To be honest, Nexus 7 is really a much desirable size and ratio. However, Google f*** it upside down.
First, it shouldn't have a Tegra3. It sucks, and more importantly, playing HD movies sucks even more. Then you have a crappy screen, with grainy look (looks like matter screen protector, but do no have any screen protector at all). Then there's the award winning speaker, which is basically just a beeper, cant hear a shit.
Nexus 10 is not totally without fault. It's huge (not just big) especially in portrait mode. Samsung was brilliant because the device is actually quite thin and the weight is evenly spread out, which make it nice to hold. The rubbery feel with the coated back is again a nice touch. It's just that you definitely see some sluggishness when scrolling in Chrome, Facebook, etc but not enough to annoy. Even iPad4 with its more powerful GPU also show the same problem but definitely better than what I see with Nexus 10.
If Nexus 7 2012, then I suggest you forget about it. I find it just a notch better than Chinese made tablets.
Wait a moment... There's something you do need to consider with Nexus 10. It's app compatibility. There are certain apps that don't really support this brilliant screen resolution yet, due to N10 not being available in all countries. Those developers in countries that sell them, no such problem. For example, our very own Astro on the go app. It does not work with N10. It's such a waste because it would be loud enough for my wife to watch HHD on it, instead of using iPad.
Maybe ur wife can sideload Astro APK if there's one.
For me, I use tab to surf net. High resolution is important.