And not a single mention of the apparent build issues.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jul/22/nexus-7-glass-complaints-google
Google suspended orders of its 16GB Nexus 7 tablet this week, after underestimating demand for the 7in Jelly Bean slate. The company was forced to halt further requests for the £199 slate through its Google Play store, as consumers shunned the cheaper 8GB model in favour of the higher capacity version and swallowed Google's …
<pre>"High end performance and feel, low end price. Couldn't ask for more, and it truly is "buttery smoth", much smother than iOS."</pre>
But no storage ... my phone (<£100 sim free) has more and that's not primarily a media consummation device. Hard to see what purpose it serves if there's not enough storage to watch videos on the plane/holiday and no way to easily switch/expand via an SD card.
Because watching movies is the *only* thing you can do with a tablet on an airplane. Some of us like to catch up on business stuff, like emails, reviewing documents, putting our thoughts down, etc. Some of us like to read, listen to music or play puzzle games. Some of us even like to do a bit coding using AIDE. All of these activities are quite comfortably possible with 8GB of storage.
Not sure why your post has been downvoted to such a degree - I have a Nexus 7, and it's absolutely fantastic. BUT it does have a wobbly screen. I'm not sure how to address this issue at the moment, as Google are apparently completely disinterested in such a mundane problem.
So, to conclude? Love the tablet. Google's customer service however, leaves a lot to be desired.
I would put much trust in anything Charles Arthur writes. He seems to have a hidden agenda going on.
My Nexus7 is superb, and I don't know anyone else personally that's had any issues (I know ALOT of people that have bought one), given the number of units sold, there will clearly be the occasional issue/ shill post claiming problems.
Given that neither Microsoft or Apple have anything to compete, and are the kings of viral marketing, I would put it past them to be behind any of this bullshit (including this post)
The 8GB after everything else actually has 5.9GB of free space and the Nexus 7 doesn't have an expandable storage option.
If the 8GB N7 had an sd slot I can guarantee that it'd be massively outselling the 16GB. These days 8GB (or in this case 5.9GB) is laughable for storage capacity.
Especially if you consider that Transformers download that comes with it weighs in at nearly 3gb... not that I actually intend on watching that piece of crap again, I just wanted to see what the quality was like, honest guv.
I really like my Nexus 7, but there is no way I'd order one with only 8gb of memory in it. Incidentally, mine wouldn't charge on it's first boot, but after a reboot it was fine.
A quick quip, but what's this got to do with Apple?
Be honest Apple products sell out quick because they sell so many and not because they under stock.
In this case there has been a faux pas in that who the hell will want a tablet that only has 8GB storage. That's a marketing and management mistake, not an under stocking or production problem.
Who the hell will want a tablet that only has 8GB storage?
Well me for starters, and plenty of other people I expect who want to browse the web on it, use email, listen to a bit of music, online radio, read ebooks etc etc. Not everyone needs to have a digital music/video jukebox constantly loaded to their kit. For those who do then yes, they need more storage but that's not everyone, very far from it.
I haven't bought one yet because I'm waiting for any initial production issues to be ironed out, I was already caught out by getting the HTC One X on release date and took 4 phones to get one that was put together properly. Early adopter again? Sod that......
Sure, why not? Do you really think that does not happen with other products and companies. It's possible that even Google thought that only die hard Android fans would go for the Nexus 7 and roughly estimated a production run they thought would suffice. Now they know better they can do another production run if both parties (Google and Asus) can break even or make a tiny profit. I'd bet Google would even subsidize Asus because getting more of these devices into people's hands is worth a lot more to Google.
Google seems to live in a utopia of reliable, unlimited, lightning fast internet connections, where everyone uses and trusts cloud services, and said services never have downtime. I mean that they literally - at Google headquarters, I'm sure that's what it's like. And so a low-storage tablet that everything gets streamed to sounds fine.
Streaming everything isn't a satisfactory solution for the real world, though... You can't even connect to a file server on your local network (accessing SMB shares requires a rooted device).
