Nexus 7I have a Nexus 7, the original, old one. It’s gotten pretty sluggish for some reason unknown to me. I thought it might be bloated with too many apps, but even after a factory-reset, it’s slow and irritating to use. It may be that the latest version of Android that is on it, is just too much for it.

All I use it for, since I have a Surface Pro 3, is to lay in bed and play a few games, or check Facebook.

But, I got to thinking a while ago, that it would be a great size for a mobile navigation screen.

I’ve been using my Android phones for directions while driving and they work great for that, but the screen size is a little small. Everyone is so sensitive to distracted driving and even though I have it in a holder so I can see it hands-free, it would be safer to use if I was easier to read.

I also have been playing music into the car stereo AUX jack from the phone. I’d like to have a dedicated source I don’t need to keep plugging in and get rid of the Sirius-XM subscription I got sucked into.

So, I’ve been thinking of a tablet dedicated to the car. Here’s what I need as far as features:

  • Mid-size – 7-8″
  • Bright screen, able to be seen in sunlight
  • Cell data plan – LTE?
  • Price – low
  • Port location – since it will be plugged in, it would be nice to have the power and audio jack near each other, preferably not on the top.

There are some things that aren’t important as well:

  • Battery life – don’t care, it will be plugged into the car
  • Speakers – don’t care, it will be plugged into the car
  • Camera – don’t care (not going to mount it high enough to use as a dashcam)

I could probably do this with my Nexus 7, if I also set up my phone as a hot spot every time I used it. Having the data connection built-in would be much easier. I need the data for the music and navigation both. I use Waze and it gives real-time (nearly) traffic information as well as letting you send reports. Music is done with Google Play Music and Spotify.

Mostly, just thinking out loud here, but if anyone reading this knows a model that would be absolutely killer for this sort of use, please let me know!