Google Nexus 7

Display: Again, it’s really hard to believe we’re looking at a $200 priced tablet because it’s sporting one pleasant looking 7” WXGA (1280 x 800) IPS display with Corning's Fit Glass to give it strength.

For those wondering, its resolution is actually better than 1080p – it’s at a mind blowing 2560 x 1600 resolution to be specific, which conjures up an amazing pixel density of 300 ppi!

We found the keys to be more or less exactly the right size - a perfect balance between making it fast and accurate while not obscuring too much of the screen.

Indeed, it doesn’t offer Adobe Flash support, but that doesn’t detract from its worth – seeing that its performance is still top notch with smooth operations all around.

The one caveat to it being a good gaming device is that, while the selection is good, it's still pretty small compared to what you'll find on Apple's App Store, while the overall quality of games is often lower as well.

These are quick and easy to set up - in fact Gmail sets itself up, you can get push notifications for new emails and reading and composing emails in either of them is a breeze.

Email, of course, is pretty much the same as it has always been with Android as whole – fantastic!

Disclaimer: If you want a real deep-dive into Android 4.1, read some of Ron's "Getting to Know Jelly Bean" posts.

Still, being graced with the “Nexus” moniker has its advantages – like being the first to feature a totally new Android experience.

For most, the iPad is still the tablet of choice, but for those looking for an alternative to Apple's much more constrained OS, Google has delivered one of the best yet.

That said, I'm on what is technically prerelease software, so some of these bumps could be ironed out by the time retail devices ship.

Average non-techie consumers might feel a little lost since there's no extra software bundle to get you going with Office docs, alternative video players or third party utilities.

Happily, battery life is actually excellent.

The battery life is good; it's surprisingly slick and powerful for the price, and in general it's just a well-packaged and impressively thought-out option in the tablet market.

As for battery life, Google says to expect 9 hours while playing HD video.