1st Gen Kindle Fire Refurbished $69.99+Free In-Store Pickup @BB CNET Exclusive

Quote from bjsguess : I've owned a Nook Color (rooted - custom ROM), Touchpad (rooted - custom ROM), and we now have 3 Nexus 7's. I completely disagree with your assessments. At the $200 price point I'm more than happy to keep trying out new devices. If I don't like them I sell them on CL. Usually break even or lose maybe 20% of the price I paid. I look at things like this more like renting than buying. At $200 my wife, myself and my two kids can all have tablets. They don't need to use them 24/7 to justify the purchase. They do 90% of what I want and they are fine for what they are. I love my N7 and think it's absolutely terrific. There is nothing you could do on the Android front that would tempt me to buy a $1000 tablet. I will say that I am waiting for something like Surface Pro to drop into the $600-$700 range. Ultimately, my tablet future is Windows. I can put out to pasture most of our desktops/laptops and move to primarily tablets (especially true if I move to 100% console gaming). That's the future for me. Maybe I could be talked into a $1000 Windows device but it would have to be absolutely amazing and I don't see that on the horizon.

You bring up a lot of good points. Consider this though - let's say you could buy a tablet that was as thin and light as a IPAD mini w/the size of a IPAD and ran Windows 8. I'd pay 1k for that tablet if it had the quality build. The tech exists - the consumer demand probably doesn't. Look, I can remember when Sears sold those big bulky camcorders with the full size VHS tapes for $2200. I also routinely purchased laptops for $2500 back in the day. Why isn't 1k reasonable? I don't get it. Not everything needs to be a disposable toy.

Quote from bettylo8 : I don't understand the kindle fire. Can you use chrome on it? Can you access a google calendar? Is it just for ereading and browsing Amazon? If someone owns one I'd be curious to know how it compares to the Nexus 7. Thanks.

The first generation Kindle Fire has pretty good dev support, so if you don't mind flashing ROMs you can get the latest Android 4.2 on it along with Google apps. Then its not too bad of a deal. But the stock software is based on Android 2.3 and your limited to Amazon's ecosystem. The Nexus 7 has newer and better hardware but for $75 the 1st gen Kindle Fire isn't that bad of a deal.

Quote from robinski_ : congratulations, your son will no longer love you

WOW somehow you know him better then me. He's young still and plays with them all the time when we go to the store.

Quote from JeniC : WOW somehow you know him better then me. He's young still and plays with them all the time when we go to the store.

at least he doesn't require you to get an expensive ipad lol

Quote from robinski_ : at least he doesn't require you to get an expensive ipad lol

"require"?? LMAO the day he tried to require anything is the day he pays for it himself.

the only thing a kid should ever require is basic food and shelter!

Quote from bettylo8 : You bring up a lot of good points. Consider this though - let's say you could buy a tablet that was as thin and light as a IPAD mini w/the size of a IPAD and ran Windows 8. I'd pay 1k for that tablet if it had the quality build. The tech exists - the consumer demand probably doesn't. Look, I can remember when Sears sold those big bulky camcorders with the full size VHS tapes for $2200. I also routinely purchased laptops for $2500 back in the day. Why isn't 1k reasonable? I don't get it. Not everything needs to be a disposable toy.

Tech changes so fast that what you propose isn't even possible. It doesn't matter if you spend 10k on bleeding edge stuff, and threw in everything possible at the time, it still will be just as obsolete as anything else in the same amount of time, progress moves on regardless of how much you spend.

It's wiser to never waste your money on the bleeding edge and accept that you'll never "have it all", because it's like a heroin addiction, you're just chasing the dragon...


I

I just went on the BB clearance site and these units were now available for preorder for $99 with a shipment date of 2/28/13 for my area. Funny thing is when this initial post was made I went to see if they were available and all my local store options were not showing any available. Now, currently, they are all showing units available with this 2/28 date. I ordered one thinking if I get the special deal through Cnet next Tuesday I'll just cancel my order. If I don't get one at the reduced price on Tuesday at least I'll get one for $99. I'm going to put android 4.2 on it and be done (until the new Nexus 7 in June).

https://clearance.bestbuy.com/cat...egoriesSel[]=48

Quote from bettylo8 : I just went on the BB clearance site and these units were now available for preorder for $99 with a shipment date of 2/28/13 for my area. Funny thing is when this initial post was made I went to see if they were available and all my local store options were not showing any available. Now, currently, they are all showing units available with this 2/28 date. I ordered one thinking if I get the special deal through Cnet next Tuesday I'll just cancel my order. If I don't get one at the reduced price on Tuesday at least I'll get one for $99. I'm going to put android 4.2 on it and be done (until the new Nexus 7 in June). https://clearance.bestbuy.com/cat...egoriesSel[]=48

how is the hardware comparable to current N7? or can you compare it to any other tablets you've used?

