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Nychot

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2011
790
71
I had my first mini for several days when it fell and the screen shattered. I now have my second mini gotten free from credit card points and have compared the sharpness of the screen to my N7. There's no comparison. The n7 screen is much sharper, actually gorgeous. The mini tho gives more real estate on websites. Android in a number of ways is superior to IOS. If one cant afford a mini, the N7 is a fantastic little tablet. Btw, All of the apps i regularly use on my mini (and ipad 3) are available in android. Just my two cents if anyones considering a mini vs n7 for xmas or beyond.
 

mpayne2k

macrumors 6502a
May 12, 2010
876
63
I have a Nexus 7 and iPad 3rd gen. Comparing those two is a bit tougher. Yes, I see the screen door effect when I look at iPad Minis in the store, but I still like the iOS app selection over the Google Play seleciton.

I've reset my N7 several times because of battery drain from apps that constantly drain the OS. My iPad 3 lasts about 3 to 4 times longer on a single charge and I've heard the Mini is even better!

I've had some strange things on the N7 screen too, like in low brightness the brightness kind of varies or flickers even with Auto brightness turned off. The screen at times looks low res due to the apps that aren't meant for the larger screen.

If the iPad Mini had Retina and I didn't have a 3, I'd buy the iPad Mini over the N7 at this point. But it is tough to beat the N7 for $199 vs. $329!...It really depends on what a person wants I guess.
 

charlieegan3

macrumors 68020
Feb 16, 2012
2,394
17
U.K
Android in a number of ways is superior to IOS. If one cant afford a mini, the N7 is a fantastic little tablet. Btw, All of the apps i regularly use on my mini (and ipad 3) are available in android.

Now if every consumer knew that...
 

recharge23

macrumors regular
Mar 12, 2012
121
0
Seoul, South Korea
I've reset my N7 several times because of battery drain from apps that constantly drain the OS. My iPad 3 lasts about 3 to 4 times longer on a single charge and I've heard the Mini is even better!

I've had some strange things on the N7 screen too, like in low brightness the brightness kind of varies or flickers even with Auto brightness turned off. The screen at times looks low res due to the apps that aren't meant for the larger screen.

If the iPad Mini had Retina and I didn't have a 3, I'd buy the iPad Mini over the N7 at this point. But it is tough to beat the N7 for $199 vs. $329!...It really depends on what a person wants I guess.

i have a n7 and ipad 3 as well and am dealing with a lot of the same issues you mention regarding the n7. the battery life is pretty disappointing and seems to fluctuate a lot. it's also very creaky, even though i've tried just about everything people have mentioned to fix it. the build quality honestly makes it feel like an inferior product.

even though it's a good little tablet that i've had a lot of fun with, i'm looking forward to replacing it with a mini w/retina.
 

Xikum

macrumors 6502
Oct 19, 2011
281
1
The thing is, the iPad Mini should smash the N7 in every aspect because of its price and the fact that everybody anticipated it to be the best.

It doesn't. Would I rather have an iPad Mini over an N7? Absolutely. Would I question spending the money on an iPad Mini when I can save over £100 and get an N7? Definitely. Maybe when the Mini comes out next year with an A6 or something I'll get one. Anything, this wasnt meant to be an iPad Mini bashing post.

The N7's screen is great, the extra resolution really helps get away from the dated 1024x768. Definitely a good tablet for the masses.
 

spinedoc77

macrumors G4
Jun 11, 2009
11,488
5,413
I had them both, I really really tried to love the N7 but I ended up returning it. The screen, while absolutely beautiful, was hamstrung IMO by the stupid onscreen buttons taking up space. The ipad mini had just the right amount of screen space IMO, where the N7 was a bit too small and squandered that much more space on the onscreen buttons. The N7 was a bit janky as well, the wifi was horrible, if I put my hand anywhere near the wifi antenna the signal dropped out, where the ipad mini was rock solid. They were both 4g AT&T units and the 4g functioned about the same on each, but the wifi was rock solid on the mini (which is funny because wifi stinks badly on my ipad 4 and ipad 2 I have).
 

siiip5

macrumors 6502
Nov 13, 2012
395
0
I had them both, I really really tried to love the N7 but I ended up returning it. The screen, while absolutely beautiful, was hamstrung IMO by the stupid onscreen buttons taking up space. The ipad mini had just the right amount of screen space IMO, where the N7 was a bit too small and squandered that much more space on the onscreen buttons. The N7 was a bit janky as well, the wifi was horrible, if I put my hand anywhere near the wifi antenna the signal dropped out, where the ipad mini was rock solid. They were both 4g AT&T units and the 4g functioned about the same on each, but the wifi was rock solid on the mini (which is funny because wifi stinks badly on my ipad 4 and ipad 2 I have).

