Want to replace my Nexus 7 (POS) with used/cheap tablet

[GoodEnough]

I bought a Nexus 7 some years back. It was a piece of junk that never held charge and was always DEAD when I wanted to use it.
Is there any way to fix the Nexus 7? New battery? Update the OS?

I would like to resume reading on the sofa, not on the desktop. I only need it to read longer articles. I would use the N7 (if it ever worked), and I don't need new and sexy. I might try my laptop, but want a tablet option in case that's too bulky (and it's too tempting to then surf to forums and email)

Sounds like I may need a 10" tablet for optimal reading of magazine and newspaper articles?

What's the best value in a basic reliable reading tablet ?
Cheap, used, and good. I am sure they are out there.
Or is best bang for buck buying new for $199? Which?

 

[GoodEnough]

I charged it up, and it still works.
Maybe I should just keep this thing on a charger and give it another chance.

Is there any way to update the OS ?

 

[podspi]

How long does the battery last? Keep in mind that even when you aren't actively using it, it is syncing in the background which does take battery power. My Nexus 7 is pretty gummed up (my fault, I have a ton of apps that sync in the background) and it probably would go a couple of days without being touched and be dead.

 

[Binky]

I'm not sure if we had a lot of battery issues with our nexus7, but every update to android 5 was crap on this table. I'm now running slimcat 4.4 and the tablet is back to normal.

 

[GoodEnough]

Should I just do a bulk uninstall on unused apps? That may improve performance...

 

[GoodEnough]

Is it easy to update the Android version? Is that a good thing?

 

[Binky]

I would suggest NOT updating to 5.x. Stay on 4.4 if possible. What android version are you running?

 

[GoodEnough]

It's running 4.3 (Jelly Bean)
How do I make it go to 4.4 ?

 

[GoodEnough]

It's running great. It was really just the battery. I am going to keep it on a charger, and give it a week of use and report back.

 

[Megatomic]

5.1.1 on my Nexus 7 2013 is wonderful. I hear mixed results on the Nexus 7 2012.

Which one do you have GoodEnough?

 

[GoodEnough]

The original 2012.

 

[balloonshark]

I don't use gps and location services. When I turn off wifi for the night my Nexus 7 only loses about 3% of its charge a day. If you go to wifi - settings - advanced you can change "keep wifi on during sleep" to never and tick the "wi-fi optimization" box. This should help the battery last longer.

 

[GoodEnough]

Last night, the battery went from 80% to 30% overnight.
That means I really need to keep this thing on a charger all the time.

I turned off WiFi during sleep to Never.

Wi-Fi optimization was already checked.

How do I turn off GPS?
Just set "Location Access" to OFF ?

 

[Binky]

Most likely, you have some rogue app draining your battery. If it was mine, i'd do a full factory reset. Setting things up again is a pain.

My above comments about android 5.x are for the Nexus 7 (2012), so I would strongly advise you to not accept any updates to 5.0 or 5.1. I'm not sure how to get 4.4 without rooting the tablet, but 4.4 is very similar to 4.3 anyway so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[balloonshark]

Even with my wifi on 24/7 it still would only use 6% or so when not is use.

Yes, you can set location access to off or untick the gps box. Certain apps may complain though. You may have to set your location in weather apps, etc.

Bluetooth is a huge battery waster too. Check to make sure it is off.

Your battery drain is not normal. When you look at battery what is using the battery? Also try searching for nexus 7 battery drain. You'll find a bunch of suggestions.

 

[GoodEnough]

Thanks.

BT is off.
WiFi will be off during sleep.
Location services are off.
Turned off push notification on Email

Let's see how long this battery now lasts!
100% at 5pm.

 

[Roland00Address]

Asus is releasing several new zen Android tablets in the upcoming weeks with prices ranging from the low $100s to $400. Various sizes with 7" inch 8" and 10", CPUs from slow Intel Sofia x3 quad core to fast Intel's moorefield, ram of 1, 2, or 4gbs, various storage, and some with support for active digitizer.

Here is an 8" model for $200 meant to compete with the iPad mini 2 and 3

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-ze...D=1&siteID=JAF5WzpxbKM-ZRH2Azfood_Xd6DLMTsq7A

Note that processor max speed is 1.833 quad core atom moorefield, the min speed is 1.33 ghz but it can turbo to 1.833

 

[GoodEnough]

It's running 4.3 (Jelly Bean)
How do I make it go to 4.4 ?

It just auto updated to 4.4.2

 

[Graze]

Update the thing to 5.1. If you dont like it simply downgrade.
If I were you I would just a complete wipe also.

 

[balloonshark]

Also, if you haven't already make sure to turn your screen brightness down. I have mine all the way down and it's still too bright in certain situations IMO. The screen is usually the biggest battery drain when I use it often.

 

[GoodEnough]

I have brightness on AUTO which seems to work fine.
It is currently on 50%.

 

[GoodEnough]

Battery is at 89% after 3 hours.

 

[Demo24]

Something is wrong with it then, I've used mine since it was new (2012), and it still holds a charge fine. Heck I go like a week within charges. It's getting worse of course as it ages, but still nothing like yours. I'd also factory reset, you havent used it in a long time so who cares that it has to be resetup?

I don't think the batter is replaceable but you can take the back off and see.

 

[GoodEnough]

72% the next morning. Ok, so this thing should be able to go 24 hours on a single charge.
I have been using it, and it works great. It always did, except I would try to use it once a week, and that's why it was always dead.

I am going to keep this and use it. Thanks.

 

[sm625]

Last night, the battery went from 80% to 30% overnight.

Ouch. Sounds like my windows tablet. Install and run "CPU Monitor" it will tell you which processes are eating CPU cycles.

Usually it is "system_server". If this process is eating CPU, and restarting doesnt fix it, then you have to factory restore it. I guess that process is google's black box / NSA process. Who knows what the heck it is doing, but it does tend to go totally out of control sometimes.