While Apple seems content to push prices higher and higher with each new tablet release, Amazon is taking the opposite approach this year and reducing the cost of nearly all tablets in their Fire HD lineup.

The retailer is also introducing an entirely new tablet to the lineup, the $50, 7-inch Fire tablet. It’s outfitted with a Quad-core 1.3 GHz processor, 8GB of storage, single-band Wi-Fi and a resolution slightly less than HD.

In addition, the new Fire HD Kids edition has plummeted in price by $50 and increased in screen size form 6-inches to 7-inches. It also still comes with 1 year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, the kid-proof case and the 2-year worry-free guarantee in case a kid smashed it.

Amazon is also introducing two more budget tablets, an 8-inch model and a 10-inch model. While neither tablet supports the dazzling resolution of the HDX series, both offer a respectable 720p resolution of 1280 x 800. Both also offer Dolby Atmos support for audio, dual stereo speakers, dual-band Wi-Fi, Quad-core processors up to 1.5 GHz and expandable memory up to 128GB.

Outside of the tablet changes, Amazon also announced a push into 4K support on the Fire TV platform as well as Alexa voice support without raising the $99 price on the set-top box. This is the first set-top box from a major manufacturer to include 4K support, a feature that Apple ignored when creating the new Apple.

With the push to 4K, the Fire TV has a stronger processor, 2GB of memory, support for dual-band 802.11ac and a dedicated graphics engine. Amazon also announced a $50 version of the Fire TV streaming stick with Alexa voice support in the remote control and a $140 gaming edition of the Fire TV, which includes two bundled games valued at $25, a 32 GB microSD card and the Fire TV game controller (regularly $40).

All of the new tablets are currently available for preordering with release dates on September 30, 2015. The Fire TV products will be available on October 5, 2015 with the Fire TV stick with the voice remote available on October 21, 2105.

Amazon retools tablet line to attract budget-minded consumers

A deep freeze has fallen over many parts of the country, but here at Ben’s Bargains we’ve got some very hot deals to warm things up.

Because it’s been so cold, a lot of the most popular offers this past week have been winter clothes like wool coats, leather jackets and down jackets.

(By the way, if you’re looking for discount tents, check out the 60% off sale at Eastern Mountain Sports or the 50% off sale at Moosejaw.)

Before we check out the current sales, let’s take a look back at 10 awesome deals this week that expired or sold out. Don’t forget to set up deal alerts on Ben’s Bargains so you don’t miss out on deals like these!

[table caption=”Expired or Sold Out” width=”620″ colwidth=”5|20|65|10″ colalign=”center|center|center|center”]
,Store,Deal, Price

1,Home Depot,Reach Barrier Garage Door Insulation Kit,$35

2,Amazon,Kenneth Cole NY Men’s Herringbone Walker Coat,$59

3,Amazon,Mohu Bounce Wi-Fi Enhancer,$8.79

4,Teavana,30% to 75% off in Sale + Extra $10 off $30+,

5,Jos A Bank,Select Men’s Wool Coats,$77

6,1Sale,Favi Entertainment SS-8GB Android 4.0 HDMI SmartStick,$40

7,Amazon,Razor Pro Model Scooter,$20

8,Jos A Bank,Select Men’s Leather Jackets,$99

9,eBay,Monitor Riser and Desk Organizer w/ USB Ports,$26

10,eBay,Chefmaster 13″ Smokeless Indoor BBQ Grill,$10

[/table]

Here are the current hottest deals of the week on Ben’s Bargains, organized by category (prices include shipping):

[table caption=”General Offers” width=”620″ colwidth=”5|20|65|10″ colalign=”center|center|center|center”]
,Store,Deal,Price

1,iTunes,Pac-Man iOS Game,Free

2,Fry’s,Select Xbox One and PlayStation 4 Games,$40

3,Toys R Us,Lego Minecraft The Nether + Lego Minecraft The Village,$55

4,Disney Store,Up to 80% off Select Items + Extra 25% off,

5,iTunes,Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour Game,Free

6,Sephora,djay 2 and Day One iOS Apps,Free

7,Google Play,Timely Alarm Clock Android App,Free

8,Groupon,2 Nights Signature MGM Las Vegas for Two,$144

9,Verizon Broadband,Verizon FIOS TV + Internet & Phone + $300 Visa Gift Card,$80

[/table]

