Foxy

...what a piece of kit.

I realise its been out for a while in the US, but they are still really hard to get hold of in Europe. I think I may be the first in Greece to have bought one locally (though it was the US version, US plug included and US warranty).

I got the 32GB version, necessarily, since the Nexus's main caveat is that it has no expandable storage (no sdcard, like ipads). Still, with a USB On The Go cable and a free app, I can mount USB sticks, so no biggie.

Things that every Nexus 10 owner must do!!

Use 'Open Garden' to tether your Nexus 10 to your phone. This app connects two or more android devices, and shares the available network connections amongst the other devices. It creates a bluetooth VPN connection between the two devices and shares the internet. No need for expensive 3g/4g enabled tablets.

Watch a 1440p plus video. The Nexus 10 screen is absolutely incredible. 1600p is the maximum resolution, which is significantly higher than any desktop monitor I've ever owned. The only 1600p video that I know of at the moment, is called Timescapes, it's pretty expensive ($40), and an hour of video is 6GB, but the movie is amazing (its a load of time lapse photography at impossibly high resolution), everyone who has seen it has been like 'I didn't even know this kind of screen technology existed', it really is special.

Download Pinball Arcade and a couple of the better tables, such as Arabian Nights, Star Trek: TNG, Theater of Magic and Medieval Madness. The graphics scale (really scale, not upscale from 1080) to 1600p automatically, and the Nexus 10 has the power to play them as smooth as silk.

If you are an MMO person, download Order and Chaos, it's just like WoW but for android. I'm only level 4 so far, but it seems really good.

Get a Task Manager. The one I use is imaginatively named 'Task Manager', and one of the nice things about it is a widget you can add to any screen, which when pressed, kills every running app. Very handy for instantly clearing all your RAM and shutting down crashed tasks.

Download RealVNC on your PC and AndroidVNC on your tablet. Congrats, now you can remotely control your desktop from anywhere on the same network. For example, playing angry birds on the toilet? Hear your Skype ringing? No probs, open VNC, log into your PC and send a chat message that you'll be there in a minute. All without even wiping your ass!

Download a Live Wallpaper. My personal favorites are the Vortex Galaxy and Galaxy Pack for the same. Again displayed at full res (not upscaled), the resolution is amazing, and the galaxy rotates and tilts when you move the device which never seems to fail to get an exclamation of awe from observers.

Install some kind of DLNA server on your desktop PC to share your music, pictures and movies, without taking up valuable storage on your tablet. I use Serviio on the PC as a server currently, mainly due to the fact that its completely free, and Mediahouse on the tablet and my Galaxy S3 phone to view the content. I'm thinking about switching over to Plex though, as Serviio doesn't handle subs very well (living in a foreign country, this is essential for me). Plex also has its own client for tablets and also installs to Android tv boxes and smart TVs.

Get the essential connectivity cables (sold separately, as always ). you will need:

A micro USB male to USB Female adaptor. Also known as USB On The Go. As mentioned above, with a free app, you can then mount sticks and external hard drives, negating the need for masses of onboard storage.

A Micro HDMI to regular HDMI cable, DON'T get an adaptor, as they usually can't handle high res plus Dolby 7 channel sound etc. This is such a cool feature (on board micro HDMI), as you now don't even need a smart TV. Use the DLNA UPnP semver I mentioned earlier, play the media direct from your PC on the tablet, and output the tablet to the TV, very elegant.

A LAN adaptor. Once again, get a regular USB Network adaptor, not one that comes with a micro USB connection, again for some reason, the micro ones are unreliable. Using the USB OTG adaptor mentioned above, you can use just about any USB LAN adaptor without even installing drivers. Useful if you need to attach a regular network cable (corporate environment for example).

Get a File Explorer, I use ES File Explorer, easy and simple.

Install A Microsoft Office viewer. I use Kingsoft Office (free).

Upgrade your home router! The Nexus 10 uses MIMO wi-fi technology, so can connect as many wi-fi connections as your router can serve. People using MIMO routers with the Nexus have reported up to quadruple wi-fi speed and over 300m range (so make sure your network is secure!!). I have not done this yet, but I will at the same time I upgrade our TV next (need a smart TV).

If I think of anything else I'll add it here later.

