found $40 2012 nexus 7 on craigslist.

Mine was in Perfect working order and wasn't really showing any age until I cracked the screen in July or so. I still haven't really been able to justify $50-70 on a replacement screen and digitizer. So I would say "yes." And I ran it stock. If all you want is a permanent controller, the stability of stock will probably outweigh the features gained by any possible rooting and reinstall you would do. Not that ROMs are all that unstable. Just seems like a pain for essentially zero gain.