[Nexus 7 (2013) General] Ravynmagi:
I own an Apple TV (along with an iPad 4) and a Roku 3. And I ordered a Chromecast and think it may be something I'll use more than the Apple TV or Roku.

Almost everything I play back to the TV from a smart device is either Netflix or YouTube. I can launch an app on the Apple TV with it's tiny simple remote. But the app UIs on Apple TV are horrible for some reason. So instead I may use my iPad instead to AirPlay something to the Apple TV, it's much easier. But the problem is it's streaming from the iPad and I can't use the iPad for anything else usually and it's draining the iPad battery as well.

What I like about the Chromecast is I can launch YouTube, press the Cast button and that'll tell the TV to retreive that content from the cloud instead of streaming it from my phone. I can continue to control the playback with the phone or I can switch off and do other things on my phone like browse the web or play games (I tend to multitask while watching TV). So I have the ease of being able to play content to the TV with the phone with the freedom of being able to do other things with the phone while it's playing back.

And I love that this will work on my PC as well. There will be more apps coming to Chromecast, but until then I can use the web browser on my iPad with the Cast plugin with Chrome to cast content from the browser. So I assume I'll be able to go to a video website like Crunchyroll.com and cast that video to the TV.

And another beautiful thing is this works on my PC, Androids, and iOS (Mac and Chromebook Pixel also).

And it basically is going to cost me only $11, because it includes a free 3 month credit to Netflix.

For people that mostly play only local content, I understand why this isn't exciting them. I use Plex a little on my Roku. But for people like me that play the vast majority of their content from the cloud, this is so freaking awesome. Mine should arrive tomorrow. :)

---------- Post added at 07:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:35 PM ----------

I'm very impressed and excited about the new Nexus 7.

I don't have any complaints about the bezel. I don't find the portrait bezels to be too small, because I don't grip a Nexus 7 in portrait mode by the bezel, it's narrow enough that I can wrap my hand around the back of it. I like the original Nexus 7 was the most comfortable tablet to hold in portrait mode I've ever touched. And I think the even more narrow bezel will just improve upon that experience. And I'm okay with the landscape bezels, I will obviously need that bezel to rest my thumbs on when holding in landscape and the bezel is sufficient for it. Maybe the landscape bezels could be a tad smaller, but it doesn't bother me.

I would like micro SD. But as long as there is a 32GB option I can live without SD.

Micro HDMI is another feature that would be nice. And I think the tablet does have Miracast and Slimport (not a fan of either option). However when Google announced Chromecast, I suddenly found I have no need for micro HDMI, Miracast, or Slimport. So I'm happy.

"Moar pixels", hell yeah. 1280x800 looked awesome last year. This year it doesn't to me. I've spent too much time with devices like the iPad 4, Nexus 10, Nexus 4, even the Nook HD+, that the the mere 215 DPI display on the old Nexus 7 does look a little pixelated. I know I'll definitely appreciate the bump up to 323 DPI. That's going to be awesome. I hope the screen itself looks good, colors and all too.

The S4 Pro processor is in my Nexus 4 phone. It's not the latest and greatest. But I find it still rocks in my phone and I'm sure it'll be a very nice improvement over the low end Tegra 3 of the old Nexus 7. Or even that POS SoCs that Samsung is using in it's latest Galaxy Tab 3 tablets.

I feel optimistic the speakers in the new Nexus 7 may actually not suck balls. It's got stereo speakers. And Google even used the new Nexus 7 as an example of a tablet that will support the new "surround sound" feature in Android 4.3. I hope them calling attention to the speakers mean the speakers are worth calling attention to.

And I think the new Nexus 7 just looks better. It's a solid black color, chrome looking bezel, and brown colored back. Just all simple elegant black, I like that.