Tablets

RIM cuts BlackBerry PlayBook prices again--but should you buy in?

Last summer, when HP discontinued the WebOS-powered TouchPad and fire-sold its remaining inventory, buyers went ape. Apparently a 10-inch tablet for $99 was too good to pass up--never mind the fact that app development was about to grind to a halt.

RIM's 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook is likely to suffer a similar fate, which begs the question: is it worth owning if you can get it for cheap?

Your inevitable next question: how cheap? RIM's newly slashed PlayBook prices are as follows: $199 for the 16GB model, $249 for the 32GB model, and $299 for the 64GB model.

This … Read more

Kindle Fire vs. Nook Tablet: How to choose

Editors' note: This article was originally posted November 23, 2011. We've added some material and updated it on February 24, 2012, based on further use of the products and the introduction of Barnes & Noble's 8GB Nook Tablet.

Now that the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet both have a few months under their belts, we're taking another look at these two budget-price tablets.

Even after a handful of software updates from both manufacturers, we're still awarding the Nook Tablet a slightly higher rating, thanks largely to its hardware advantages: a better … Read more

Rumor Has It, Ep. 18: No, Samsung, we don't need a bigger Galaxy Tab (podcast)

To celebrate Mark Zuckerberg maybe possibly loosening his death grip on Facebook, Karyne and I give you a little Econ 101 lesson.

Kidding! No we don't. All I learned in Econ 101 was that there is apparently no such thing as a free lunch (then what was that pizza I just found abandoned in the kitchen and ate, hmm?) and that the more scarce a thing is, the more money it will cost.

But scarcity might explain why unvested stocks of Facebook have been some of the highest valued and most traded on SecondMarket--a market to trade stocks in … Read more

Samsung may have a 2GHz Galaxy Tab 11.6 for Mobile World Congress

Though new rumors are suggesting that we won't see a Samsung Galaxy S II sucessor at next month's Mobile World Congress, it's pretty much guaranteed that Samsung will introduce something in Barcelona, Spain.

Yes, according to new rumors currently spreading across the Internet, Sammy instead will unveil a 2GHz dual-core Galaxy Tab instead.

Word of the device first surfaced in December when BGR reported on an alleged 11.6-inch tablet with a 2,560x1,600-pixel display resolution.

With a form factor said to be "barely larger" than its predecessor, the presumed Galaxy Tab 11.6 … Read more

Five-deal Friday: An HDTV, a Bluetooth headset, a Batman game, and more!

TGIF, am I right? To help kick off your weekend, I've rounded up five eclectic deals--a little something for everyone, I hope. First up: a ridiculously inexpensive HDTV.

1. An story in today's USA Today suggests that pre-Super Bowl TV deals are "less super" this year, but apparently Walmart didn't get the memo. They've got the Sceptre X460BV-FHD 46-inch LCD HDTV for $409.98, plus sales tax where applicable. You can bag free shipping with the site-to-store option. The user reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

2. Today only, 1SaleADay has the factory-refurbished Jawbone One Bluetooth headset, in black or silver, for $9.99. … Read more

Get a Lenovo IdeaPad A1 7-inch tablet for $167.20 shipped

I've said it before and I'll say it again: prices always come down. (OK, hard-drive prices recently went up, but that was after years of drops.) If you're not ready to pull the trigger on an item because you think it's too expensive, just wait a while.

Or, in this case, a week.

A mere six days ago, I wrote up the Lenovo IdeaPad A1 at $199. Today, it's quite a bit less.

Update: Sorry, everyone, looks like the price is back up to $199. I had it on good authority that this deal would … Read more

Get a Lenovo IdeaPad A1 7-inch tablet for $199 shipped

Um, remember that Samsung 7-inch tablet I wrote about the other day, the one that was refurbished for $259? [Waves hands mysteriously] That neeeever happened.

While supplies last, Lenovo is offering the new IdeaPad A1 7-inch Android tablet for $199 shipped, plus sales tax where applicable. That's after applying coupon code WEEKLYSAVEA1 at checkout.

(You'll see four models listed on the landing page; the black one is the one on sale. The blue one, FYI, is only $10 more.)

To be fair, this tablet lacks the Galaxy Tab's built-in 3G option, so don't feel too badly … Read more

Get a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7-inch tablet with 3G for $255

The other day I polled CNET Marketplace readers and asked them to name the "best" size for a tablet: 7-inch, 10-inch, or maybe something else.

This is an update of a deal I posted a couple months ago.

The results so far? Most users prefer the big 'uns. Of course, maybe that's because they haven't tried a 7-inch model yet.

Here's your chance to do that on the cheap.

Until 9 p.m. PT, and while supplies last, Yugster has the refurbished Samsung Galaxy Tab 7-inch Android tablet with Sprint 3G for $254.97, plus $… Read more

Rumor Has It, Ep. 14: Let's give Kodak an Internet hug (podcast)

We're baaaa-aaack!

And slap-happy after the break, so you may want to sit down to watch this show.

On the first Rumor Has It of 2012, we ask: who will make the next Kindle? Will Apple have some sort of snorefest in NYC? Are Acer and Lenovo Wintel-crazed? And are RIM's co-chairmen getting the boot?

But mostly, we pour one out for Kodak, which is suffering lately. Rumors out of Taiwan suggest it's going to make even fewer cameras next year, as it can no longer keep pace with Canon, Sony, and Nikon. Poor little Kodak: it … Read more