[table caption=”Tech” width=”620″ colwidth=”5|20|65|10″ colalign=”center|center|center|center”]
,Store,Deal, Price

1,Best Buy,ASUS VivoBook 15.6″ Core i3 Touchscreen Ultrabook,$380

2,Amazon,Viewtv Digital TV Converter Box Media Player,$40

3,Dell,Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Series 4th Gen Core i5 15.6″ Touch Laptop,$650

4,Newegg,Belkin Travel Surge Protector w/ Hidden Swivel Plug,$3.99

5,Best Buy,Microsoft Surface RT 10.6″ 64GB Tablet,$300

6,Best Buy,Dust-Off LCD and Plasma Screen Cleaner,$2.99

7,Amazon,$30 off Kindle Fire Tablets,

8,Amazon,3-pack Etekcity Wireless Power Outlet Switch,$16

9,Newegg,70% off Select Software,

10,ShopMoneyBag,Wallet Style 20000mAh External Power Bank,$28

[/table]

[table caption=”Apparel” width=”620″ colwidth=”5|20|65|10″ colalign=”center|center|center|center”]
,Store,Deal, Price
1,Amazon,70% to 80% off Select Men’s Outerwear,

2,Tilly’s,Extra 70% off Clearance Items + Free Shipping,

3,Eddie Bauer,Eddie Bauer Northwind Down Jacket,$70

4,Amazon,PUMA Men’s BioWeb Elite Running Shoes,$33

5,Sierra Trading Post,Columbia Descender Trail Running Shoes,$33

6,Jos A Bank,Signature Gold Superfine 2-Button Wool Suits,$129

7,Jack Spade,Up to 50% off in Sale + Extra 40% off + Free Shipping,

8,Perry Ellis,Extra 40% off Sale Items + 20% off + Free Shipping,

9,Amazon,MODERM Men’s Cashmere Blend Military Hooded Jacket,$60

[/table]

[table caption=”Home & Outdoors” width=”620″ colwidth=”5|20|65|10″ colalign=”center|center|center|center”]
,Store,Deal, Price

1,Sears,Cuisinart 30 Liter Stainless Steel Step Can w/ Bonus Can,$30

2,Home Depot,Honeywell RTH6580WF Wi-Fi Programmable Thermostat,$100

3,Amazon,Zippo A-Frame Chrome Hand Warmer,$13

4,Home Depot,15% off Closet Storage and Organization,

5,PetSmart,$3 off Orders $10 or more,

6,Sears,Craftsman 7-piece Open End Ratcheting Wrench Set,$10

7,Walmart,Stanley Rolling Tool Chest + Bonus 88pc Mechanical Tool Set,$79

8,Groupon,Emson 5Qt Indoor Electric Pressure Smoker,$100

9,Home Depot,Husky 1/2″ Impact Combo Kit,$15

[/table]

Deals of the Week: The Winter of our Discount (Tent)

Most great deals don’t last that long on Ben’s Bargains. That’s why signing up for Deal Alerts is your best bet (and The Driver recommends them).

Here are 10 deals of the week (Oct. 19 to Oct. 25) that you really liked or we thought were pretty good… and even better, are actually still valid, but not for long:

1. The Best-Known Tablet Not Called an iPad

The 2nd Gen Google Nexus 7 16GB tablet is on sale brand-new for $200 with free shipping on eBay. The 32GB model is $249. These do not last long at this price.

Expiration: Limited time.

2. It’s Like a Compact Car

The ASUS X401U 14″ laptop does not have a Corvette engine inside (AMD E2-1800 CPU), but at $230 shipped from Best Buy, this is a great value. Plus, it’s fairly lightweight (4.1 lbs) and has a chiclet-style keyboard that’s all the rage. Will probably sell out before the sale ends.

Expiration: 10/27.

3. Only the Fanciest

Le Creuset has won fans worldwide with its high-quality kitchenware in bright colors. Macy’s is selling a 5-Piece Le Creuset Legumier Pot & Serving Dish Set for $125 with free shipping. It’s normally found for well over $200. Only available in cobalt (below), but these won’t last long.

