Tablets for Frugaleers

[imoldernu]

First the Amazon "Fire"...
Good deal... $39.95... free shipping... and then, getting to the shopping cart, a $50 special bonus for opening an account... Now I have a new 7 inch Fire Table that works great. Had to side load Goggle Play, but that was just a 15 minute task. Love the tablet... Most tech website give it high marks.
.... and I still have a $10 credit on the new account.

Second... Was from Walmart... special deal a few weeks a go... An LG Sunrise Phone, which I didn't activate, but use as a tablet. Has all the bells and whistles, and includes Google play. The price (no shipping) was $9.85...
This too works great. Fun to play with and no worries if it gets dropped or lost.
Still available I think, but maybe a few dollars more.

Anyway, for inexpensive fun or for kids, two low cost "tablets". I expect we'll see more of these specials in the future.

Boggles the mind when I think of buying that Apple IIE for nearly $1,000.

 

[Winter]

I have a Fire as well and adore it. Mine cost a bit more than yours (I got it before they radically dropped their prices last year) but it is worth every penny. I have been really happy with it.

 

[ggbutcher]

$9.85... yep, in my past I've spent boatloads more for less-capable computers.

I'm impressed with the cheap Windows tablets now available. I'm typing this on a Microcenter WinBook TW801, $99 about a year ago. 2 core processor, 2GB of memory, and the kicker, a full-sized USB 3.0 port I could plug card readers into. Great tablet for travel photography; on our anniversary trip last year, each evening I'd download the day's 'catch' and use the Windows Photos app to review and do minor edits.

In one of the photo forums, a fellow posted an inquiry about the Dell Venue, a refurbished deal for his wife for Valentine's day, and he got a ration of derision for going cheap on his poor spouse. Gee, I'm thinking 1) he might be on a tight budget, 2) at least he's thinking of his wife, and 3) the danged thing should work just fine for her. People...

 

[ERD50]

Amazing what a few $ buys today.

I bought a lower-end tablet ~ 2 years ago just to see if I would really use it. I didn't want to be too cheap, because that might make me think I wouldn't use a tablet, versus not using a cheap tablet. So I made sure it had 1GB RAM, sd card, usb, hdmi, BT and GPS, and I got all that for $135. It has features my DW's iPad does not, and hers was ~ 3-4x the price.

Anyhow, I use it a lot, so at some point I will replace it with a higher grade unit, and probably still pay less.

These very cheap units have their place too. With all the apps available, you can use a cheap phone/tablet as a very flexible kitchen timer and dozens of other things, and it doesn't cost much (if any) more than a decent kitchen timer.

They make great internet radios. With a cheap SD card, you can store lots of music on it, just connect the headphone jack to some decent amp/speakers, or use headphones. Lots of uses. At this point, I've got a few old low-end smart phones that I use for that kind of thing, so I don't need to buy new ones.

And if you get one with GPS, you can use an app like OSMand or "here Maps" and you don't need a data connection for GPS navigation, so it is like a standalone GPS.

-ERD50

 

[grasshopper]

Amazing what a few $ buys today.

I bought a lower-end tablet ~ 2 years ago just to see if I would really use it. I didn't want to be too cheap, because that might make me think I wouldn't use a tablet, versus not using a cheap tablet. So I made sure it had 1GB RAM, sd card, usb, hdmi, BT and GPS, and I got all that for $135. It has features my DW's iPad does not, and hers was ~ 3-4x the price.

Anyhow, I use it a lot, so at some point I will replace it with a higher grade unit, and probably still pay less.

These very cheap units have their place too. With all the apps available, you can use a cheap phone/tablet as a very flexible kitchen timer and dozens of other things, and it doesn't cost much (if any) more than a decent kitchen timer.

They make great internet radios. With a cheap SD card, you can store lots of music on it, just connect the headphone jack to some decent amp/speakers, or use headphones. Lots of uses. At this point, I've got a few old low-end smart phones that I use for that kind of thing, so I don't need to buy new ones.

And if you get one with GPS, you can use an app like OSMand or "here Maps" and you don't need a data connection for GPS navigation, so it is like a standalone GPS.

-ERD50

I have an out of date 32GB Nexus 7, cost $350 new, I bought the cheapest GPS tablet I could find for water/travel activities a $55 2 camera, GPS, microsd, HDMI, BT. I carry the cheap tablet most the time.

 

[Ally]

I love my IPad 2, but only have it because my husband won it at a professional conference before he retired. I thought about getting the Fire tablet for my grandkids, but need to clear it with their parents.


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[marko]

Sorry to be off topic, but wanted to share my frugal deal of yesterday:
Went to a local ski shop to get my new boots adjusted to my bindings.

"Ummm, those bindings are too old, Mister"
"Ok, how much are new bindings?"
"$130, but your skis are too old for the new style bindings" (they're not THAT old...maybe 12 years old)
"Crap! So I need new skis?"
"We're going out of business so we have some great deals on skis and bindings..."

I got $750 skis and bindings for $230!

 

[kgtest]

Sorry to be off topic, but wanted to share my frugal deal of yesterday:
Went to a local ski shop to get my new boots adjusted to my bindings.

"Ummm, those bindings are too old, Mister"
"Ok, how much are new bindings?"
"$130, but your skis are too old for the new style bindings" (they're not THAT old...maybe 12 years old)
"Crap! So I need new skis?"
"We're going out of business so we have some great deals on skis and bindings..."

I got $750 skis and bindings for $230!

You DID get a good deal. I went out west in December on my straight ski's and was shamed into getting the newer style parabolic. They sure do make it easy to get down the mountain. I paid $750 for all new gear (2015 last years model) but much less than retail of course.

 

[Chuckanut]

I got the Fire 7 inch tablet for $35 before Christmas. I makes a great travel tablet, just the right size, does all I need it to do while traveling, and if I lose it, drop it or it gets stolen, I don't lose the farm.

 

[lnspilot]

I also have a $35 Kindle Fire and it is just okay in its stock configuration. But, use Root Junky's Google Play install and it's basically a full android tablet. I love it now.


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[FUEGO]

We bought 3 Kindle FIRE 6" last year so the kids would have entertainment and books while we were traveling for 7 weeks. At $65-70 a pop they were a steal. I've heard the newer $40 tablet is fairly similar in specs to what we got, so a great deal. It's not quite an ipad but definitely a nice tablet for the price (and 7-20x cheaper than an ipad).