What Business Functions Does the Nexus Offer?

[Slider9499]

I am considering buying a Playbook but was intruigured by the Nexus. The Playbook is more endemic to  business use which is one of the main reasons I am seriously considering it. the Nexus is obviously targeting the Kindle Fire and Amazon Nook.

What business functions does the Nexus 7 offer, either in installed software or programs I can install? For example, I need the ability to easily and seamlessly read, edit and attach Word type docs to emails and forms within a web browser. The Playbook can do this. MY main concern aboutnthe Playbook is with RIM and their financial troubles as a company. I dont have doubt about their software or technical concerns aboutnthe product.

Another consideration is the Playbook costs $299 for 64GB while the Nexus is $199 for only 16GB

Thanks

[Babyfacemagee]

Oh, I wouldn't even think about getting a Playbook now that the Nexus 7 is here.  The Nexus 7 is FAR superior in my opinion.   First off with the Nexus 7 you have access to literally HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of Android apps.   The app selection on the Playbook is far more limited.  You can find a whole bunch of different programs that can do what you're wanting as far as working with Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents and more for the Nexus 7.   You can then easily attach them to email via gmail or any other email you access through the browser.

Some of the more popular 'office suite' type programs that allow you to edit word and other MS Office docs are 'QuickOffice Pro' and 'Documents To Go'.  I'll provide links here in the Google Play Store:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dataviz.docstogo&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5kYXRhdml6LmRvY3N0b2dvIl0.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qo.android.am3&feature=related_apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwOSwiY29tLnFvLmFuZHJvaWQuYW0zIl0.

There are so many more actually available I'd browse through the App catalog at http://play.google.com.

Also, the 'Chrome' web browser on the Nexus 7 is probably the best browser in the mobile space right now.  It should be able to do anything that the Playbook browser does and more.

Without going into too much detail the hardware of the Nexus 7 is far superior to that of the Playbook.   The processor is more powerful  'Tegra 3 quad core vs. dual core' and the screen is better '1280 x 800 IPS vs 1024 x 600 non-IPS'.   The Operating Software on the Nexus 7 is also the brand new Android 4.1, Jelly Bean while the Playbook works on the proprietary 'Blackberry Tablet OS' which while having good security features has only a small fraction of the apps available that Google does.   The Playbook does have a 'compatibility mode' where it can use Android apps but to be honest I'm not sure what the limitations are of that.

There are a couple of things that the Blackberry Playbook does have over the Nexus 7 such as the option for more memory on the tablet itself (they offer 16gb, 32gb and 64gb versions) and a back camera.   Also, if you're working with a company's IT department and if they have very specific reasons why they want to use the Blackberry Tablet such as custom software they've installed etc, that might of course force you to go that direction.

In my opinion, however....if the choice is purely up to you...then there are so many advantages to having the Nexus 7, especially in that the OS is always going to be the latest and greatest and have Google support...which is a rock-solid company compared to RIM which could be out of business in 6 months, that I wouldn't even consider ponying up for a Playbook right now unless your company is forcing it on you.   It's not that it's a 'bad' tablet...it's just that the Nexus 7 is going to be so much more viable for the next few years in both of terms of hardware and software...not to mention it's cheaper to boot!

[Slider9499]

Excellent and informative reply - thank you so much

As I mentioned, I was concerned about the entire Word doc/attachment issue, as well as capacity issues. Now that I know there are real apps and programs that will be able to handle it, my life is a bit easier

A last questions:

1. I would buy the 16 GB version - are you able to increase the GB on the Nexus?
2. Can I upload my docs and files in the Google Cloud? If so, how much free space are they initially providing?

Again, thanks so much,

Slider

[nhobbit]

I think the answer to question #1 is no. 

For question #2 you might want to look into google drive which provides 5gb free storage and then: 


Storage   Monthly Rate
25 GB   $2.49
100 GB   $4.99
200 GB   $9.99
400 GB   $19.99
1 TB      $49.99
2 TB           $99.99
4 TB           $199.99
8 TB           $399.99
16 TB   $799.99

[Babyfacemagee]

For #1 - If you're willing to root your tablet then you will be able to use flash memory via usb and there's no telling what other things the hackers will enable the Nexus 7 to work with but jf you mean internal added memory out of the box then no.

For #2 you'll always have unlimited online storage for a fee from any of a number of cloud storage sites like box.com etc as well as Google's cloud storage.

[kyoo]

Oh, I wouldn't even think about getting a Playbook now that the Nexus 7 is here.  The Nexus 7 is FAR superior in my opinion.   First off with the Nexus 7 you have access to literally HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of Android apps.   The app selection on the Playbook is far more limited.  You can find a whole bunch of different programs that can do what you're wanting as far as working with Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents and more for the Nexus 7.   You can then easily attach them to email via gmail or any other email you access through the browser.

Some of the more popular 'office suite' type programs that allow you to edit word and other MS Office docs are 'QuickOffice Pro' and 'Documents To Go'.  I'll provide links here in the Google Play Store:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dataviz.docstogo&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5kYXRhdml6LmRvY3N0b2dvIl0.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qo.android.am3&feature=related_apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwOSwiY29tLnFvLmFuZHJvaWQuYW0zIl0.

There are so many more actually available I'd browse through the App catalog at http://play.google.com.

Also, the 'Chrome' web browser on the Nexus 7 is probably the best browser in the mobile space right now.  It should be able to do anything that the Playbook browser does and more.

Without going into too much detail the hardware of the Nexus 7 is far superior to that of the Playbook.   The processor is more powerful  'Tegra 3 quad core vs. dual core' and the screen is better '1280 x 800 IPS vs 1024 x 600 non-IPS'.   The Operating Software on the Nexus 7 is also the brand new Android 4.1, Jelly Bean while the Playbook works on the proprietary 'Blackberry Tablet OS' which while having good security features has only a small fraction of the apps available that Google does.   The Playbook does have a 'compatibility mode' where it can use Android apps but to be honest I'm not sure what the limitations are of that.

There are a couple of things that the Blackberry Playbook does have over the Nexus 7 such as the option for more memory on the tablet itself (they offer 16gb, 32gb and 64gb versions) and a back camera.   Also, if you're working with a company's IT department and if they have very specific reasons why they want to use the Blackberry Tablet such as custom software they've installed etc, that might of course force you to go that direction.

In my opinion, however....if the choice is purely up to you...then there are so many advantages to having the Nexus 7, especially in that the OS is always going to be the latest and greatest and have Google support...which is a rock-solid company compared to RIM which could be out of business in 6 months, that I wouldn't even consider ponying up for a Playbook right now unless your company is forcing it on you.   It's not that it's a 'bad' tablet...it's just that the Nexus 7 is going to be so much more viable for the next few years in both of terms of hardware and software...not to mention it's cheaper to boot!

was hoping it would come with quickoffice, as my droid pro did, but with google drive/docs is there really a need for that anymore? google drive can create word docs and spreadsheets, which is 99.9% of what I would need, if I even did need those