Why You Can Trust CNET Tablet Tuesday: Get a 10-inch Acer Iconia A200 for $149
That's an amazing price on a powerful tablet. It's refurbished, though, so you'll have to be content with a 60-day warranty.
This is an update of a deal I posted a couple months back.
Sometimes I have trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that Apple still charges $499 for the entry-level iPad when there are deals like this to be had.
While supplies last, RedTag has the refurbished Acer Iconia Tab A200 10.1-inch tablet for $149, plus $1.95 for shipping. That's the lowest out-the-door price I've seen on any 10-inch tablet, ever.
Update: Sorry, folks, it's already sold out. (Check back throughout the day, though, in case RedTag frees up more inventory.) I realize this is incredibly frustrating, and I'm trying to figure out how to prevent this from happening so frequently. Obviously the best deals get scooped up very quickly, but there's no way for me to know how much stock any given vendor has. At least the bonus deal is still going (he said optimistically)!
Admittedly, the Iconia doesn't quite match the iPad 3 in the feature department -- but it comes close (and for many users, close enough).
The A200 is the slightly downgraded version of the A500. It comes with a 1,280x800-pixel screen, 8GB of storage (easily expandable via dirt-cheap microSD cards), a front-facing camera, Bluetooth, GPS, and Android 3.2 (which you can easily bump to Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, via an over-the-air update).
So, what doesn't the A200 have that the A500 does? Two things: an HDMI output and a rear-facing camera. Personally, I can live without both, though obviously they might be deal breakers for some.
CNET rated the A200 three stars, bemoaning those aforementioned missing features. However, that was back in February, when the tablet was selling for $330 (!). At today's price, it's a lot easier to forgive those omissions, especially when you consider that popular 7-inch tablets (like the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet) have no HDMI output and no cameras at all -- and sell for $199.
I think if you're looking for a big tablet and don't want to spend $500 -- or $300 or even $200 -- this is definitely worth considering.
Bonus deal: Game time! If you love running and gunning, check this out: Amazon has Max Payne 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition (Win) together for $24.99. That's about half the price you'd usually pay for Max Payne 3 all by itself. Both games must be downloaded via Steam.
Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers.
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