It's not often that we steer members of the forum to read an article on another tech site but once in a while we agree so whole heartedly with a columnist that we make an exception. That's the case with 'The Verge's' review of the 3G enabled Nexus 7 or what they like to call 'Nexus 7 with mobile data'. Now to be sure there's not a whole lot different hardware-wise between the Wi-Fi Nexus 7s that most of us now know and love and the just released HSPA+ 3G enabled Nexus 7. Sure it has 32GB of memory but you can get a Wi-Fi only Nexus 7 for $249 that has that. But for just $50 more...$299 you get that sim card slot and as David Pierce explains in his review the mobility and convenience of having 'always on' connectivity on a well designed, yet portable tablet like the Nexus 7 made him state 'why I'm never buying a Wi-Fi tablet again'.
Some interesting takeaways from the article before I provide the link. Sure, there have been other tablets with always on mobile capability before. There's the iPad, the Kindle and the just released iPad Mini as well. But all of these fall short of what the Nexus 7 offers and here's why. The iPad for one...is just too big. It's not convenient to take with you everywhere and most definitely won't fit in your jacket or pants pocket like the Nexus 7. It's expensive too...with the cheapest models sporting mobile data starting at $529 for an iPad 2 or $629 for the new 4th generation iPad. That's nearly twice the price of the Nexus 7...and not as portable.
Then there's the Kindle. Here you have a portable device with 'whispersync' always on capability but let's be serious. The Kindle is not a tablet. It's an ereader and doesn't provide...or even pretend to provide the level of functionality or potential that a full tablet OS like the Nexus 7's Android has.
Finally there's the iPad Mini. But as David points out... while it has that great app selection(although Android is closing the gap fast) and portability going for it (although not quite as portable as the Nexus7) the lowest price for an iPad Mini with mobile cellular data is $459...and that's with 16GB. If you want 32GB you'll pony up $559....again, almost twice the price of the Nexus 7.
The end conclusion is this. The most affordable and most functional tablet with mobile data. that just 'makes sense'...is the Nexus 7. Other options either cost an arm and a leg...or are too unwieldly or limited. This is why I predict that Google will sell a boatload of HSPA+ equipped Nexus 7s this holiday season. I know I'm getting one. Here's the link to the full article but don't forget to come back and give us your opinion in the comments below:
