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Official Black Friday TABLET Discussion Thread

Brad

By Brad
in 2013

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Brad

Brad

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As always, we have several dedicated threads for the hotter items each Black Friday. Please try to keep all discussion related to these items in their official threads. Other threads posted will likely be merged into this main thread.

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  • 2 weeks later...
glm777

glm777

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I'd like to buy my nephews 7 inch tablets for Christmas. Most folks are warning against the off name brands so I was thinking about the Google Nexus. I can get one now for about $179. I am also looking at the Samsung 2 ($170) or the HP Slate ($140). But truthfully - they are 13 yrs old and I'd rather not spend that much on a tablet if possible. I'd like to keep it at around $125. Any predictions as to what the prices of these particular tablets might be on BF?

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bpr

bpr

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I'd like to buy my nephews 7 inch tablets for Christmas. Most folks are warning against the off name brands so I was thinking about the Google Nexus. I can get one now for about $179. I am also looking at the Samsung 2 ($170) or the HP Slate ($140). But truthfully - they are 13 yrs old and I'd rather not spend that much on a tablet if possible. I'd like to keep it at around $125. Any predictions as to what the prices of these particular tablets might be on BF?

Keep an eye on that Nexus. I think a new one is about to come out (can anyone confirm?). If it does, the current model might drop into your range.

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laddhorn

laddhorn

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A new one already did come out.  It has an upgraded processor, upgraded screen and added a camera to the back.  It costs $229 on the Google Play store. 

 

My DS has a Samsung 2.  It is a very nice tablet.  I believe that the price will drop on it on BF.  There is a Samsung 3 that is currently out.  The prices you are seeing are the clearance prices.  They may drop them to $99 to clear out the last of them.  YMMV

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bluebear

bluebear

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The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 was selling for $179 last year I believe, so you should be able to find it close to your price range, especially since the 3 is out. I have the Tab 2, and like laddhorn said, it is a really nice tablet. So is the Nexus, so if that goes into your range, then that would be great to grab too.
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amood06

amood06

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It has all the capabilities of a regular tablet, except the google play store which you can get around by downloading 1mobile market and getting the apps that way.  It is very kid friendly, meaning it can take a lot of drops and you can put parental controls on it.  If you do buy it make sure you don't let them play it while charging because the charger tip breaks easily and the port that you use to plug in the charger, can also become unstable where you won't be able to charge it.  Nabi has very good customer service (at least that is my experience) with replacing things when they get broken.  I have 3 Nabis at home that I brought last year so I speak from experience.  I got one on Black Friday they were $129 at Best Buy.  Hope this helps.

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amood06

amood06

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I vote for the Samsung Galaxy 2 tablet, I have one for my teenager, husband, and myself and I love it.  Also you can increase the storage with a microSD card.  They should go on sale for Christmas for a really good price, since the 3 is out.  And yes, definitely stay away from the off brands, I got an off brand before and that thing ran so slow, I put it up in a drawer and went back to my laptop.

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tmcws

tmcws

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I got my DS (6) one last year on BF at Walmart.  I love, love it for its capabilities, but the charging plug has known issues.  Just had to send his in for replacement because the charging port pin broke with CAREFUL use (only adults have ever plugged it in, etc).  The nice thing is that I'm 10 months out from purchasing it and lost my receipt, but they never even asked for it...just sent me a return auth number to have it replaced.  Customer service is excellent!

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Elmck

Elmck

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I got my DS (6) one last year on BF at Walmart.  I love, love it for its capabilities, but the charging plug has known issues.  Just had to send his in for replacement because the charging port pin broke with CAREFUL use (only adults have ever plugged it in, etc).  The nice thing is that I'm 10 months out from purchasing it and lost my receipt, but they never even asked for it...just sent me a return auth number to have it replaced.  Customer service is excellent!

Glad to hear they have good customer service. DD just purchased Nabi Jr for DGD for her 2nd b-day in October.

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len_mullen

len_mullen

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I want to get DD10 a Kindle Fire HD for Christmas. Thought I might wait for BF and additional gift card offers

 
If you have a Discover card and have a cash back balance, you can buy Staples $25 gift cards for $20.  Effectively discounting their best deal 20%.  Otherwise, watch for Best Buy, Walmart, and Sears to double their Discover card cash back to 10% in November.  Start your purchase at ShopDiscover.com to earn that cash back.
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peppysfireball

peppysfireball

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Is the Kindle fire something that normally goes on sale? I'm contemplating getting one for my DS11. I've gotta get a nabi for my 6 yr old and if I dont get my DS11 the kindle then I'll probably get him a new itouch.

No, Amazon does occasionally have sales, but the new Kindles will probably sell out quickly. last year after the first wave of Preordered Paperwhites were released, they were sold out untl xmas. Walmart does n't carry them anymore as they look at Amazon as competition and no one can put them on sale without amazon's letting them, they do give gift cards but I would never buy from anyone but Amazon. I have a kndle and my kids have fires, I am on the amazon kindle forums daily. You pay no tax and it's free shipping from amazon, plus if you hve a problem, you can get a free replacement before you even ship yours back unlike in a store. If you buy from a store you have to deal with the store first. 

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tyreejames

tyreejames

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No, Amazon does occasionally have sales, but the new Kindles will probably sell out quickly. last year after the first wave of Preordered Paperwhites were released, they were sold out untl xmas. Walmart does n't carry them anymore as they look at Amazon as competition and no one can put them on sale without amazon's letting them, they do give gift cards but I would never buy from anyone but Amazon. I have a kndle and my kids have fires, I am on the amazon kindle forums daily. You pay no tax and it's free shipping from amazon, plus if you hve a problem, you can get a free replacement before you even ship yours back unlike in a store. If you buy from a store you have to deal with the store first.

More and more states are paying taxes on items from amazon so the no tax is really a your mileage may vary.....

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nyicequeen

nyicequeen

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Hello - I used to be on here under a previous name, but it'd been a while so I forgot it :howdy:

 

Anyhow just wanted to share my tablet experiences from last year.  Got a Note 7 for my DD, and a Nabi for my now 4 y.o. son.

 

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have gotten the Nabi.  I've had to side load almost everything my kid wants or use that 1market (?) app store.  The actual Nabi store doesn't have much as far as free stuff.  Also, the charger.  Almost every electronic device out there has those flat heads (think the cell phones going to "universal" chargers), but not the Nabi.  If it doesn't sit just perfect, it won't charge.  So right now we have to take ours and wedge the charger up against the wall at a certain angle, and then use a stool to wedge/push it in the correct angle.  Usually takes about 5 minutes of experimenting with micro-angles.  I will say it has lasted, but frankly nothing that couldn't have been accomplished by getting a Kindle Fire or another Note 7 for him and getting an Otter box.  Battery also runs out insanely fast. 

 

The Cartoon Network link and other child programs that came with it were basically ads.  There's no full content per se.  Also I tried putting an SD card in so it could read the content and watch videos/load apps - no dice. 

 

Just too many restrictions on this tablet and it's just been a headache.  For the same price, I'd go with one of the Androids and just get some parental controls, or do the Kindle since their store is a bit more closed and the tablet has more parental controls. 

 

Just my 2 cents.  Hope this helps.

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Pnambic

Pnambic

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I bought a 1st gen Nabi a year and a half ago.  What you're getting with a Nabi is a tablet that you can give to just about any child and not worry about them screwing it up by accident or installing a bunch of apps without your permission.  You get an interface that only allows the child to use the apps you specify for them and doesn't let them get into the settings to make unapproved edits.  It does this very well.  I've found the sideloading very easy. 

 

The Nabi does have a known issue with the charge port but you can charge it with the usb port just like any other usb charged phone or tablet so that's really not an issue.  Pretty much every family I know has a stack of usb chargers sitting around already from all the phones and tablets and such they've bought over the last 4 years anyway.

 

I've not had any issue with using an SD card.  I think it is limited to 32GB but I think that's pretty standard for most tablets out there right now.  I have ripped a dozen or so movies from DVD's for my son to use in the van while traveling.  Its nice to not have to worry about him scratching DVD's. 

 

And the mommy/daddy mode on the Nabi turns it into a regular fully functioning Android tablet if you want to borrow it for a bit.

 

I find it interesting that people complain about there not being enough free stuff for the Nabi when there's even less free stuff for other non-Nabi tablets.  *shrug*  The Nabi does come with a couple dozen free little apps and it can access all the same free stuff that all other Android tablets can access, providing it runs on Android 4.0 (which is what the Nabi 2 runs on).  The Nabi Jr. and Nabi XD are both on Android 4.1.

 

If you're buying a tablet for a kid and you want easy to use parental controls, a Nabi is an excellent choice. 

 

If you're looking for the best bang for your buck for a slightly older kid or for yourself in the 7 inch tablet arena, then the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7" is probably going to be your best bet.  It has received excellent support from Samsung regarding Android updates and has some great specs.  I bought two last year from Walmart refurb'd for $140 ea. for my older two kids.  They have put COUNTLESS hours on those things and we haven't had so much as a single hiccup.

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peppysfireball

peppysfireball

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The fire hd excellent parental controls, although I am not a believer in them. It's just asking the kids to try and work around it, plus I don't censor my kids. I'm thinking of getting myself one. I did buy my grandkids Pandigitals last year, as they were 5 and 7, but one quit after 3 months. SInce they had gone out of business, luckily I had extra warranty and took the cash and bought a cheap one off of Buy.com. It is still working fine, but for my immediate family, I buy nothing but Fires. 

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Pnambic

Pnambic

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The fire hd excellent parental controls, although I am not a believer in them. It's just asking the kids to try and work around it, plus I don't censor my kids. I'm thinking of getting myself one. I did buy my grandkids Pandigitals last year, as they were 5 and 7, but one quit after 3 months. SInce they had gone out of business, luckily I had extra warranty and took the cash and bought a cheap one off of Buy.com. It is still working fine, but for my immediate family, I buy nothing but Fires. 

 

The best thing about the parental controls in my opinion is that it doesn't allow the kids to go in and mangle things - like delete operating system files - that then make the device a pretty little paper weight.  I've been there.  Heck, my wife somehow deleted all four com ports on Windows 95 way back when we were first married trying to troubleshoot a flaky modem...

 

Great point on the Pandigitals.  They are ALL OVER the place and CHEAP, but the company is now defunct.  So there is NO company support whatsoever.  You might be able to find an online community that will help you with it, but that's hit or miss depending on the model.

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lucyismycat

lucyismycat

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I got a Nabi 2 for my DS last year.  He was a little over 2.5 when he got it, and I questioned my sanity, but he does really well with it.  Even though he's a little rough with things, it's still holding up very well almost a year later, and he asks to use it every day.  The best part is that I can send it with him to Nana's for the weekend, and even though she's not all that computer literate, they can play on it together and read stories, watch Netflix, do puzzles, etc, and I don't have to worry that it'll be bricked when he comes back. 

 

This year, his brother will be 2.5 at Christmas and I'd like to get him something comparable, but I was really hoping they were working on a Nabi 3.  He likes playing with my ipad, but no way.  :sidesplit

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