Consumer Electronics Show tablets
by Phil Hornshaw
The star of the show at the last few Consumer Electronic Show conferences in Las Vegas has been the growing tablet market. In response to Apple’s crazy-popular iPad, device makers have put out a number of alternatives, especially on Google’s Android platform. One stand-out already to hit the scene is PaperTab, a paper-thin tablet device created by Intel, Plastic Logic and Queen’s University.
CES is also the place where the latest and greatest tablet hardware gets shown off, like that of NVIDIA and its Tegra line of processors. While we’ll have to wait for many of the latest tablets to hit shelves, in the meantime, there are plenty of potential deals out there on the web.
Android tablets everywhere
The ubiquity of the Android platform means that there various tablet options out there, each with different uses and specs. While it can be difficult finding the one that’s right for you, many tablets are available for lower prices, if you know where to look. Start with places you like to shop: Best Buy offers 3 percent cash back, as does Walmart, and both will often knock off shipping as well, especially when shipping directly to their stores.
Other great tablet-buying alternatives include Dell, which offers 2 percent cash back but has a lot of electronics options. You also can nab a 10-percent price cut on some electronics and accessories right now.
Do some research
As mentioned above, there are a lot of Android tablets out there, and they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. Amazon, for one, offers the Kindle Fire device, which is something of a lightweight tablet when it comes to processing power. The Kindle Fire is good if you want to surf the web, read books, and stream movies. Meanwhile, NVIDIA just announced its Tegra 4 processor, so expect to see the still-powerful Tegra 3-sporting tablets, including Asus’ Transformer Prime, start to decline in price.
Finding the right tablet for you, whether it’s the top-of-the-line at CES right now or something a bit older on sale, is all about deciding what you want your device to do. In the Android sphere, there are a ton of options, so spend some time looking at them and save quite a bit of money in the end.
