About Me

My photo
We are what we think & my blog entries reflect how I think. Have a sip of the poison of my mind.. It's not always lethal.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Nexus In The House

I bought a 32gb WiFi Nexus 7 tablet today after days of consideration and online researches. I've combed scores and scores of reviews and comparison articles, forum posts and YouTube videos to the extent that if unlimited WiFi plans were non-existent and we were still on data plans from the late 90s, I oughta have gone bankrupt by now, nevermind the dark circles under my eyes now because of the time spent for all these.

Actually, I've thoroughly enjoyed the researches since they have taught me things about the Nexus 7 I didn't know about initially and the knowledge gained are helping me now, now that I have one in my mitts. Viva La Big Bad Net. My Nexus 7 is my very first foray into tablet territory and so, what made me decide to lose my tablet virginity? The main reason is quite a frivoulous one, gotta say:

Because I'm tired of always having to leave the house with less than 100% charge on my Note 2.

Let me explain myself here:


Why I bought the Nexus 7


The Galaxy Note 2 has an awesome long-lasting 3100mAh battery and I haven't had any problems making it through an entire day with it, but I'm the most nit-picky mofo I know this side of the expanding universe. You see, I'll usually charge it overnight so that when I wake up in the mornings, it will be fully charged, ready to rock and all set to face the big bad world for the big bad day.

Problem is, the first thing I'll always do when I wake up is to fire up Tunein Radio or Sonar (if I decide to go a little psychedelic) on my Note, since I happen to be very much in love with music and it's just awesome frolicking with the very thing you are in love with first thing when you wake up (after murdering the darned alarm clock). I only have 2 wall chargers for my Note in my house - in the master bedroom and guest room (the micro USB cable attached to my computer, which can also charge my Note at a slower pace doesn't count).

So when I go through my morning routine on a typical weekday as I prepare to go for work, I bring my Note that's blasting broadcasted radio music with me to every corner I go around the house - when I'm in the shower, it's there inside the bathroom with me, allowing me to enjoy bathroom reverb acoustics. I should give my phone swimming lessons some day just in case I go too wild with the water and shower dances.

When I'm making coffee, my Note is propped on the kitchen ledge so that I can bogey as I swirl liquid caffeine and refine my 4/4 timing using the teaspoon as a make-shift metronome. When I'm in the master bedroom deciding what to wear in front of the wardrobe, my Note will be lying on the bed still blasting music.

You get the idea. I can't leave my Note plugged into a stationary wall charger as I prepare for the day. It's a mobile phone. It's not a hifi system, so it can't permeate the entire house with music from a stationary spot. My computer system setup is more than capable of producing what a home entertainment sound system can produce (which is why I don't own a dedicated pure hifi system) but why should I turn on my computer and wait for it to boot up completely before playing music with it when I'll be leaving the house soon?

I prefer quickies in the mornings, so that's when my Note always comes in. Besides, it allows me to catch up with the news on Flipboard at the same time too. Early morning birds get all the media worms. Remember to filter away all the gutter crap though.

If you've been thinking faster than I'm telling this, you ought to be able to tell by now that by the time I'm ready to leave the house, my Note would have less than 100% charge left in it. By then, I usually won't have enough time to charge my Note back to 100%. I've tried it once or twice before as I twiddled my thumbs while waiting for it to charge but twiddling thumbs always makes me feel stupid and unproductive.

My Note usually has around 97% by the time I go out the door, which is no big loss but like I've mentioned, I'm nit-picky and horribly fussy. I'll even feel uncomfortable if I have to leave the house on a 98% charge even though my Note's battery has a stamina that gives me bragging rights. Like I've said, frivoulous.

Maybe I should make an appointment with a Shrink for this nit-picky problem of mine. Either that or I go buy something that can take over all these workload for my Note when I'm at home - something with a small enough form factor that allows me to carry it around the house with ease. Ta-Da, that's the role of my 7 inch Nexus 7 tablet.


Oh, and having a backup Android device is a good thing, since from an electronics standpoint, the ability to take the load off my Note and allow it to rest whenever I'm at home would probably prolong its longevity, since there are such things as machinery parts depreciation and wear and tear - things like screen-burns, battery efficiency depreciation, etc, are possibilities on all electronic gadgets.

Well, that's probably taking it a little too far, considering we can change and upgrade our phones with every recontract cycle, but l really like the idea of my gadgets running in tip-top condition for as long as I have them.


Why the 7 inch form factor


This one is easy: I'm a reclining sloth at home when it comes to things like surfing the web, reading and watching videos, since l love doing these things lying down on the bed or on the couch (no, I hardly eat potatoes). It's a heck lot more comfortable than sitting in front of the computer for hours on end, despite my comfy computer chair. Giving in to gravity is easier than fighting it anyway.

When it comes to lying down, the ability to still be able to use your device by propping it up with just one hand and controlling it with the other is essential. I'm not sure if you can do that comfortably with a 10 inch tablet since l don't own one but I can imagine that a 7 inch tablet will definitely allow for much better handling when it comes to lying down. Also, l prefer the portability of a smaller tablet since according to my usage style at home, l can bring my gadget to any corner of the house, like what I've mentioned about the way l use my Note in the mornings, which my Nexus will take over.


