Three months later: My Nexus 10 Review

So my usual disclaimer - I'm by no means a professional reviewer, nor am I particularly knowledgeable about tablets. That said, I really love my Nexus 10 and have no complaints about it. The screen size and resolution are marvelous. This is my first tablet and my first "second screen" of any kind, so I'll admit to a lack of ready comparisons, so take my raving with a grain of salt.

I now find myself watching television or playing games while cozy underneath warm blankets in bed, which is an incredible luxury. As a result, I tend to go to bed earlier than I used to, since its easier to shut down and go to sleep when all you have to do is roll over and shut your eyes.

I haven't yet used it for reading anything other than the web. It sucks to try and type long messages on it since I'm a touch typist with a really high wpm on a traditional keyboard; feels like its taking forever. The voice recognition software is surprisingly better than I expected, though it does require a certain cadence of speaking in order to not get confused, and even then certain words are nearly impossible for it to recognize.

My favorite use for the Nexus 10 is tied between using it as a second screen while I'm watching TV (looking up details or having my confusion cleared up mid-way through an episode of Downton Abbey is pretty handy) and using the tablet as a portal gaming device. I love PC games and enjoy them way more than I do the offerings of a DS or PSP, but my gaming laptop is heavy and bulky and has a huge recharger block... so plugging it in and using it on a train (or god forbid, a plane) is pretty much never worth the effort. The tablet on the other hand - perfection. It is a divine portable gaming device!

My favorite game so far? Rebuild. (Technically this is Rebuild 2 but I guess the developer didn't want to be confusing.) After the zombie-apocalypse, you have to defend your bastion, reclaim city blocks while scavenging for food and weapons, and provide a safe haven long enough for the survivors to - what else? Rebuild civilization! This is a really fun way to kill some time, and a marvelous game-play concept. I am very much looking forward to the sequel that's currently in development.

Back to my Nexus 10: I haven't had any crashes or lockups, but I have noticed the internet connectivity will sometimes stop working if I've not turned the tablet off for a few days. I did update to Jellybean 4.2.2 and haven't noticed any issues. Other than that, I haven't rooted it or otherwise tinkered with changing anything substantial.

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OK, with that said, every good tablet should be protected with a good case, right?

I bought this case about 45 days ago, and love it. I read lots of case reviews before deciding on this one, mainly because a lot of the other "good" cases were reported to come with a strong scent that lingered for months and were considerably more expensive.

The Blurex ultra slim case fits my Nexus 10 snugly, but isn't bothersome to remove. It folds very easily into three different angles for a self-supported viewing platform. This was a huge issue for me prior to getting a case, since I had a really hard time with propping my tablet up when I wanted to watch some Netflix from bed. (Parks and Rec is my new favorite show!)

This case protects the tablet fairly substantially without covering up any ports or buttons, nor either camera. It feels nice to the touch and overall I'm impressed with it; this feels like a case that should have cost me a lot more than it did.

The one complaint I have is that the little handhold strap is awkward as its placed so I never use it. If it was rotated 90 degrees then it would be much more useful. That said, this case is some pretty amazing bang for your buck compared to what else is out there!

Six Months Later: An Xmas Update

Last Christmas, I got a new LCD monitor for my computer.

Well, after I had resolved the initial stuck pixels, I was pretty happy with the monitor. Until early April, that is; a line had appeared on my display, going the full length from top to bottom, on the right-hand side of the screen. It was only a single pixel wide, but still quite distracting. It would be a random color, usually somewhere between white and blue, often teal.

I was busy with my college courses at the time, so unfortunately I couldn't just immediately send it in for repair. And so more lines appeared. One at a time, at first, but eventually two or three new lines would appear, marching across my screen, destroying my ability to read or see anything on a two-inch block of my LCD. Quite annoying.

Turns out it was what they call a tab fault, and was easily fixed when I sent it in after classes were over. I was a bit miffed that the replacement I was sent had a dead pixel (not stuck, truly dead) right in the middle of the screen, but to Samsung's credit when I called to complain they were very apologetic and immediately authorized my sending it back to receive a new replacement.

Thankfully, third LCD's the charm! All pixels are working correctly and I have no complaints.

In other news, it is only six months until Christmas is here once again. I'm excited for another holiday season here in the States!

Early Adoption

Looks like Sony and Samsung are rolling out 3D TVs!

My dad and I were discussing this after watching Avatar 3D and I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised at how fast it is happening. Now, these models still require the silly glasses, but I figure it won't be too long now that we won't need the glasses at all!

They appear to be quite pricey, close to $4000, which is about 50% more than the cost of a similar sized non-3D model. I suppose only those with large amounts of disposable income will be early-adopters.

What are your thoughts on early adoption? I tend to wait, just because I try to be frugal with my cash when I can. I'm generally a generation behind on console systems, making it MUCH cheaper as I go through the massive game catalogs.

This does leave me a bit forlorn every time there's a huge release for the latest gen systems, though. I'm currently looking on sadly as my friends enjoy FFXIII and Heavy Rain.

Regardless, until I once again have gainful employment, I won't be able to partake of the most recent offerings that the industry puts before us. I avoid the harrowing tales of early adopters, but I equally miss out on the fun that goes along with being the first to own a new system or game.

So is early adopting something you regularly do? Only with specific products? Only once in a while? Does it depend on your disposable income?

Perhaps someone will regale us with a tale of early adoption horror...

Merry X-mas!

Merry X-mas, Futurama style!

Although my Christmas loot this year was rather lackluster, it feels rather like I got my old PC as a Christmas present since it arrived right before the holiday and then I got a new LCD as a present from my folks! It was a nice Samsung 23" Widescreen, model SW2333.

When reading reviews of the gaming LCDs in my price range, I was immediately impressed by what I read about this one. Only one thing gave me pause, and that was several people who purchased this model claiming that it arrived with one or two stuck pixels. Having never had to deal with any pixel-related LCD problems (my last one was an LG and it was absolutely flawless), I was quite concerned.

On Christmas morning, as I plugged in my new LCD and got it working, I immediately noticed a blue pixel that wasn't changing unless the screen called for "white". An obviously stuck pixel; I was dismayed.

However, a quick google search revealed a lot of different techniques for solving such a problem, and so I downloaded an excellent application called Undead Pixel, which will flash through all colors on the dead pixel(s) only, at like 60 colors a second, which sometimes helps to unstick a pixel.

I also tried gently putting some pressure on the screen as this program ran. I only applied pressure for like twenty seconds or so, and immediately wanted to check my handiwork. UD Pixel had only been running for about ten minutes, so I wasn't really expecting any results since the suggested run-time was between one and eight hours.

When I stopped the program to check the pixel, it was fixed. Awesome! So now I have a flawless Samsung SW2333 LCD that I'm quite happy with so far. Haven't quite used it enough to give a full review, but so far I haven't found anything at all to make me regret my choice. I'll try to update later on with a final verdict, once I've had time to really put this thing through the ropes.

Until then, Happy Holidays everyone!