If the nexus 7 had a micro SD card slot, it would be a much more attractive device for people living in the real world.
The free media player I installed lets me connect to a share on my computer and play video files. I have not rooted my N7.
There are reports that you can use a USB OTG cable with a USB memory stick but I have not picked up a cable to test it yet.
No screen problems with my N7.
>There are reports that you can use a USB OTG cable with a USB memory stick but I have not picked up a cable to test it yet.
USB OTG storage, unfortunately requires root. It seems a little daft, but once you have root and download an app from the Play store it works. You shouldn't have to though.
As someone with a NAS that refusese to do UPnp/DLNA, can someone please tell me what I need to make my android (ICS) tablet play media off SMB shares?
In the context of this discussion, please note that a file manager that allows you to copy files across is not an adequate solution - you need local storage space and copying the file leads to a significant delay. I want to be able to just play the media like I could on a normal computer.
Here's the thing - you don't want one, then don't buy one.
Unlocking & Rooting isn't rocket science - especially for readers of El Reg. Put Stickmount on it and you can use USB OTG to access 32 GB thumb-drives - one of the wags over at XDA developer forums has hooked up a floppy-drive to one.
Seriously though, buy what you want to buy, and enjoy what you like.
"All this talk about having to root the flamin thing to get more out of it. If I buy something I just want it to work, not have to faff around with it."
You don't have to root/faff around with it - the original poster just doesn't know how to use the device properly
> You can't even connect to a file server on your local network (accessing SMB shares requires a rooted device).
Nonsense. I have about three different apps downloaded from the Play store that let me connect to samba shares on my PC over the local network. My Nexus 7 is unrooted (I thought it a little early in the day to mess around with it. Looking forward to doing that later though.)
When you buy a Nexus device you buy the reassurance that not only are you likely to be among the first to get future Android version upgrades directly from Google, but you can unlock the bootloader and hack around to your hearts content. The Nexus 7 is no different! It’s easily unlocked via fastboot, easily rooted via our Superboot and easily flashed back to it’s shipping state if everything goes wrong via factory images made available by Google.
For many people this is a considerable plus point when considering the Nexus 7 purchase!
Cheers Paul O'Brien founder of MoDaCo for letting me steal this from your site
I've flown a good few miles in the last year or so. Radio transmitter must be switched off. Specifically mentioned are devices using WIFI and cellular phones.
Is it possible to store 13 hours (LHR to HKG) of video in 8 GB?
Back in the real world, local storage is much more important than Google give credit. Local sorage allows you to do stuf away from the internet. Chromebooks are simularly limited.
and in the meantime follow the threads on XDA forums reporting everything from missing screws to speakers being blown by the Transformers movie plus a never-ending list of display issues
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1674
Might have given up by the time it comes back.
Given how much people pirate on Android with some games seeing up to 90% of users being pirates (http://paritynews.com/software/item/88-developer-switches-paid-android-app-to-free-citing-rampant-piracy) it's no wonder they want the larger model.
They need to realise though the 8G model will be fine though once all the developers dump Android before they go bankrupt.
I really was going to buy one of these!
Till I found out it had no microSD slot. Thats atrocious!
I've been stranded sometimes with gizmos (like phones) unable to connect to my notebook or anything else while traveling and no solutions in sight... only way to get a file on the phone to try and fix the problem was putting it on an SD card and sticking the SD card into my Galaxy S2...
Good old sneaker net...
No matter how cloudy you get, never cut that off...
And he cost to integrate the microSD slot into the hardware? And then test it? The total cost of adding it is a lot more than 0.89 pence. It could easily add another £5 per unit to the manufacturing costs. That would push it over the £160 mark and over the £199 mark which might cause consumers to have a different reaction to the price point. It's a fine line.
I think Google got it right. Their cloud vision is right; even though it's not for everyone right now.
Mine's an 8GB, no build issues, rooted it just to get the tablet mode UI enabled. It's my first tablet and now I don't need to drag a weighty and hot laptop around the house.
I'd rather use the 5.7GB for several hours of TV show episodes than a couple of movies.