I own my Nexus 7 tablet for a little more than a month now. I have ordered it through a friend from UK because it was only available in UK and USA at the time. Thanks Sašo! The reason I have ordered it was because my other tablet, ExoPC has problems with a part of the touch screen and because I like my Galaxy Nexus smart phone so much. The price was affordable, so I made a impulsive purchase.

My first impression after taking it out of the case was “it’s heavy!” as I was used to my mobile phone, which is of course much lighter. After I turned it on it has upgraded to Android 4.1.1, so the experience was similar to the one with the phone, which is perfect. Smooth use, lots of apps. Luckily the battery is much better and it lasts several days even with obsessed use.

Compared to my Windows 8 tablet I was disappointed about the start-up time. Nexus 7 needs a minute or more to start, Windows 8 tablet only 15 seconds. I figured out that Nexus 7 was made to be always turned on, but that’s a shame for battery. I was hoping they made a system that would start in 5 seconds. Yes, I’m naive… So I have it always turned on and it starts in zero seconds.

Second, I have tried if the keyboard is big or good enough for some longer texts. It’s not the same as a normal keyboard, but it can be used for longer texts as well. For example, I’m using Nexus 7 to write this post. The main disadvantage is that you need to put the tablet down for comfortable typing, for example on a table, which means that you can’t lay in the bed and type. Also, I have installed SwiftKey keyboard (but the phone version), which makes my typing faster.

After a couple of hours of use I have discovered, that there are no such good use cases for the device. I have my Galaxy Nexus, so the main advantage of the tablet is a bigger screen and longer battery life. Disadvantages are that you don’t carry it with you if you have a smart phone (no real need to do so) and that it has no 3G internet access. Which means that I have to use tethering if I’m away, which again means that I have to have the phone with me. However, after a time I have discovered that it’s useful for watching tv or TED videos while eating… Not really a perfect reason to buy it, but it’s not a waste of money. Also, it’s quite useful for showing photos to friends – – however, you have to upload them first.

I miss an USB port for uploading content, otherwise I like it as is.