Thanks for comments, I have now rooted the device and restored the factory os using this excellent webguide:

http://nexus7.wonderhowto.com/how-to/definitive-guide-restore-your-nexus-7-tablet-even-if-youve-bricked-it-0145541/

been up for 24 hours or so now with no replication of the original fault so fingers crossed its all mended. Incidentally I noted that with almost the same number of apps installed I have recovered about 18gb of storage (I don't store photos/music/video etc on the internal) so reckon something was hogging a lot before the restore.

Hi all, I have joined the forum hoping someone out there can give me some help or if this has been dealt with before maybe point me at the right threads.

I have a 2012 Nexus 7 running 4.4.2

A couple of weeks ago it started to get screen freeze issues which seemed to be resolved by a full reboot (power and down held for 30 secs) but this has led to the unit randomly turning itself off and requiring a full reboot, often followed by screen freeze once the screen was unlocked to you get into an endless loop of reboots.

It turns itself off whilst in 'safe mode' so don't think that it is app related. I have set the screen brightness to 'auto' and reset the GPS (on advice of other google searches). I removed recently installed apps, removed media to create more space and have also cleared the partition cache.

This morning it was in my bag in sleep mode, when I arrived at work the lower part of the back was really hot despite it having turned itself off again. I removed the back cover but there doesn't appear to be any loose connections there and it cooled down after yet another full reboot.

Finally I went for a factory reset as the only option left to me but it still freezes and randomly switches off and requires a full reboot. Not sure if there has been a recent system update that has messed things up?

Is anyone else experiencing this and if so does anyone out there have any idea on how to resolve it as I am running out of ideas on my own. The unit is out of warranty so I cannot simply request a replacement.
Many thanks in advance

Dan