blog, I love tech and science. So I save this splurge money every paycheck until I find something I want that's tech and science related, so that I can get it with no worries.

This only works if you go cheap on things that you don't really care for. For me, a big chunk of that is for clothes. I wear clothes until they die and don't care much about what's the fashionable wear for this year or season. I also rarely go out and spend massive amounts on drinks or other expenses involving in clubbing. I spend minimally on this and other stuff so that I can splurge on what I love.

Don't go broke ... just adjust your priorities!