Quote from lordoff : how is the hardware comparable to current N7? or can you compare it to any other tablets you've used?

the hardware on the N7 is a lot better of course, and it should be as it came out a lot later than the kindle. here are the specs

kindle [amazon.com]

Nexus 7 [google.com]

I spoke w/ a few people about taking the 1st gen Kindle fire and putting android 4.2 on it. It seemed to be unanimous that it was a good idea if you couldn't afford to do anything else but it won't be a Nexus 7.

I really liked the Nexus 7 but I sold it on ebay because I sold it for $195 after buying it for $199 (of course taxes, selling fees, shipping etc...doesn't make it a $5 transaction). The ONLY thing I didn't care for with the Nexus 7 was that it was a little too bulky (thick). The rumors on the next gen Nexus 7 said it would be thinner. Also they hinted at a price point of $150 for the lowest GB version. Basically I couldn't resist the transaction.

This is what I ended up doing. I ended up getting a Ipad Mini.

I've read a ton of comparison reviews and watched most of the youtube videos. This is the reality of the situation. BUT FOR the price everyone would prefer a IPAD mini over a Nexus 7. It is simply a better product. Trust me - I have now owned and used them both - so if price isn't the main issue with you - go with the IPAD mini.

Now, I heard the 2nd gen Ipad Mini is going to have a retina display BUT it will be thicker. I don't think I would make that trade. I'd rather have it as thin and light as possible. This Ipad Mini is better then acceptable - it is more about the quality of the glass then the pixels. (Of course if you can have all 3 - thin, quality of glass and retina then why not?)

Quote from bettylo8 : I spoke w/ a few people about taking the 1st gen Kindle fire and putting android 4.2 on it. It seemed to be unanimous that it was a good idea if you couldn't afford to do anything else but it won't be a Nexus 7. I really liked the Nexus 7 but I sold it on ebay because I sold it for $195 after buying it for $199 (of course taxes, selling fees, shipping etc...doesn't make it a $5 transaction). The ONLY thing I didn't care for with the Nexus 7 was that it was a little too bulky (thick). The rumors on the next gen Nexus 7 said it would be thinner. Also they hinted at a price point of $150 for the lowest GB version. Basically I couldn't resist the transaction. This is what I ended up doing. I ended up getting a Ipad Mini. I've read a ton of comparison reviews and watched most of the youtube videos. This is the reality of the situation. BUT FOR the price everyone would prefer a IPAD mini over a Nexus 7. It is simply a better product. Trust me - I have now owned and used them both - so if price isn't the main issue with you - go with the IPAD mini. Now, I heard the 2nd gen Ipad Mini is going to have a retina display BUT it will be thicker. I don't think I would make that trade. I'd rather have it as thin and light as possible. This Ipad Mini is better then acceptable - it is more about the quality of the glass then the pixels. (Of course if you can have all 3 - thin, quality of glass and retina then why not?)

That's a fair opinion, but don't take one persons word for it. Saying trust me everyone would prefer Ipad is ridiculous. There are plenty of people that will argue that the nexus 7 is a far better product than the mini. It has much better specs, and frankly people are growing tired of iOS. On top if that, I would easily take a couple extra mm thickness for a sharper screen. Although the reason would likely be because of a larger battery than a screen.

In relation to this specific deal, I plan on picking one up for the kids. It's a solid tablet for $75. The only reason I hesitate is I've seen the nook tablet refurbs for $80,and that has better specs than the kf. Specifically the sd slot would be good to have for movies. It's a shame to have a nice portable screen without the ability to store a decent amount of videos for the kids to watch on vacation. But for both, I'll be wanting to install custom rooms since I want to be able to get all my purchases from the play store. And for that option, it appears the kf has the advantage in the development department.

Think the site will accept best buy gift cards?

UPDATED AD: http://reviews.cnet.com/marketpla...1827128185
Gonna add to wiki.

According to CNET sale starts Tomorrow at 8AM PST
Posted by jchaikin (260 comments )
February 25, 2013 1:10 PM (PST)