Hey guys, I am looking into getting a reasonably inexpensive tablet and having read a ton of reviews on a number of tablets I haven't really gotten anywhere. The Nexus 7 (2013) looks great on paper but it seems to have reliability issues, the Kindle Fire HD is cheap enough but very limited within the Amazon ecosystem, and the ASUS MeMO Pad HD7 is very low-spec... I'm just not sure where to look or if I should just go with the Nexus 7.
Go with the nexus 7, its the best you can get under $200 right now. Unless you want to find something used.
I own a Nexus 7 2013 Edition and I can personally say that it's the best tablet you can get for the money, but the only problem I found was that the speakers died within the first 2 months of usage.
Another great tablet would be the Tegra Note 7. It's specs are better than the Nexus 7 except for the screen, and it still receives frequent updates for Android.
I'm going to agree with everyone else, Nexus 7 is the best way to go. I've never heard of any reliability issue with a N7, although I have experienced some funny stuff before on my N7 (2012) but it went away with a custom kernel. I highly recommend getting Nexus 7 because it always gets updates before any devices and it is dead easy to unlock the bootloader and root, plus there is zero manufacturer bloatware only the necessary apps plus the Google play stuff.
Also I recommend avoiding the Tegra note 2, my personal experience with tegra processors is very poor (I have an N7 2012) and this is mostly because of Nvidia's piss poor open source support as it make working with the processor very painful in my experience.
The LG G-Pad 8.3 is now hovering around the $200 mark, that's a really good value for the money. It's slightly faster than the N7 FHD, has an inch larger screen, and a microSD slot. I've had one since Xmas and it's been a great tablet.
I would usually recommend the Nexus 7 the most, but looks like the LG G-pad 8.3 is newer and has no real issues. I would go with that. Tegra isn't bad either but it doesn't look as nice and I think the others would be better.
Found a link to the $200-ish G-Pad.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LGV500-G-Pad-Tablet-Android-8-3-display-16GB-Quad-Core-Dual-HD-Cameras-/301206245554
Another vote for the Nexus 7. I haven't been keeping up with the Android world that much lately, but the G-pad looks like a solid tablet as well. Faster CPU, SD card support, and more pixels on the screen. But it still has that crappy LG skin plastered over Android 4.2. The nexus is great all around. Runs stock Android and since it's a Nexus, fast updates directly from Google.
I will happily jump on the Nexus train as well, got Mum one last christmas and it is fantastic and not a single issue with it.
The LG G Pad (ugh that name sucks) looks pretty decent too but I would still have the Nexus if they were the same price.
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=5600&idPhone2=5673
Blind chipmunks could put CM11 on the G-Pad, I did it after 6-7 Boston Lagers.
Another Nexus vote... I own a 2013 edition and it is just plain fast. I run a custom rom and kernel which makes it even snappier. One thing I really appreciate about Nexus devices is they are made partially by google, which means they have no bloatware or overlay from other manufacturers (not sure if that's common in tablets but whatever). Another positive is due to the popularity of Nexus devices there is a ton of support as well as "extras" (roms kernels etc) available for them IF you are into that.
That's strange and doesn't make a lot of sense. They're about the same on a hardware level, only the LG has an inch larger display, a microSD slot (a very big deal, IMO), and a little faster processor (Snapdragon 600 vs S4 Pro). As I said before, you can easily go to Cyanogenmod, which will then handle your updates for you, and then you'll be running software that's as current as any Nexus and even more optimized than vanilla Android. Unless you simply need the 7" form factor, the G-Pad has more to offer.
I love my Tegra Note 7. I bought it for shits and grins, but it actually turned out to be a pretty solid device. It has a Tegra 4 processor for things like gaming and multitasking. It also comes with a very nice stylus to take notes with as well. My favourite thing thing is that it some how fits barely into my pocket so I don't have to carry it around in my hands all of the time. I also has some pretty good front facing speakers as well.
