[Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] tralam:
My wife and I both got Nexii from Walmart, the 16 gb versions. We already owned Kindle Fires so we weren't completely noob to tablets. We also have Samsung Galaxy S3's. Anyway, the first thing I notice when I take mine out of the box is how cheaply it was made. It honestly looked to me like one of those Chinese economy tablets. Right after that, I look at the box and see "Made in China". I then consoled myself by looking at the ASUS logo on the back; since I've bought several high-end motherboards from ASUS I hoped I was wrong in my initial impression.

The look and feel of the thing still bothered me a few days in, but this was alleviated by the tablet's fast performance. Coming from stock (but rooted) Kindle Fire the Nexus is much faster. But still, I kind of wished the Nexus would have the build quality and solid feel of the Kindle Fire, but gradually let that wish fade.

Only after the purchase of the tablet did I realize it didn't have Gorilla Glass. I kind of did not like that, because I can't stand screen protectors so I really did not think the Nexus screen was going to fare well over time not having the tougher glass. I also noticed a bit of light bleed on the left of the screen, but since the screen crispness was overall OK I talked myself out of that dislike.

Then, I started using my headpones to listen to music and noticed very definite static sound. Just having the headphones plugged in, but not playing music or video yet, there is static. Moreover, the sounds change as you perform actions on the tablet, such as sliding through start screens or starting up a browser or other app. Popping sounds also occur, for example when starting up an app. Then, if the app doesn't use sound, it mutes down again, to just the slight static that is always there.

When I actually play music, the sounds occur before actually playing the song, but then when the song plays the sounds become less and only the slight static remains, every now and then crackling a bit but very slightly. In other words, this is far from a clear audio output, and it is downright annoying having your earphones when performing simple tasks on the tablet.

My Kindle Fire does not do this at all. Nor does my Samsung Galaxy S3. So my newest device, the Nexus, is far worse in the audio department then even my old Fire. Overall, the Fire build quality surpasses the Nexus.

Since the week I have owned the Nexus, I have thought about bringing it back to Walmart several times. After the whole audio debacle (not to mention everything I'm reading here that doesn't exactly give me a lot of faith in how the Nexus will fare over time) I think I've made my mind up that I'm just not going to accept this. I really wanted an updated 7 inch tablet, but sadly the Nexus is really falling short and I can't believe how ASUS thought to get away with this cheaply made device. Nor do I understand Google who is charging $250 for the 16gb while the Kindle Fire HD 32gb is going for the same rate. I understand the online market aspect of these deals, but if Google with a far inferior market place than Apple (and let's face it, Amazon) didn't think it could charge $50 more and make a quality device, then I don't think they had me, the customer, in mind. Maybe Amazon put more resources into the building of the Fire and for its time it really can't compare with a Nexus; the Nexus, despite its updated specs, is really not a quality device in my eyes. It is plain silly how these big companies go about things these days: they are completely focused on conquering a market spot, forgetting that conquering that spot is to a large extent congruent with how customers will receive that product. And the product is cheaply made and you pretty much have to be 'lucky' to receive a unit without defects.

I would have paid $300 to get this Nexus if the quality of the device was higher. I would call a fail on Google for putting this thing out. I needed to update anyway as I need to run certain apps that don't run well (or at all) on my rooted Fire, but sadly the Nexus is not it.

BTW I installed the Jandycane ROM to the my Kindle Fire the other day and I was surprised at how smooth and fast it made the Fire; even the screen seemed much sharper (dpi changes?). When I saw how well it worked I wished I did not buy the Nexus at all. Luckily, I purchased the Nexus at Walmart so the return will be easy and pain-free.

My wife is not as tech-savvy and for her the Kindle Fire HD is probably a better solution as Amazon kind of pre-chews content and makes it easy for people (though at a price). So we may end up taking both Nexii back and maybe she will get the Fire HD. As for me, I don't know what I'll do yet, especially since I'm not sure what the situation with rooting the HD and custom ROMs is going to be like. For now, I'm happier with my rooted Jandycane Kindle than with this Nexus. My wife's Nexus doesn't have the audio jack issue as pronounced as I do, but I'm getting tired of this hit or miss device, I'd rather pay a bit more for a quality device.

Final note: I checked how the glass meets up with the (ugly) silver plastic border around it, and did notice that on the left side, the glass is raised slightly over the plastic edge (it's like a slight bulge) whereas in other areas on that left side the glass remains below the silver plastic edge. There is just no finesse in this device. I know they will sell a lot of these things, but at what cost? To me they have proven that they think it's OK to produce cheaply made devices; couple that to a rather weak app market (especially for tablets) and then ask yourself where you're saving? No, not impressed Google, not impressed ASUS.