iPad Mini or Nexus 7?

[illram]

This is a frivolous "gift I am giving myself" thing and I can't decide which one I want. This is not a "you should get a [insert thing I don't want here] instead" thread.

The iPad Mini is cool for obvious reasons, it looks great, works great, has every app under the sun, and the hardware is not shabby either. Got my Dad one for Christmas and played around with it a bit. Has Amazon Instant Play (which is not on Android), which is great since I have a lot of Amazon content on there. Only issue for me is I really enjoy Android's customization, widgets, etc., and having used android for the past 3 years or so I have become very comfortable with it. I also am a very happy owner of a Galaxy Note 2, and I am sort of eager to try out vanilla Android, which I hear is superior to Samsung's TouchWiz.

However I have very few paid android apps so I am not beholden to it on that level. I basically use that .001% of top apps that everyone uses, there is no niche or weird random app that I use that I will really miss, other than the widgets and so on. I am heavily in the Google ecosystem, using its cloud based music app, Google email, calendar, and Google drive for lots of work files. However as far as I can tell, you can be fully Google integrated on an iPad, even with your contacts. Am I missing something here? Google Music is the only thing I can see that is not in the Apple app store, but it looks like there are apps that let you access your Google cloud anyway.

I really can't decide. I hate losing the customization Android brings, which is huge for me, and I like that the Nexus 7 is cheaper, and I don't use Apple for anything else. I hate iTunes and it would make me sad to use it again. I love how Android devices use file systems like PCs and can function as hard drives when plugged into your PC... but the iPad is so ubiquitous when it comes to apps. If there is an app, it is out for iPad earlier and odds are its updated quicker, looks prettier and is just better. Checking out the Apple App store for the first time in years yesterday (since I gave my brother my old 3G iPhone) made me a little envious. As far as I can tell Apple App developers are still making more money in the Apple system than the Android system so I don't see that changing anytime soon, platform market share be damned. Also the screen is a tad bigger. What do you think?

 

[Zelig]

Sounds like Nexus 7, nobrainer from your description, particularly your heavy investment in the Google ecosystem. You can use Google services on other devices, but other than maps on iOS, pretty much everything else is second rate.

I work as an app developer, and our shop's priority is generally iOS (because we get bank for it), then Windows (because I push it), then everything else. Clients who want Blackberry apps are the worst, either it significantly increases the overall cost to the client with minimal profit for us because we have to subcontract the entire BB work, or it decreases the quality of all the other platforms since we have to design multiplatform to accommodate BB OS.

The iOS app advantage is in some ways overstated - it does have best-in-class apps in some categories, but other platforms' best-in-class apps seem to get overlooked in comparison.

 

[Mise]

I think you'd be happy with either, so go with the cheapest one. I can't imagine paying twice the price for something with, at best, marginal improvements.

Also if you don't like iTunes then it's probably a bad idea to go with Apple stuff.

 

[Zack]

It sounds like the Nexus 7 is a better fit for you anyways, and that's before you factor in that it's $130 cheaper.

 

[illram]

Thanks guys. Sound advice all 'round; went with the Nexus 7. Yipee!

 

[wujinlong]

I think ipad mini is better.

 

[Mr.WorldWide]

So you confess that you do not know which is better?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Cool illram. I was going to say go with the Nexus since you use Google's products so heavily. You can't predict how much deeper the rift between Google and Apple will get and it would really hurt you if you bought an iPad mini and then Apple started pulling Google apps from their stores and making it difficult for you to use them.

How do you like the Galaxy Note 2 and the Nexus?

 

[Zelig]

Cool illram. I was going to say go with the Nexus since you use Google's products so heavily. You can't predict how much deeper the rift between Google and Apple will get and it would really hurt you if you bought an iPad mini and then Apple started pulling Google apps from their stores and making it difficult for you to use them.

There's essentially no risk of that happening.

A more likely situation in the long run is that iOS marketshare falls enough that Google decides they no longer need to produce iOS apps.

 

[caketastydelish]

Based on the OP you clearly prefer nexus so the choice is already obvious if you ask me. If you have a preference for the Android OS then you should go with it. I have a third generation iPad (not mini) and it's honestly not that great anyway.