Anyone else want to share their high power tablet experiences? To behonest, I can't say enough amazing things about the Nexus 10, it's a BEAST, I can't see my gaming laptop getting much use any more. I'm so totally hooked on Pinball Arcade for starters, it's so close to playing the real thing its scary.

The Collector1

My Feedback: (2)

Cool, I was thinking about getting the Nexus 7 but if I can find a good art program the 10 might be a better buy for me

Eman77

Can it make bread for me? If it can't make bread for me then I don't want it.

Foxy

For artists the best tablet is really a toss up between the Galaxy Note 10.1 (new version expected soon, so wait), which has a dedicated stylus (and more advanced stylus related features and options), and the Nexus 10, which can happily take a 3rd party stylus and TROUNCES the Galaxy's screen resolution by more than double.

What artists have said is that they definitely find the Note 10.1s pressure sensitive screen more workable for fine work. Of course others have said that resolution is everything (so the Nexus is the winner for them) and anything can be corrected in post processing, so I guess it depends what kind of artist you are which you'll prefer, but for drawing you want one of the 2. I dare say Adobe Photoshop for Android will run better on the Nexus too, but another advantage of the note is the ability to swap out SDcards with your works on them, which of course you can't do on the Nexus as it has no external storage, you'll be transferring (or downloading from your Dropbox) your pictures to and fro when you want to work on them, I can see how that might eventually piss me off, but I don't think I would sacrifice the power and screen of the NExus. The screen really is 'all the money'.

Despite the fact that the iPad 4 has a great screen at 269ppi, the extra few ppi of the nexus (300ppi) really does show.

Lunchboxer

I only have an iPad 1.. ha.. Apple doesn't even support it anymore w/ new OS, I think.. it still runs iOS 5.x or something.. while the iPhone 5 and such are on iOS 6.x already.. that's why I am not an Apple fan.. (got the iPad as a gift, so..) If I were to get a new tablet, I'd probably give the Google one a try...

Foxy

Give it a few more years and it'll be making Chiabata Chicken Tikka sandwiches.

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

Wife has a Nexxus 7. Pretty nice. Good running system. Quick, and easy to use. Bought for $200. The only thing it doesn't have is a camera

Eman77

You're not the only non-Apple fan, but I don't know why that's a unique Apple trait. Windows ditched support for XP (which could only go up to IE8), regularly ties its OS to browser versions, etc.

Or is this different since it's more of a "I can't install an OS on this hardware" issue...? Just wondering.

Eman77

I'M GITTIN' ONE!

Foxy

I gave Apple a fair chance, I used an iphone for 3 years until the Galaxy S3 came out and was irresistible (another immensely powerful tool, highly recommended). The problem with Apple is simple. They are corporate usurpers of the consumer in the extreme, and their ultra-overtly capitalist attitude shines through in everything they do. They lost my respect as a company, and when you combine that with proprietary interfaces (as opposed to micro USB on 90% of android devices), lack of external storage options (although the nexus 10 shares that, at least it doesn't charge so much more for its high memory version), and proprietary and frankly irritating (after getting used to Android) inflexible iOS AND ANOTHER THING! What's with the total and utter reliance on itunes, I could go for another paragraph why I hate itunes.

But then again, I am the type of technical user that wants control. My wife doesn't want any of that. She's much better off with an ipad, as are the vast majority, hence its popularity. The fact of it is though, if you care about having something how you want it and are prepared to learn how its done, Android is better in all the meaningful ways.

I think Windows 8 (or maybe 9) might take over the tablet market eventually.

Lunchboxer

Yeah, what I meant was that when you click to install update on the OS, it says that it is already the latest version for this machine.. (which is 5.xx)

Eman77

I get what you mean about the control thing (both ways - you want it, feel like Apple hoards it). It's interesting, I had a discussion at work about that. Our 5 year old iMac is still just blazing fast here for our web testing we do - faster than my newer work PC, for example (using multiple browsers).

Not trying to compare apples and oranges here (I know there are things it won't be good at, etc), but just making a point that perhaps because they lock everything down, Apple can optimize things more efficiently for their hardware - so even their old stuff is quite sturdy and efficient.


I'm not really in the love/hate camp to be honest. My mom has an Apple at home, so I'm forced into a support role from time to time, which gets frustrating since I don't know it like I do a PC. But they do make really nice stuff.


