Nexus 10

Dr Lobster* · Tue 30 Oct, 2012 19.27

i'm well and truly over my disappointment with the Surface tablet, my attention moves onto the very interesting looking Nexus 10 tablet.

t doesn't have the lovely flip cover with the built in keyboard, it does have the more mature Google Play ecosystem.

What are your thoughts? from the spec it looks lovely and £319 price point, is pretty hard to beat.

Jake · Tue 30 Oct, 2012 21.25

The resolution sounds fantastic, but I just don't think I'd use a tablet enough to justify buying one.

Definitely upgrading to the Nexus 4 though.

http://www.google.com/nexus/

Dr Lobster* · Tue 30 Oct, 2012 21.44

since me and the lady have had an ipad and a decent phones, the laptop hasn't been used for months and i rarely use my computer (only to do serious stuff). i think tablets are great for general browsing and reading. you can't type anything of significance on them though i don't think i'd ever want to use one as a productivity tool, purely leisure.

that said, the price of tablets are gradually creeping down. i think the price of the nexus 10 is very reasonable. the ipad was never that bad, but you get a little bit more hardware for a little bit less money.

the ipad is really my little girls and it's never really felt like mine - it's full of all the games you'd expect an ipad belonging to a 4 year old would have but i never purchased any apps for me - all of my stuff is android and on my phone. i just think for me, and for those without any entanglements with the apple ecosystem it represents one of the first truly decent alternatives to the ipad as most android tablets have been crap. and finally the android operating system hasn't just caught up with ios, in my opinion it's completely overtaken it.

scottishtv · Tue 30 Oct, 2012 23.03

I agree with your view on Android, and having watched this video on The Verge, I'm really impressed by the Google people who clearly seem to enjoy improving UIs and don't mind changing things up when they think they could improve. Whilst Google is definately the powerhouse when it comes to data, they seem to be there now (or better) when it comes to creating a nice mobile OS. Apple just seems to be standing still with iOS.

My only worry is the lack of tablet-optimised apps available on Google Play (Android guys have previously said they don't want separate 'tablet only' apps, but existing apps would still need some work for bigger screen sizes).

I was on the brink of buying a Galaxy tab a few weeks ago, but the Nexus 10 has definately caught my eye and might be going on the Christmas present list.

PS - You mentioned the keyboard cover on the Surface. Whilst the Nexus 10 obviously won't have this, I'm intrigued by the 'dock connector' you can see in this engadget video.

Alexia · Tue 30 Oct, 2012 23.26

As a recent (Saturday) adoptee of the Nexus10's little brother, the Nexus7, all I can say so far is "wow".

Don't hesitate. Get one. And don't worry about the lack of 3G - you can use your phone as a BlueTooth VPN. It also handles wireless file transfer (Airdroid) and network drives (ES File Manager) like a dream.

tillyoshea · Wed 31 Oct, 2012 17.17

Alexia wrote:As a recent (Saturday) adoptee of the Nexus10's little brother, the Nexus7, all I can say so far is "wow".

Don't hesitate. Get one. And don't worry about the lack of 3G - you can use your phone as a BlueTooth VPN. It also handles wireless file transfer (Airdroid) and network drives (ES File Manager) like a dream.

Totally agree. And as a former user of the original iPad, I'm surprised to find that I much prefer the size - it comes everywhere with me in a way that the size of the iPad prevented me from doing, and I'm much less self-conscious using it in public. The OS has almost convinced me to upgrade from iPhone to a Nexus 4 as well - I've been pleasantly surprised by the Android experience.

On that point: as a (fairly newly) regular user of both iOS and Android, I find the fanboy-ism on both sides bizarre - it's clear that both platforms have their advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses, and I'm utterly baffled by the "X is brilliant, Y is terrible" mentality that appears to be so pervasive.

Sput · Wed 31 Oct, 2012 20.34

I think (hope) it's an artefact of the discussion being dominated by 15-year old boys. Much like TVF.

Alexia · Wed 31 Oct, 2012 21.31

Just discovered the TVCatchup app on Android. Complements the BBC iPlayer by offering live Freeview channels.

ITV Player is not compatible with Jelly Bean yet. However, given that most of the reviews are 1-star, that's probably no big loss.

scottishtv · Fri 02 Nov, 2012 13.52

tillyoshea wrote:Totally agree. And as a former user of the original iPad, I'm surprised to find that I much prefer the size - it comes everywhere with me in a way that the size of the iPad prevented me from doing, and I'm much less self-conscious using it in public. The OS has almost convinced me to upgrade from iPhone to a Nexus 4 as well - I've been pleasantly surprised by the Android experience.

I'm interested to hear your view on the tablet size here. I was playing around with a Nexus 7 whilst wasting time in an airport Dixons the other day and I was a little underwhelmed by it's size up close. I felt the screen might be too small - esp as my phone's screen is just over 4". It felt like there wasn't a big enough difference in size to justify buying one.

That's what put me off the idea in favour of a getting Galaxy Tab/Nexus 10, but now hearing that the 7 is handy to take everywhere and an easy to whisk around size, I'm back in the undecided camp. Hmm.

My other concern about Android is the fact that I'm not sure they have sorted out OS upgrades like Apple have. You've got an iPhone, you plug it in and get the latest supported verison of iOS which is usually for devices up to a few years old. Yet I'm here with an HTC phone which is just over 12 months old. It was running Android's Gingerbread when I took it out of the box, and I was then upgraded over the air to Ice Cream Sandwich, and now that's it.

No more updates for me - HTC don't want to update my phone to Jelly Bean, no use complaining to Vodafone as they just deliver the updates - so I'm 'stuck' on an older version without the nice new features Google talk about. I think Android's user base must be very fragmented because of this, and it can make your device appear dated really quickly.

tillyoshea · Fri 02 Nov, 2012 14.02

scottishtv wrote:I was playing around with a Nexus 7 whilst wasting time in an airport Dixons the other day and I was a little underwhelmed by it's size up close. I felt the screen might be too small - esp as my phone's screen is just over 4". It felt like there wasn't a big enough difference in size to justify buying one.

That's what put me off the idea in favour of a getting Galaxy Tab/Nexus 10, but now hearing that the 7 is handy to take everywhere and an easy to whisk around size, I'm back in the undecided camp. Hmm.

Yeah, I was a surprised to find I preferred the Nexus 7 size - it confounded my expectations. But for the most part, it's a nice size - I think it's actually much better proportioned than the iPad for reading ebooks, for example, and web browsing and emailing doesn't feel in any way cramped. In the few weeks that I've had my Nexus 7, I don't recall ever thinking "I wish the screen was bigger" - whereas I used to often wish that the iPad was a bit smaller.

Also - the smaller screen feels a bit more personal and private to me. I was always conscious of people looking over my shoulder on the iPad, but don't feel the same about the Nexus. The Nexus is also far more comfortable to hold for long periods of time.

scottishtv · Fri 02 Nov, 2012 14.52

Thanks for that. Probably my main intended use would be reading (e-reading apps, replacement to buying a newspaper every day... maybe, and all the usual email and web-browsing). Sounds like this may fit the bill better than I thought. Will have to try out both Nexi then decide which to plump for.