Interesting that you posted this (quote below) just a couple of weeks ago. And now you are in love with the surface tablet. You seem to change your point of view weekly.


Where are you guys getting that the N7 is slow and laggy? Mine runs great, have had no slowdown or lagginess except for one program which I uninstalled. I have more slowdown on my ipad, especially when loading a graphics intensive webpage it will sit there for a good 10 seconds before loading the page, and if I scroll down I get a checkerboard until those graphics load.

I still prefer iOS to android in many ways though, but that may just be conditioning over the years. iOS is more polished but only because they have more options. For example the Safari is junk in terms of options, but I have the option to purchase iCab which as a browser blows away anything available on Android.
 

raccoonboy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2012
918
5
mini 16g and Nex 7 32G priced very close.

I dont know if i would have the use of it since i already owned Ipad 2 and only get to spend 2 hours daily on it.
 

charlieegan3

macrumors 68020
Feb 16, 2012
2,394
17
U.K
Why are people so bothered about what other people buy?

There is a very good reason - there are advantages from knowing people with the same devices and so on.

Also if everyone buys into a particular brand that brand gets more attention and content which is good for all the users of that platform.

So while it's often a fanboy thing there are advantages to promoting your chosen platform - be it often rather dilute.
 

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,156
I had them both, I really really tried to love the N7 but I ended up returning it. The screen, while absolutely beautiful, was hamstrung IMO by the stupid onscreen buttons taking up space. The ipad mini had just the right amount of screen space IMO, where the N7 was a bit too small and squandered that much more space on the onscreen buttons. The N7 was a bit janky as well, the wifi was horrible, if I put my hand anywhere near the wifi antenna the signal dropped out, where the ipad mini was rock solid. They were both 4g AT&T units and the 4g functioned about the same on each, but the wifi was rock solid on the mini (which is funny because wifi stinks badly on my ipad 4 and ipad 2 I have).

I actually much prefer on screen buttons. Besides they disappear completely when watch videos in the native player, YouTube or 3rd party players like mxplayer....

I have an N10 and ipad3 though not a N7 so more screen real estate might be the reason.
 

spinedoc77

macrumors G4
Jun 11, 2009
11,488
5,413
Interesting that you posted this (quote below) just a couple of weeks ago. And now you are in love with the surface tablet. You seem to change your point of view weekly.

I don't see the discrepancy that you do. In the real world things are not black and white, it's not N7 rocks, ipad mini stinks, but rather each device has its own pluses and minuses, the sum of which will be what decides if a consumer purchases and keeps the device.

I have issues with both the N7 (screen too small, onscreen buttons take up screen space, wifi cuts out badly if you put your hand over wifi antenna) and the ipad mini (very slow and laggy to load web pages which are graphically intensive, OS stuck in 5 years ago).

As for the surface tablet, I'm not in love with it, in fact I hate windows RT and think it's an abomination to the tech world.

As for my point of view, I'd much rather be open minded and that may entail changing my mind, instead of dogmatically clinging to a single OS, piece of hardware, company or paradigm. I purchased and tried out these tablets to see how I felt about them, after the initial excitement wore off I got down to work and really dug in to see what pluses and minuses they each had.

----------

Of course it does. Of course it does. :apple:

Just my point of view, the ipad mini had a better use of screen space, web pages just seemed to fit much better in the screen. Once again very subjective, just my opinion. BTW I didn't keep the ipad mini either.
 

Digital Skunk

macrumors G3
Dec 23, 2006
8,100
930
In my imagination
I had my first mini for several days when it fell and the screen shattered. I now have my second mini gotten free from credit card points and have compared the sharpness of the screen to my N7. There's no comparison. The n7 screen is much sharper, actually gorgeous. The mini tho gives more real estate on websites. Android in a number of ways is superior to IOS. If one cant afford a mini, the N7 is a fantastic little tablet. Btw, All of the apps i regularly use on my mini (and ipad 3) are available in android. Just my two cents if anyones considering a mini vs n7 for xmas or beyond.

Thanks brother, I am on the fence about a mini and an N7. What do think Bout the size of the N7 compared to the Mini?
 

tech4all

macrumors 68040
Jun 13, 2004
3,399
489
NorCal
Why are people so bothered about what other people buy?

I'm more amused really. Amused that people would buy the iPad mini when it's so overpriced and underspeced compared to the Nexus 7. I realize some people prefer iOS over Android, but damn are you paying a premium for that. You're paying $130 more for something that has inferior specs.