That is a cool little tablet, if it had 2GB of RAM I'd endorse it in a heartbeat. Oh, it needs a 1080p display, too.
The new nvidia 7.9" tab looks like a badass, not sure what it'll cost, though.
You are right about the more but the nexus for me is an aesthetically pleasing tablet with not a lot missing compared to the LG G Pad. The glad is pretty ugly, like the smasung tablets.
The SD card is really nice and would be a huge thing if they did not offer a 32gb nexus but that sorts that for me.
The screen maybe bigger on the gpad but the resolution is the same so lower DPI and slightly less quality. Nexus is better there.
The software you are plain wrong. While cyanogenmod does offer very up to date and fast operation, the nexus is made to google spec and has a full vanilla made by google version of android. It will not be out done with out serious customisation. Even cyanogenmod has bloat or tleast is not what I would call vanilla but the nexus has gapps so they are even.
The cyanogenmod for the g pad is a great idea as it will completely outpace the standard bloat laden ROM on the pad but vanilla on nexus is equally as fast so zero need for cyanogenmod which is the selling point. The nexus out of the box is up to date and fast and needs no customisation. For regular user it is the best.
If you get into heavy customisation and optimisation on a per user basis you can make both tables faster by a good bit, but that is outside the scope if most peoples uses so the nexus plain wins there. It offers the best "out if the box" experience.
Not saying cyanogenmod is bad but it is only as fast as the nexus as standard and can be prone to bugs and crashing I'm NY experience. Both can be made faster but to not much practical ends.
I get the feeling I am explaining my point bad. Sorry. Not meaning to be an ass.
Wait, what? Sorry, but if a device doesn't have a microSD slot, it's missing a vital component. 32GB isn't enough for a lot of people, I myself carry at least a half dozen 32 and 64GB cards with me and swap them regularly. The G-Pad even makes that more simple, with the slot being so accessible (right at the top of the unit, next to the headphone jack).
As for optimization, just because Google releases a vanilla version of Android doesn't mean it's the end-all, be-all version of the OS (though they do that for the G-Pad GPE as well). CM optimized builds, especially their "slim" builds, are commonly known to be the fastest and most stable version of Android available and no one releases a fix faster than they do, including Google, that's one of the reasons they do nightly builds.
Sure, if a person isn't a power user, doesn't root, and doesn't care about better security, then they can just run a standard OS release. However, there are more flexible solutions available. I've owned both tablets and the Nexus 7 and LG are virtually the same in terms of "out of the box" experience, they both even have an almost identical setup (put in your Google account info and go), the only real difference is if you have an Android phone the G-Pad offers to pair it with the tablet giving you more functionality with both.
As I said before, given the better performance (more robust Snapdragon 600), microSD slot, and larger display (both run at 1920x1200), unless you must have the 7" form factor, then the G-Pad is the clear choice. I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that it's of lower quality, but that's entirely incorrect (they're both nice IPS displays), spending just a few minutes with them together disproves that. If it were so flawed Google wouldn't have chosen to sell it in their play store as the first GPE device.
To each his own. I can see your points but for tablets I am not as picky and the nexus is for me the better one. The LG is nice just not what I want. And I am sure the quality is great just again not what I like. No slight on it but not for me.
Cyanogenmod was far from stable over several versions in my experience, and I did say that.
Just my experiences and opinions not fact or to be thought of as.
Nexus 7 owner here. I've used several other tablets (even newer ones), and always been highly satisfied with my purchase. My dad wishes he went larger, but you can't get that for ~$200 with the same quality as the Nexus 7.
I own a Nexus 7, and I am very happy with it. I haven't really had any reliability issues. If you do buy it, I would recommend getting the 32 GB version, since there is no microSD expansion.
I'll give a plus to the Nexus 7 2013, and the G-Pad. If you're interested the HDX7 from Amazon can be rooted I'm pretty sure