First few days with my Nexus 7 (a nexus review)

Some background. 

I have had the pleasure of using an Ipad since the first generation and instantly fell in love with it. After a few years and experiencing excellent browsing on my iPhone I noticed that it was something I was missing. I first wanted to get a bigger phone, I found myself thinking that if I had just a larger screen I would browse on my phone more. That sparked my first desire for an android device. I soon purchased a nexus 4 which has a much larger screen. I soon found myself using my phone much more than my ipad because the ipad began to seem to big and heavy for me. I once thought it had perfect portability but now frequently I decide to leave it at home because it felt like a chore to tote around. So now I have come to the conclusion, I need something bigger than a phone screen but smaller than an Ipad.

Why not ipad mini 

I first experienced the ipad mini when I purchased one for my lovely mother for her respective holiday! It does help with the problem of portability but it was slightly to big to fit in my pocket. I also felt it had some weight that I wasn't happy with. The greatest problem was that I couldn't figure out a justifiable reason to spend so much money for a ipad mini that has less than half the specs of my current ipad. It has an old processor, an old screen technology , and old standard of ram! I would love to continue the large and I mean LARGE investment I made in the itunes store but it's like my grandfathered contract with At&t, how much is my investment really worth?
I noticed everyone talking about this nexus so I had to check it out, with its quad core chip, 2 gig of ram , open gl (that means it has the specks of a laptop computer). In fact it has the graphics power that you can reasonably equate to our past console, that's saying a lot for gamers. The greatest thing  was that it is smaller and lighter than the mini and $100 cheaper!

Whats so cool about it? 

First look. 

I was able to log in with my google account and most of my things where loaded on there! I pulled up the google now and right away it had the places I been and directions home (even though I was in my neighborhood). I instantly fell in love with its beautiful screen, even more beautiful than my retina ipad arguably. The screen was so bright and I can see it from all angles! The device feels warm and sturdy. It looks expensive and that's saying a lot! The large bezels stick out like a pimple between your eyebrows but all in all its good! I loved how after initial setup I was able to slide it in my pocket and keep going. I have a weird thing about caring things in my hands (I HATE IT!!!!!!) so putting it in my right pocket , and my phone in my left pocket which also holds my cards and I am good to go.

Wife proof 

The wife was happy because it was only $229, its no where near the large investment that my $499 Ipad was. I don't know but its something special about $200. If your a middle class worker , even today, $200 doesn't seem like nothing you have to sweat about. For a device you will use for primary computing , $200 something is almost a impulse buy, especially when you consider it a savings to getting the Ipad mini for $327.

Portable 

I already touched on it but its worth talking about more, I finally have a very light device I can carry around without feeling like I am carrying something around. I was able to actually read it without worrying about it falling on my face as I fall asleep. Ipad owners know what that's like! Especially with my cargo's I actually took it with wherever I went without having to think about a bag I can put it in , or holding it in my hands.

Function 

I was delighted to see that its so much free stuff in the google play store. I do hate that its missing some HUGE things I need that I got on my ipad , I thought it would have been available , the largest problem is no amazon instant streaming app, or amazon mobile, I was able to side load the amazon mobile app but unfortunately I had to side load flash and FireFox to use the amazon instant in browser. (Side load is downloading a unsupported application outside the play store). I also greatly miss textbooks which should be coming soon according to the +googlenexus press conference. I also don't have power school , that will be a big point of contention because I am a teacher.
That aside, the nexus is sooo fast. The speakers are awesome for a tablet. Its dual speakers with "surround sound" allowing me to hear clearly. The fast processor allow for quick loading of beautiful video, even YouTube looks awesome. The home screen is cool with google play widget and weather, google plus populating my many home screens. I complained about the mail rendering on my nexus but this double pain rendering of email is even better (because its faster) than the industry leading Ipad. The camera is grainy but quck to pull up. I love how snappy everything is. Pure android is buttery smooth and quick like I used to tout the ios. I like the app switching tabs button pull down status menu. It is so good apple is adopting it in ios7. I also love the integration with google services. Last year I wrote how it was ironic that all I use is google services on my ios devices but now I see the benefit of being part of it full fledged. I easily share things to google plus, take pictures for google keep, pull pictures from my google+ backups, email from GMail, use hangouts etc,,, google is AWESOME!

Summing it up 

I love this tablet. I haven't had this much fun with a tablet and been this excited about a product since the first ipad. I have a otg cable coming in the mail which will give me a usb port for thumb drives, ps3 controllers, and other weird nerdy tricks. I am debating a small keyboard which is only $10 on amazon. Despite the missing apps I am happy with my portable power house and I recommend it for anyone, even if you already have a ipad!