And you know Apple knows this as well. They know it's an inferior product (not saying it's bad, just not as good on paper). But they know they can charge a premium for it and people WILL buy it.

The iPhone 5s could be a .125" longer with minimal upgrades and it will sell like hotcakes. People will buy it because of the :apple on it. Plain and simple.

I like Apple, but they are not the "good-to" brand for me for everything.
 

tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,467
5,097
I'm more amused really. Amused that people would buy the iPad mini when it's so overpriced and underspeced compared to the Nexus 7. I realize some people prefer iOS over Android, but damn are you paying a premium for that. You're paying $130 more for something that has inferior specs.

And you know Apple knows this as well. They know it's an inferior product (not saying it's bad, just not as good on paper). But they know they can charge a premium for it and people WILL buy it.

The iPhone 5s could be a .125" longer with minimal upgrades and it will sell like hotcakes. People will buy it because of the :apple on it. Plain and simple.

I like Apple, but they are not the "good-to" brand for me for everything.

But 'good on paper' doesn't necessarily mean better in real life use. You can find tons of real world examples of this (cars, athletes, computers, electronics, etc) and Apple devices are no exception.

For example, I have both an iPad Mini and Nexus 7 so based on your logic, the iPad Mini should go unused. But specs don't account for preferences--I prefer the Mini because I find the screen dimensions and extra screen real estate outweigh the inferior resolution. Same goes for 'pocketability'. The Nexus' shape is a bit more comfortable to rest in one hand, however the Mini is super thin and light and I can comfortably hold in between my thumb and fingers. I also find the Mini far better looking--much more sleek and smaller bezel. And none of these example have anything to do with iOS.

Some may not find their preferences worth the extra $ and that's fine but it doesn't mean others find the extra cost easily worth it.
 

Technarchy

macrumors 604
May 21, 2012
6,753
4,927
I'm more amused really. Amused that people would buy the iPad mini when it's so overpriced and underspeced compared to the Nexus 7.

Wrong word. You aren't amused, you're bemused.

The iPad has vastly superior GPU performance
Rear facing Camera
Bigger screen
Better build materials, meaning no Kia spectra dash class materials on the back
iPad mini is thinner
iPad mini is lighter
Much better customer support for warranty work, repairs or general questions
Better resale value for annual upgrade
More actual tablet apps...for your tablet...imagine that
Two color options
Better battery life

20121207whichgraph2.jpg


For something that is so-called underspecced it sure as hell manages to do a lot better than the Nexus 7...
 

3bs

macrumors 603
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
The iPad has vastly superior GPU performance
Rear facing Camera
Bigger screen
Better build materials, meaning no Kia spectra dash class materials on the back
iPad mini is thinner
iPad mini is lighter
Much better customer support for warranty work, repairs or general questions
Better resale value for annual upgrade
More actual tablet apps...for your tablet...imagine that
Two color options
Better battery life

Image

For something that is so-called underspecced it sure as hell manages to do a lot better than the Nexus 7...

I'd just like to say that you might not like the back of the Nexus 7 but I love it :D
 

Nychot

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2011
790
71
Thanks brother, I am on the fence about a mini and an N7. What do think Bout the size of the N7 compared to the Mini?

The n7 is a better size for travelling. Even in the leather case i have for it, it stilll fits easily in a coat pocket. The cellular version has gotten bad reviews. But in my area wifi is everywhere so when i'm on the go outside the house i take the n7 over the mini.
 

Compile 'em all

macrumors 601
Apr 6, 2005
4,131
359
The thing is, the iPad Mini should smash the N7 in every aspect because of its price and the fact that everybody anticipated it to be the best.

It doesn't. Would I rather have an iPad Mini over an N7? Absolutely. Would I question spending the money on an iPad Mini when I can save over £100 and get an N7? Definitely. Maybe when the Mini comes out next year with an A6 or something I'll get one. Anything, this wasnt meant to be an iPad Mini bashing post.

The N7's screen is great, the extra resolution really helps get away from the dated 1024x768. Definitely a good tablet for the masses.

I find it fascinating, along with most pro-android comments here that not ONE touches on how software compares. All you guys talk about specs specs specs. The reality is, specs don't matter. At. all. Not one poster has commented on the how the web browser compares on the iPad mini to the N7. Not one has touched on the number of apps and games built specifically for the N7. How do you make video calls? How easy are they? How etc etc. No one cares.
 

Eddie Bombay

macrumors 6502
Aug 27, 2011
362
0
I have the Nexus 7 but after watching YouTube videos it looks like the mini has a better screen and brightness. Still love my Nexus 7 though, thing is amazing for 150 to 180 bucks. Love it as much as I love my iPad 2 though.
 
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