Yeah, I was a bit worried when I was unboxing my unit today, but thankfully no problems. Screen is fine and sitting flush, no flexing or creaking, charging is fine and the micro-usb connects securely, no bleeding, light-leaks or dead pixels. So far, it's been flawless, though I've only had it for a few hours. Who knows, it might just go kaput when I wake up tomorrow. lol
Btw, you shouldn't take Chris Ziegler's word too seriously. He's one of those Apple evangelists, along with people like John Gruber and MG Seigler. They'll find flaws that don't exist. I'm not really a big fan of Android myself, but I will give credit to good products, and my Nexus 7 (so far) has been great and Android has been better than iOS since ICS (Jelly Bean is just icing on the cake).
Nope. So far I haven't received any notification. I already was prepared for this, though. If you really want the credit, I suppose you'll need to register a new Google account from the country you purchased from (US, UK, Aus) under VPN or proxy. Not sure if they'll give you problems when Google Wallet recognizes your Credit Card as Malaysian registered. That's one thing I prefer about iOS. Easier to cheat. Sign up as US customer by giving a relative's or random Starbucks address, and then buy iTunes US gift cards to make purchases for apps, music, movies, etc.. Settle!!
Anyways, I've been playing with my Nexus 7 non-stop for 2 hours. Not even given the screen a chance to turn off on idle. Just non-stop browsing (many tabs), checking G+, Email, Maps, Voice Search and Google Currents (+ video). Also been playing with developer settings (that's why I love Nexus branded devices). Haven't done any gaming yet cos I wanted to test "standard" use situations. So far so good.

2hr+ = 20%, which means it should give the advertised 10hrs web browsing battery life. The screen is still the biggest draw, just like all other handsets. I turned on all the lights in m room and set the display to Auto-brightness, and no matter what I do, I cannot get screen drain below 80%.
•A valid credit card stored on your Google Wallet account Please be aware that you will only receive one $25 credit per Nexus 7, credit card or Google account. If you did not receive the credit, you may not be eligible to receive the credit.
At this time, virtual credit cards are not accepted for the Google Play credit redemption.