Why the WiFi only Nexus 7


Because my Galaxy Note 2 is a 'Phablet'. It's more than adequate to cater to my needs when I'm on the road and to me, the brilliant size and right portability is comfy enough for outside usage. Its 5.5 inch screen is big enough, which is why they call it a 'Phablet' in the first place - something in-between a smartphone and a tablet, which negates having to lug an actual tablet whenever I'm on the road, at least according my needs, your mileage may vary but that's cool. The Note 2 is an awesome device in that regard. l simply love my Note ♥

So my WiFi-version Nexus stays in the house wirelessly connected to my router while my Note goes out with me on the road. This is why I've decided to get the WiFi only Nexus instead of the 3G plus WiFi version, which saves me exactly a hundred bucks. If, for some reason, l have to bring my Nexus out of the house and l can't find any free WiFi, l can always tether my Nexus to my Note. That would be like phone sex. Of course, if you love bringing out your tablet with you all the time, getting one with a SIM card slot would be better for you.


Delegated Roles


Here's how I've planned on using my Nexus and my Note when it comes to content: Home use, graphic-intensive FPS games like Dead Trigger, comics, p0rn and movies will all be handled by my Nexus, since its bigger 7 inch screen will give more enjoyment for such things. As for my Note, it will handle away-from-home use, all 2D non graphic-intensive games, photography (the Nexus has no rear camera but taking photos with tablets suck as they currently are) and all other things l like doing with the awesome S Pen, like note-taking and blogging, which I'm doing now with my Note's handwriting-to-text feature, since I write faster than l can type.

It's really a pity that all the Note 2s available at where l am only come in the 16gb version and not even the Samsung outlets here know if the 32gb version will ever make it here (Samsung has ceased production of the 64gb version), so freeing all my storage-hungry games from it frees up lots of storage space on my Note, since apps and games can't be installed on the 64gb micro SD card I've put in it, unless l root my phone. Don't see the need to root my Note yet though.

The 8gb Nexus 7 first became available followed by the 16gb version. There is no way in hell I'll get a 8gb or 16gb tablet based on my needs. To make matters worse, the Nexus 7 has no expandable micro SD storage and for me, getting either the 8gb or the 16gb version would be a sad cruel joke based on what l wanna use a tablet for. 32gb is the barest tight-squeeze minimum for me. Now that the 32gb Nexus is available and after lots of storage estimates and home computer back-up considerations (my Nexus will primarily be for home use and so, always be near my computer anyway), l decided that now would be the proper time to get a Nexus 7.


Other odds & ends


Initially, the much more expensive Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 was my top choice for a tablet. Here, have a look at all the wonderful things it can do:

A marvellous gadget, isn't it? I get geek-horny every time l watch that video. Still, I decided against it in the end. Price isn't the issue here - storage (only the 16gb version is available here), portability, screen resolution and the high possibility that a new Note tablet might be released very soon are the issues.

I think I'm really beginning to seriously hate seeing '16gb' on devices. Screw 16gb, performing tablets and smartphones are now used for high multimedia consumption and should really come in higher internal storage spaces. Ok, I can understand that not everybody is a heavy user and 16gb is sufficient for such folks but if we can't install apps and games on external SD cards without going the rooting route, at least make higher capacity options available for us heavy users too, damn it.

Cloud storage? Cloud storage eats up your measly monthly data plan at where l am if you're not on WiFi and your cloud data access will be subjected to the mercy of internet connection that is not immune to possible connection disruptions or interferences when they happen. Cloud is essential as extra backup in the event of device loss or demise though, like when your hard disk or SD card decide to croak and go belly-up on you.

What I'm saying here is that Cloud service is useful for data assurance but l don't like the idea of relying on it when it comes to data that I access constantly all the time, since Internet connectivity can and do get plagued by the lag monster at times.

By the way, l bought my Nexus without having to fork out a single cent out of my bank account, since I just got awarded $500 worth of vouchers by my company for hitting and surpassing my 5 years of service mark as well as an additional $50 voucher for my birthday during October. My Nexus came with a price tag of SGD $399 and so, l still got spare vouchers to play with. The vouchers are Capitaland vouchers, so l bought my Nexus from IMM.

Well, l haven't bought a Christmas present for myself for some time already, so getting the Nexus tablet as an early Christmas present for myself makes me a happy camper. It's all good. The plan is to use the leftover $100 worth of vouchers to get myself a new pair of Obermain work shoes and top-up with a bit of my own dough, since the designs l like cost more than a hundred bucks. Worth it though, love those durable German work shoes.

And finally, my best friend Joe was there with me every step of the way today - we communicated through Line and being an experienced tablet user for years, he gave me his advice, suggestions and thoughts which helped me a great deal. Thanks, buddy.

Right, so l now own my very first tablet. Now let's see what pure Android is all about. I've been looking forward to trying out this new experience, which is actually another reason why I chose to get the Nexus 7.

It's a 7 inch little sexy thing and l'm sure it's gonna be really enjoyable playing with it. Nope, that wasn't what she said last night.

No comments: