I know I'm going to be accused of being a Google fanboy on this one (since I own an Android phone and am prone to rip on everyone), but I think that Google/Asus did a solid job on the Google Nexus 7. It feels very comfortable in the hand(s), has a nice look and feel (it has been accused of looking like a big phone - but isn't that what an iPad looks like as well?), Android 4.1.1 (Jellybean) looks and feels very responsive, snappy and refined (I own a stock Samsung Galaxy Skyrocket that has had software modifications made by Samsung and AT&T). I'm not going to go all geek crazy like a lot of reviewers, I wanted to give a good once over for regular people.
I realize that everyone is going all vertical integration crazy, what with Apple's iPhone/iPad and iOS, Blackberry and the Crackberry/QNX OS, MSFT with the Surface/Windows 8 and Google with the various Nexus devices. People may ask - Gabe, why is everyone and their mom doing this? The answer is complex and simple at the same time: Hardware manufacturers (Apple is the most successful in terms of profitability at least) have realized that it's quite a pain in the ass and time consuming to develop an OS and then turn it over to OEMs to build hardware to support it. This scenario makes for crappy quality (go to any cell phone store and check out most of the Android hardware if you don't believe me) and increases the Time to Market (Software released to OEM, OEM submits device to carrier) for any device. Given the increasingly shorter product life spans (Read - consumer attention span) of mobile devices and the ever shortening development/release cycles (Samsung releases a device about every 3 months and also), it's very important to capture market share right out of the gate. Ok, enough digression and back to the Nexus 7 goodness.
The Good:
1) Price - $200 for the 8GB and $250 for the 16 GB Version
2) Build Quality - Looks/feels very polished and solid. I appreciate the textured/plasticky back of the tablet...I don't feel like i'm going to scratch it every time I put it down (unlike the iPad)
3) Android - I can't get enough of the "pure/vanilla" Android. It's showcases the OS in a way that it should be. The OS is response/smooth compared to my bastardized/skinned Galaxy Skyrocket
4) Performance - The screen is pretty (has more pixels per inch than the iPad 2)
5) Form Factor - There is buzz about Developers not writing for the 7 inch form factor, but it feels great and is a welcome alternative to the larger iPad/10 inch Android tablets
6) Battery life - is great. the lower screen size really helps, and the new Tegra 3 architecture turns off cores and uses a +1 low power additional core to only run when there's no need for full throttle.
The Undermined (Bad):
1) Form Factor - Will developers buy the 7 inch Android form factor? Only time will tell, but I can hope
2) Apps - Android still lags behind the iOS appstore...but there's room to get better
3) Storage - No SD card slot - I say shame on you ASUS...but I get it, it's a price thing, or so they say
4) Camera Quality/No rear facing camera - Again, price...but why so cheap on the front-facing camera?
Really, the only question that should be asked is: Should I buy one? Yes, but let me break it down.
Buy if:
1) You have a limited budget and the $400 iPad 2 or the $500 "new iPad" is too much to stomach for a tablet
2) You want the "Real Deal Holyfield" Android experience
3) You're a huge geek like me and you "trust your technolust"
4) Have paid out a lot to the Android Market (hint - I haven't...yet)
Don't buy if:
1) You have an iPad - Apple does have a solid product in the iPad and I am hard pressed to completely call the Nexus 7 and iPad replacement/killer.
2) You need a bigger form factor - The adjustment to the 7 inch form factor might be jarring and a deal breaker
3) You've paid out a ton of money to the Apple AppStore, Windows Marketplace or Blackberry AppWhatever - Google does however include a $25 Play Store credit with the purchase of a Nexus 7, so this somewhat reduces the what I call "App barrier to adoption" (a wink and a nod to Jeremy)
4) You need a tablet with cellular connectivity - You're out of luck here, but I use this app to tether to my phone. Bleep you AT&T.
5) You are any kind of fanboy to plaforms that aren't Android - You never have and never will use Android...so you're a sucker for reading this far :-P
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