Tablet Tuesday: Get a 10-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab for $179.99
Sleek, sexy, and upgradeable to Android 4.0, this refurbished tablet competes favorably with the iPad 2 -- for a lot less money.
Happy Election Day! You're not allowed to view today's deal until I see your "I Voted" sticker. OK, you're good. Carry on.
As I mentioned last week, a refurbished iPad 2 for $319 is a helluva deal. But a 10-inch Android tablet with roughly the same specs for $180? That's a helluva steal.
And speaking of theft, today only, and while supplies last, Daily Steals has the refurbished Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (16GB) tablet for $179.99, plus $4.99 for shipping.
Quick side note: I know many of you had trouble with Daily Steals last week; apparently the company's credit-card processing was affected by the hurricane. I'm assuming, though I don't know for certain, that the problems have been resolved.
Anyway, the Galaxy Tab is a 10.1-inch tablet that comes with Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), but can be upgraded to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).
Specs include a dual-core processor, 16GB of storage, dual cameras, dual speakers, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 1,280x800-pixel display resolution.
However, the Tab does come up short in a few surprising areas, most notably GPS, USB and HDMI ports, and memory expansion. Those are kind of Android staples, so their omission is a bit disappointing.
On the other hand, the iPad 2 doesn't offer any of those options either, so at least the playing field is level there. And speaking of which, CNET came to this conclusion: "Sleek, sexy, and light, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 gets as close to the iPad 2 as any Android tablet before it."
In this case, it does it for $140 less. The only real rub is that the Galaxy Tab is covered by a 90-day warranty, whereas a refurbished iPad 2 (purchased from Apple) includes a full year of coverage.
So what do you think: deal or no deal? The lack of an SD slot is my only major complaint with the Tab, but at this price, I can probably overlook it.
Bonus deal: Want virtually free home-phone service? Newegg has the Obihai OBi100 VoIP phone adapter for $29.99 shipped when you apply coupon code EMCJJND42 at checkout. You can pair the uber-popular OBi100 with your Google Voice account or another service (like Sipgate One) for cheap or totally free calling. (Google hasn't yet announced whether Google Voice calling will continue to be free in 2013.)
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