Google Play Store selling Nexus-7 Tablet to Canadians

I was looking at the upgrade for my Samsung Nexus-S (Galaxy Nexus) at the Google Store and noticed Google is accepting orders from consumers who want to purchase their new tablet the Nexus-7. Surprisingly when I went to the Google Play Store, I noticed Google was actually shipping this product (once it is available) to Canadians as well as to some other countries outside the US. This is somewhat unusual because generally a lot of the other products that Google releases isn't available in Canada (ex: Chromebook, Google Voice, Google Music, etc.)

I already have an Acer Android 7" tablet (Acer Iconia Tab A100) that I use but having something that is pure Android (without the customizations of the manufacturer) is something that is appealing to me. The Acer tablet doesn't have a lot of Acer customizations but I prefer using devices (cellphones, tablets, etc.) that don't have the carrier add-ins or the manufacturer's add-ins. It was actually one of the reasons why I opted to purchase a Nexus-S as opposed to purchasing another Android phone.

The Google Play Store seems to be using UPS to ship the item to Canadians and if the item is actually being shipping from the US to Canada using UPS, I will definitely not purchase it because of UPS's high brokerage fees when receiving items that were shipping from the US.

I'll continue to read the reviews about the Nexus-7 before I decide whether to purchase it or not. The hardware specifications look very nice and are better than my current Acer Iconia Tab A100 but then I've never really ran into a problem with my Acer Iconia Tab A100 (except that I consider the battery life to be somewhat on the weak side). The expected battery usage for the Nexus-7 seems good but normally I don't trust the values posted by the manufacturer since I often find these values don't represent real usage. If I do manage to get my hands on one either as a testing unit, I'll probably write a blog review on it.

If you live outside the US and you're interested in purchasing the new Google Nexus-7 tablet when it becomes available, check it out the Google Play Store. They have 2 models (8 GB & 16 GB). In my opinion, the price point for the 8 GB model ($210+taxes) is also good.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to place a comment in the comments section. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment that contains a URL link (whether or not it is embedded) is flagged as spam and won't be posted.

iomega StorCenter ix2-200 Cloud Edition Review

I've been testing the iomega StorCenter ix2-200 Cloud Edition for a few months. Prior to testing this item, I used a no-name NAS (network-attached storage) drive which was problematic when transferring files to/from the device.

With the iomega StorCenter ix2, I find the performance to be very good. I've rarely had problems transferring files to/from the device.

I set my StorCenter ix2 as a Mirror RAID-1 storage device so the files that I place onto the device is replicated between both hard drives.

As of this review, the firmware is at the latest version (3.2.6.21659). The firmware is very easy to update. The only thing that I don't really like regarding updating the firmware is that it requires logging into iomega's website. After downloading it, you basically open up a browser to the IP address of the NAS drive and you go to the proper menu option to upload the TGZ file into the device.

The firmware appears to be updated regularly since I've been testing it. I would say that there are about 3 firmware updates since I've been evaluating it for approximately 1 year.

I haven't been using the iomega StorCenter ix2-200 Cloud Edition to its full extent since it has a lot of features that although I think is useful to have (like automatic uploading of photos to photo sites or Facebook), I personally don't currently need it. I basically use the device to store pictures, audio files, documents, and some videos. The good thing about this device is that my network media devices (mainly my LG SmartTV Upgrader Box & Aluratek Internet Radio Alarm Clock) have absolutely no problems accessing the information from it.

The iomega StorCenter ix2-200 Cloud Edition specs are located *HERE* so there is little point in me detailing all of the items.

Personally I've found the iomega StorCenter ix-200 Cloud Edition very easy to configure and very easy to use. The only thing that I've read is that even though it has user replaceable hard drives, if you replace the hard drive yourself, you basically void the warranty. I've also read that only certain hard drives can be used in the device and the hard drives are not "hot-swappable". In any event, I am hoping that I won't have to replace the hard drives any time soon.

I've connected an external USB drive to the iomega StorCenter ix-200 Cloud Edition (there are 3 USB ports on the device) and was able to access the information from the external USB drive (format of my external USB drive is FAT32 and NTFS). I also tested it with a USB thumb drive and I also didn't have any issues accessing information from the thumb drive. The USB ports can also be used for a USB printer (since it supports printers) but I didn't test it with my printer since my printer is WiFi capable and is located away from the ix-200 drive.

Something that the iomega also supports is torrent downloads without a dedicated PC. I have not tested this since I generally don't use torrents.

All in all, I've been satisfied with the performance of the iomega StorCenter ix2-200 Cloud Edition NAS drive. It is a considered a "home office / small office" device and I can't really see it being used in a real office environment.

If you have any questions regarding this blog entry or on my experience with the iomega StorCenter ix2-200 Cloud Edition, please don't hesitate to leave a comment/question in the comments section below. Please note that comments are moderated and any comments that contain a URL link (whether embedded or not) will be flagged as spam and will not be posted.