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A Mom’s Review of the Nexus 7 Tablet by Google

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My family debated on getting some kind of tablet for Christmas for the family to share.  Nutty uses them at school, Tottie plays with Grandma’s when she visits, and I would love to have one to tote around to blog meetings and conferences instead of hauling around my large laptop.  Ultimately, however, we decided that we would spend our money on things for our boat because that’s how we spend time together as a family in the summer.
Google Nexus 7 Tablet

As luck would have it, a few weeks ago I fell into contact with a marketing rep from Staples who offered a Nexus 7 32GB Tablet from Google for my family to review.  I don’t know who was more excited, me or the girls!

Our Nexus 7 Tablet arrived from Staples at the perfect time.  The girls were heading to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for the long weekend which meant that I had time to play with it and set it up before the girls stole it got their hands on it.

Google Nexus 7 Tablet
Set up was a breeze!  Since my cell phone runs on the same operating system (Android 4.1 Jelly Bean) and I downloaded all my phone apps from Google Play, once I logged into my Google account on my tablet, it automatically copied all my apps from my phone to our tablet!  No having to find and re-install all of our favorite apps!  I used the USB/charging cord that came with our tablet to connect it to my computer and transferred some photos over to use a screen backgrounds.  The set up was done!

Google Nexus 7 Tablet
The actual usage is a breeze too.  It’s just like a larger version of my phone.  Even my 4 year old navigates the Nexus 7 Tablet without problems because she’s used to playing on my phone.

Just so I don’t ramble on and on, I’m going to bullet point the rest of this post.  It’s only fair so you can easily see the highlights of my review:

Pros of the Nexus 7 Tablet by Google:

•  Super easy to set up and if you already have an Android phone and a Google account

You already read that above 🙂

•  Light and portable!

So much easier to carry around than my laptop!  It fits right in my purse and is great device for keeping my 4 year old busy during my physical therapy appointments!

•  Decent battery life

Since we got our Nexus 7 someone in our house has been on and off it all day.  The battery has lasted through the day with only the need to charge up at night.  Much better than my phone which dies after just a few hours of game playing!

•  High resolution screen

This is the one thing Hubby was thrilled about–Angry Birds™ on a larger, high-resolution screen.  I won’t go into specs because I’m not technical.  Just know that things are not at all grainy or pixely (is that a word?)

•  Fast response

I notice no lag in the response of the tablet.  Granted, as I said before, I’m not technical, I am an impatient person who does not like to wait for things and I don’t feel like I’m waiting for anything when I play with the Nexus 7.

Google Nexus 7 Tablet
 

Cons of the Nexus 7 Tablet by Google:

• Finger prints, finger prints, finger prints!

The glossy face of the tablet easily attracts and keeps finger prints (especially when the kids are using it).  I would suggest you get a screen protector that helps to cut down on them if you are going to let your kids play with your tablet.  (Off to Staples I go!)

• No 3G/4G only WiFi

Though not having 3G/4G isn’t a deal breaker since most places we go have WiFi, it would be nice to be able to connect to the internet while we are in the car or in places where the WiFi isn’t very good.

• No rear camera, poor front camera

Again, the cameras are not a deal breaker.  I have my phone and my real camera to take photos with.  After all, who wants to hold up a 7 inch tablet to take a picture.  The girls, however, wanted to take photos with the tablet since they can take them on my phone.

• Location of the power and volume buttons

The power and volume buttons are located on the side of the tablet but more toward the back.  It takes a bit of getting used to to locate them.

All in all, my entire family is thrilled with the Nexus 7 Tablet by Google.  Though there are some cons, for us they are not that big of a deal and can easily be worked around.  We are very happy with and thankful to Staples for allowing us to try out this awesome Tablet!
Does your family own a tablet?  What types of things do you do with it?
Staples provided me with the Nexus 7 Tablet for my review.   I received no further compensation for this post.  All opinions are 100%  my own.  To see the full line of tablets that Staples offers visit Staples.com.
Filed Under: reviews, sponsored posts

Comments

  1. James D says
    January 29, 2013 at 5:37 pm

    Great review! Hope they add another camera with the next one. I had issues bumping the power/volume buttons depending on how I held the device.