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Comment by jgroome | Hacker News Reader

I've been reading as many Nexus 7 reviews as I can in a vain effort to sedate my excitement for its arrival later this month. I know this is going to sound ungrateful, but this review seems a bit thin.

The idea of using the Nexus 7 as an ereader seems kind of silly to me - surely if you're into ebooks (like I am) then you'd be better off with an actual Kindle. Staring at a backlit screen like that for hours on end can't be good for your eyes.

And I still haven't seen anybody take photos or video conference with it yet, so I have no idea how good that 1.2mp camera is.

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> "surely if you're into ebooks (like I am) then you'd be better off with an actual Kindle."

Unless you're into content that is more than just ebooks. [1] Or you like to be able to flip from your reading to research [2].

Don't get me wrong: I'm iffy on how large the market is for the 7" form factor myself. But even I recognize that if you're looking predominantly for reading++, it makes a strong case.

>"Staring at a backlit screen like that for hours on end can't be good for your eyes."

... you say on a forum by and for people who generally spend at least 8 hours staring at backlit screens at work and then go home to stare at them some more for their side projects, hobbies and pass-times...

[1] Instapaper, PDFs, CBRs, mixed-media presentations, research papers, etc.

[2] Browsing, reference apps, etc.

"I'm iffy on how large the market is for the 7" form factor "

I haven't done much validation, but over here (Uruguay), cost is a huge factor in purchasing decisions, so people get the 7' chinese knockoffs with non-authorized Androids, and I've seen a few Kindle Fires (although the user experience is awful outside the United States, it is very US-centric).

Only relatively rich geeks have an iPad, they're outsold 100 to 1 by the chinese 7 inch tablets. Although they ARE a status symbol and highly desired (like iphones and ipods, which lose out vastly to Android here as well).

Edit: added country

Sure, but you're only talking about form-factor inasmuch as it's a proxy for price.

So rather than suggesting people want/will be happy with the 7" Chinese tablet, the Uruguay experience is weighing in on whether the 7" Chinese tablet one can afford is better than nothing.

Which is not unrelated, but not quite the same question.

As the internals speed up, and good-enough 10" Chinese tablets arrive, I'd be interested to hear how satisfied people are with the 7" form-factor and how many stick with it rather than moving to 10".

Your comment is in dire need of geographical context.

I'm sorry, you're totally right. I was referring to Uruguay and to a lesser extent what I've seen in some parts of Argentina and Brasil too.

I think even if you like reading books, unless you know you will do it every day for at least a year or two, to get your money's worth, you're probably better off with a multi-purpose device that you can use for a lot of other stuff, too.

I tend to disagree. The best Kindle device out there, in my opinion, is only $79. That's well into the range of disposable for most people in tech, and it performs the task (reading) better than anything else out there. It doesn't take long for that to be a great deal.

Maybe it's just me, but I find the e-paper Kindles to be absolutely terrible reading experiences. The text is still relatively low contrast, but the real deal killer is the refresh flash. It's jarring and disruptive and it is nothing like a page turn.

I disagree strongly about the text, I find e-ink wonderful to read from. When I 1st used my e-ink kindle and noticed the refresh flash I actually thought it was a problem. I asked a friend who had one prior to me if his did the same and initially he said no. Then he went to check and realised that yes, it does. He then yelled at me for pointing it out as it wasn't something he'd even taken notice of in the past but now couldn't avoid focusing on every time he turned a page.

For me, I got used to the refresh flash and it doesn't bother me in the slightest or disrupt my reading. I don't really see the need for a page turn metaphor. The fact the next/previous buttons are right where I'm holding the device is a huge plus in my mind. Devices where you need to swipe the screen to turn a page seem to be missing out on the huge advantage.

The one thing which I absolutely needed to learn how to hack was the margin size. It struck me of a waste of space to have a 20mm margin on the screen. I found a guide to edit a config file on the device and changed to 5mm margin and love it.

I disagree with you. You start ignoring the refresh flash and it is not distracting at all once you get used to it. Really the fancy page turn animation does not add any value to my reading experience. I would care less. What I care about is I can read my book outdoors in bright sunlight and go without charging for a month. And, my eyes don't get tired after long hours of reading.

Nothing beats being outdoors and reading my books.

That being said, both the Kindle Fire and iPad 2 we have are inside devices only. When going on trips its the Kindle that is always packed with the question of, are we taking the iPad? Oh, yeah, kids want to play Angry Birds.

e-ink just cannot be beat outdoors, I haven't found one active display that works well in that environment.

I actually love using the Kindle Fire (backlit screen) for reading, especially at night. Having a separate light for my reading is a pain, and using night mode in the reading application suits me pretty well.

This is why I'm excited about the new Nook, it's eink but has the ability to backlight itself when needed to be read at night, but still has the eink benefits when read during the day. Mind you that one's $139.

Only reasons I haven't already got it was some EXPENSIVE surprises recently mixed with kinda hoping they take one more leap in features within the next year to make the upgrade from my regular nook just a bit better.

There's no included camera app, but I've tried Google Talk with video on it and it's not terrible.

the camera app is not included with the device. the front-facing camera is intended for hangouts/video calls. i just tried installing Camera+ from the marketplace and it says my 7 is not compatible. this is one way Google kept the device below $200.

Paul O'Brien from MoDaCo created an 'app' that adds the shortcut to the default camera app back into the Nexus 7. For some reason, even though Google included the entire camera application in the build, they removed the launcher icon. You can find it on the Play store at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.modaco.cam...

I'm guessing a lot of the camera apps check for a rear camera and block themselves if it's not present. Since Google seems set to sell a bunch of these Nexus Tablets I'd imagine those apps will all get updated to work with its front camera.

well i think google's exclusion of their native camera app is telling. this device is not intended to be used as a camera. you most likely have a much better one in your pocket at any given time: your mobile phone.

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