Cyber Monday 2012 tablet deals: 8GB Kindle Fire for $129, Google Nexus 7 32GB for $229.99
The tablet market is still young enough that you won't see some of the crazy pricing you'll sometimes witness for, say, HDTVs, during the holiday shopping season, so you have to take what you can get in terms of deals. Luckily, there is no shortage of sales on Cyber Monday for tablets of various flavors.
Most prominent is a deal Amazon is offering on its lowest priced Kindle Fire. The 8GB version of the 7-inch slate is just $129 today, $30 off the regular price. No other Kindles are on sale, however, though Amazon is selling the 7-inch Toshiba Thrive Android tablet for $248.86 and the 10.1-inch Lenovo IdeaTab S2110, also running Android, for $299.99.
Best known for its auction-based sales, eBay is trying to resemble a more traditional online shopping experience this holiday season, offering deals from its legion of partner stores. For Cyber Monday, its highest profile tablet deal is $20 off the Google Nexus 7 with 32GB of capacity; the $229.99 sale is through Buydig.com, but only if you purchase at eBay.com.
Microsoft isn't ready to chop prices on its new Surface RT tablets, but it is discounting one Windows 8 tablet through its online store. The Acer Iconia W510-1674 gets a $100 trim to cost just $399 for a 10.1-inch slate with 32GB of storage. You can also grab a 10.1-inch Iconia running Android from Target for $299.99, or $50 off the regular price.
Full-size Android tablets continue to receive the brunt of the price reductions, from $219.92 for a 9.7-inch Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 at Office Depot to a 9.4-inch Sony for $349.99 at Target (albeit one using an older Nvidia Tegra 2 processor) to $399.99 for Toshiba Excite 10 models from the Toshiba online store (running either a Tegra 3 or TI OMAP 4430 processor).
As usual, deals for an Apple iPad. any iPad, are few and far between, and are usually on refurbished versions. Even a legit deal, such as a Google Offers promotion that lets you purchase a third-generation iPad (the first one with Retina Display) for $580 for a 32GB version through Newegg -- a whole $19 off! -- is hardly what you can call a "deal," as you can grab a newer model with Retina Display and the same capacity through Apple for $599. If you want to buy an iPad this holiday season, just be prepared to pay full price for it and forget the various "specials" that just aren't too special.