I’m running off to look into expanding the real estate empire, so today’s post is going to be quick. I just wanted to pass on what I consider a great deal.
A few weeks ago Google released the new Nexus 7. Since then I have been obsessing about it like Carrie Bradshaw obsesses about designer shoes. The problem is that I don’t really need a new tablet. The HP TouchPads that I got for $99 are still perfectly functional, especially since I can put Android on mine.
However, I’ve noticed that they’ve become more picture frames than tablets. I have my Asus Zenbook, which is ready to go in under 3 seconds. That makes it my go to device for looking up quick information or writing a blog post. My wife has been using her phone more and more. I asked her why she doesn’t use the HP Touchpad and she said it is big, heavy, and slow. For the most part it was built with parts in the original iPad, but with a faster processor.
The Nexus 7 solves all those problems for my wife and it pairs well with the Android phone she already has. At $229 it was even a good price – $100 less than a Apple Mini with much worse screen resolution. When I saw this Slickdeals page showing that OfficeMax is giving 20% of tablets, I decided it was time to spring into action. It’s very rare that you can get a deal on new technology… especially when the new technology is priced low to start.
OfficeMax is running the promotion, but they only sell the 32GB version. That is also a good price at $269. However, there isn’t an OfficeMax near me. There is a Staples and Slickdeals users were reporting success in price matching the discount there. I gave that a shot on Wednesday and it worked. It was $183, plus tax.
My wife and I have been using it the last few days and it lives up to the high expectations. It is great to be able to have our own profiles on the device. We don’t really need two unless we both want to use it at the same time… or we use too much space on the device. (My biggest complaint is the lack of SD storage for music/movies. That can be somewhat mitigated with a device like the SanDisk ConnectWireless Media Drive). The 7″ size is much better for my wife than using her phone, and it is almost too light, feels like it is empty. Countless technology sites have done in depth reviews and I can’t honestly say that I have too much to add other than being a satisfied customer.
If you are going to take advantage of this discount, don’t delay, it ends August 10th. The first Nexus didn’t get significantly cheap for a long time and I’m not expecting this one to get discounted either (except for general deals like these).
One last thing that I noticed… The HP Touchpads that we have are going for around $130 on Ebay. If we are able to get that, the net cost to upgrade is going to be around $60. I feel like I should be selling my Apple stock because I don’t see how they can keep their margins on iPads at this rate.
It’s tempting to pick up a second one, I don’t know if I can resist the urge.
You actually write blog posts on the tablet? I just don’t get the market to be honest (I am the minority), but with such light weight laptops I want a keyboard!
No, the Asus Zenbook is my laptop. I did write a couple of blog posts on my HP TouchPad when I first got it. I thought it would be a better environment because I wouldn’t have the distraction of other Firefox tabs (saving me from productivity killing realizations like, “OMG, Amendola didn’t practice today… arrrggghhh!!!”). It turns out it was much easier to just pick up the laptop and start typing, even with the distractions.
I should mention that I did have a BlueTooth Keyboard and a case that puts the tablet at an appropriate height. Also two years ago, there weren’t Ultrabooks on the market and netbooks were too slow with cramped keyboards to be very useful.