The $200 Nexus 7 has only 8gb of space as compared to 16gb for the iPad Mini. The iPad mini has a larger screen as well.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13845_3-57538890-58/get-a-refurbished-ipad-3-16gb-for-$379/ I agree with this^ guy's article: it makes more sense to buy a refurb'd iPad 3 than the mini at this point: you'll get a bigger retina display, even if it is a little slower. To me, a poor grad student, that's a pretty good deal. A 16GB iPad for $380 instead of a mini for $330 or whatever.
I would go with iPad mini over nexus 7. Mainly because I have an android phone and would feel redundant if I got an android tablet. Plus, I don't think you can find a Nexus 7 8GB anywhere. They seem to be sold out just about everywhere at the moment.
the space issue is moot, as you can buy a usb cable and use a flash drive with it (currently using my nexus 7 with a 32gb flash drive). it still comes out cheaper than the ipad mini but if you want that extra screen space then I guess it will be worth it to you.
I remember several years ago when my wife got one of her first really good bonuses, she was going on and on about (somewhat jokingly...........I hope) wanting to buy an Hermes Birkin bag. Me being a guy, I immediately asked her why in the hell she'd want to spend ten grand or more on a purse when she could get one that was probably more functional at Wal-mart for twenty bucks or so. Reading threads like these makes me understand how I must have sounded to her. Apples biggest mistake yesterday was comparing the new Mini to the Nexus 7. Apple should know more than anyone else that specs aren't what they are selling.
And why would you compare something without stating its price? That's like if BMW started comparing specs with a hyundai and never stated the price. Uhm...
See, I think it's the exact opposite: I would want an Android tablet to go with my Android phone to sync the two devices easily, not mention not having to pay for apps twice (once in Google Play and once in Apple app store). Got my 16 gb Nexus 7 for $240 and it included $25 credit at the Google Play store, so net cost for the tablet: $215. Beats the iPad mini any day.
That specific question was for the classroom. I might be wrong, but I'm not aware of any iOS specific apps that is useful in a classroom environment that isn't available in the Android market.
Interesting, if true. If I'm understanding file-level automatic tiering correctly, that could explain how the claimed performance of the Fusion comes close to the performance (speed) of a SSD. Link to Ars article if any others are interested: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/10/apple-fusion-drive-wait-what-how-does-this-work/ I don't think it's that clear-cut regarding which device is a better value, although I do think that the Nexus 7 is more likely to be the better value for a typical consumer. That said, I think a lot of people would buy an iPad mini over a Nexus 7.
what do you guys think about Windows8 tablets like surface or HP/Dell offerings? I know that you can get them preloaded with Office.
Is this Fusion drive going to cause a mess when you try to format and clean install something? how will it work with bootcamp?
Fwiw, there isn't any 8gb Nexus available because there are going to release a 32gb variant of it next week. There saying the 16gb will be $200 and 32gb will be $250. I'm hoping the 8gb will be dropped to $129 or even $99 since there were rumors of a $99 Nexus tablet.