Best Buy takes $100 off iPad Air 2, $75 off iPad mini 3 tablets for Black Friday 2014

Best Buy takes $100 off iPad Air 2, $75 off iPad mini 3 tablets for Black Friday 2014

Summary: The retailer has the best deals on iPads so far, plus at least $100 off Microsoft Surface 2 and 3 tablets.

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While tech buyers have increasingly abandoned Best Buy over the years as online shopping has increased in popularity, it's still the bellweather for Black Friday deals on PCs and tablets, especially for mainstream consumers. This year, it managed to avoid an early leak of its deals, and has just launched its ad on its website. Look for the laptop and desktop sales in a separate post; we'll cover the tablets here.

The thing that jumps out at you first about Best Buy's ad is its iPad sales are the most aggressive to date. While Sam's Club dropped the price on the older iPad Air, and Target is resorting to store gift cards as a reward for buying the Apple tablets at full price, Best Buy is actually selling new iPads at discounted prices. One is a doorbuster, however, so quantities may be limited: the new iPad Air 2 will be sold for $100 off starting at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving when the retailer's doors open. It appears that the deal -- which is for any iPad Air 2, not just the base 16GB model -- will be good online all Thanksgiving day, which points to the increasing importance of multichannel sales this holiday shopping season.

Best Buy will also take $75 off the price of the new iPad mini 3, with the 16GB version running $324.99 through November 29. Finally, there will be an additional sale the weekend before Black Friday where the retailer will have a first-generation iPad Air special, though you'll have to wait until November 20 to find out just how much less they will cost during that weekend.

Those looking for a Microsoft Surface rather than an iPad are also being catered to, with $150 lopped off the price of the Surface 2 models as a doorbuster (like the 32GB version for $299.99) and either $100 or $150 off 128GB or larger Surface 3 tablets, depending on the model. (Best Buy doesn't provide specifics.) There are also a couple of "unbranded" Windows slates being advertised, a 10.1-inch one available for $149.99 or with a detachable keyboard for $199.98.

Finally, Android lovers can select tablets from a range of price points, from a 7-inch Asus MeMo Pad with Intel processor for $99.99 to a 10.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S with 32GB of storage for $449.99, or $100 off. The 8.4-inch Galaxy Tab Pro for $199.99 appears to be an especially good deal, as it's not only $100 less than the usual Best Buy, but $200 less than the current price on the Samsung website. Like some other retailers, Best Buy is also reducing the price of Amazon's cheapest Kindle Fire HD -- the 6-inch 8GB version -- by $20 to $79.99 for Black Friday.

Topics: Mobility, Apple, iPad, Tablets, Microsoft Surface

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4 comments
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  • Sweet...

    I've been eyeing the ASUS Memopad as a potential replacement for my 1st gen Nexus 7. I just hope that someone is selling a 1st gen iPad mini for $200.00, because I'd like to pick one up for my daughter (she and all her friends are big Facetime buddies).
    dsf3g
  • Ho hum

    Meh... Just don't need "yet another tab"... don't use what I have enough to justify the cost anyway.
    Willnott
    • Casual iPad/tablet users are a little strange

      I use the heck out of my iPhone 6+, iPad 3 and Macs and find it amusing people saying they aren't getting their moneys worth when it should be obvious before buying any tech you need to have a purpose and need that fits your lifestyle. I can understand wanting to "have a life" and eschewing too much technology but you should have realized that before buying.

      Android and Amazon tablets are junk and their owners seem to put them into a drawer after purchase based on mobile web usage (80% for Apple devices). Surface tablets fill a real need for few and their low market share proves that. Even cable news like CNBC required to use "set dressing" Surface tablets on the air has the anchors plainly showing their real preferences by propping their iPads against the Surface tablets or using them in front of them. I am sure the NFL guys are doing the same. The CNBC guys even called them "iPad-like" on-air. Surface tablets = landfill. Your mileage may vary but everyone I know who started with a non-Apple device comes screaming back to Apple eventually.
      PaulG53
  • Ipads

    Ipads are basically Apple Inc's 'get quick cash', as people just buy them and sell quickly!
    Pollo Pazzo