I do love their touch interface though, seems very precise to me. As just a casual user for the iPhone as well as music, it suits me just fine - the iTunes thing doesn't bother me at all. I can see how it can frustrate the power-user though, but I'm just not there anymore at this point in my life.

The lack of the ability to just plug in a USB device to store things on is really irritating though. So that part of the "iTunes thing" really bothers me.

Lunchboxer

You need to use iTune, instead of just dropping a file (say mp3) directly into the folder so you can listen to the song, right?

The Collector1

My Feedback: (2)

Two very good choices, I would need the stylus, also I would get annoyed not having an SD slot.

I guess I would have to see them both in person and try them, I currently use a HP tablet pc running win 7 and it works well for me.
the best thing is battery life, with the extended battery I can get about 12hrs

Foxy

Correct.

Sharepod used to work on the iPhone 3GS, but Apple don't like that application (allows you full access to the music on an idevice to copy, drag and drop etc), and I don't know if it even works on later generations, though I guess it might,but its still not the same as just copying a file to a folder called 'Music', as is required on Android devices.

Lunchboxer

Yeah, the problem w/ iTune is that if you sync it with one iTune account and then you try to sync it with another, you lose all the music... you can just move the files in and out as you like.. [&:]

SyCo_VeNoM

I got a Samsung Tab 2 7in 16gb

It was a tossup between that and a Nexus 7 only reason the Tab won was the expandable memory as I watch a crap ton of videos at work. And if the Nexus 7 is anywhere near as slow as the tab 2 when it comes to copying large amounts of videos(it wanted like 10mins for 2 gigs) I'd have shot myself. I'm extremely happy with the Tab 2 and the 32 gig SD card I got for it as for under $200 I got the tab 2, and a 32gig class 10 samsung SDHC card (which actually has a average write speed of 12-13MBS) so copying videos to it is a friggin breeze
Also only reason it was down to the tab 2 and nexus 7 was I required bluetooth for my presenter mouse I use as a remote that I hide in my pocket so I can pause videos without large gestures of moving my hand so no one can hear it, and learn I watch videos all day while on the clock

Only real gripe I have with the tab 2 is how samsung pushed the 4.1.1 update and totally screwed up the entire layout of the tablet so its the same as their phones... Moving the back button from the left hand side of the screen to the middle(you know where the thumb won't be near) moved the system tray from the lower right hand to the top so it takes up even more space on screen, and with that the battery notification icon is there too so you can't tell how much charge you have left even without being in the main desktop...
I spent 3-5 hours learning how to hack mine back to 4.0, and an additional 5 hours learning how to root it after I rolled it back cause it kept annoying me every 3 hours to install the damn 4.1.1 update again as the only options for reminders is 30mins, 1 hour, 3 hours they forgot the check box that says leave me the **** alone... so basically to stop updates after I rooted it I had to go change some values to disable the ability to download crap off samsungs servers... Now when it pops up I select update update craps out doesn't bother me for 1-2 days.
Now if samsung didn't force that terrible update on people I would rate the tab 2.0 at least 5 star.


The tab 2 replaced my 5in windows XP tablet for video viewing.

Foxy

I bought my sister-in-law a 7" Galaxy tab 2 for christmas, again a conscious choice over the nexus 7 (mainly cos I've become something of a samsung fanboy, I think they really got their act together recently, all they need to do now is ditch touchwiz, one of the worst launchers ever...try Lightning Launcher if you want a launcher that takes some effort to set up but works frickin awesome). Anyway, she loves it. Great tab. The Nexus 7 is a bit more powerful for gaming, but in all other ways there's not much to choose between them.

SyCo_VeNoM

just tried it didn't really care too much for it. Dunno if the free one is extremely gimped or not compared to the paid one though.

I'll be honest it isn't the touchwiz launcher itself I actually have no qualms with it, and find it does the job perfectly fine (although the new one is pretty crummy) its the bottom bar that aggravates me on 4.1.1, and them moving the settings stuff to the top. I honestly don't understand why google doesn't have a customize menu built into the navigation bar as it seems that bars setup is independent of launchers.

Foxy

You should try lightning launcher, its much faster as well. If you don't like it, you can go back to the stock launcher at any time. Made my Galaxy s3 better in one step. Very easy but time consuming to setup.