Expiration: 10/27.

4. Best Sale in a Year

Famous Footwear is taking 30% off all purchases, which is their best percent-off discount in a year.  Includes sale items, like the Nike Velocitrainer Shoes which are $39 shipped after the code.

Expiration: 10/27.

5. Kenneth Cole Suits are Back

Macy’s has Kenneth Cole Reaction Men’s Suits on sale again, and now the price is down to $100 shipped, which is about 10% less than the outstanding sale price offered two months ago. These suits are always  popular and get very positive customer reviews.

Expiration: 10/26.

6. Cheap Sports Apparel (& Free Shipping)

Dick’s Sporting Good has brought back their very popular 25% to 50% off clearance footwear and apparel sale. There are some genuinely good deals to be had in here, but popular sizes and styles go out of stock quickly, so there’s no time to wait. What makes this sale great is that shipping is free on footwear and apparel with no minimum order required.

Expiration: Limited time.

7. The Lifestyle Computer

The new HP Slate 21 Android 21.5″ Touchscreen All-in-One is on pre-order for $349 shipped at B&H Photo Video. That’s $50 off the price on other sites. Tom’s Hardware gives this low-powered “kitchen” desktop-tablet a mixed review: a thumbs-up for the price and nice display but thumbs-down for the limited Android experience.

Expiration: 10/26.

8. Sweatproof is a Plus

The Polk UltraFit 3000 headphones are on sale for $30 shipped after code at Newegg. These in-ear sports headphones are usually at least $45 or more on sale (typically over $50) and have gotten good reviews, depending on fit. Here’s the CNET review as well as Amazon customer reviews.

Expiration: 10/27.

9. Like New in Box

Amazon Local is offering 20% off certified refurbished Kindle Fire tablets from Amazon, which include a full one-year warranty. Here are more details on Amazon’s certified refurbished Kindles (which include a complete repackaging with new box).

Expiration: 10/27.

10. Free Mac Upgrade

Buried in the news of brand-new iPads, Apple released an upgrade of its OS X operating system, nicknamed “Mavericks” and is giving it away to all Mac users with at least OS X 10.6 or above (10.6 is 5 years old). The free download is available through their Mac App store.

Expiration: None.

Deals of the Week… Going, Going, Almost Gone! (10/25/13 Edition)

Rolling out the new line of Kindle Fire tablets today, Amazon has added two new models into the mix with the 7-inch and 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX tablets. Starting at $229, these updated models offer higher resolution, faster processors, longer battery life and increased storage capacity when compared to last year’s models. In addition, both of the previous models received a much needed price cut taking the old 7-inch down to $139 and the 8.9-inch down to $269.

But how does this stack up to the range of popular tablet competitors? We break it all down for you in our 7-inch tablet showdown between the 7-inch Amazon Kindle Fire HDX, 7-inch Google Nexus 7 and 7.9-inch iPad Mini.

Display Quality

Both the 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX and Nexus 7 sport a 1080p (1920 x 1200) resolution screen with 323 pixels per inch (PPI). Alternatively, the iPad Mini’s 7.9-inch screen isn’t even high definition. It’s a woeful 1024 x 768 resolution pixels with 163 ppi.

While all three tablets feature an ambient light sensor to adjusting the display, the Nexus 7 is the only tablet to sport Corning Gorilla Glass scratch resistant glass. The Kindle HDX does offer a slightly higher brightness output than the Nexus 7, thus it may be easier to see in the sunlight.

Tie: Kindle Fire HDX / Nexus 7

Processing Power

Amazon is storming out of the gate with a 2.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Quad-Core processor basically blowing away the Nexus 7’s 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro and iPad Mini’s 1 GHz A5 Dual-Core processor. If I had to guess, the extra processing power is going to make the operating system and applications run smooth as silk. That was a problem with the original Kindle Fire HD, ever-so-slight lag when launching different applications. Regarding RAM, both the Kindle Fire HDX and the Nexus 7 have 2GB of RAM while the iPad Mini has 512MB.

Winner: Kindle Fire HDX

Operating System

While we still need to take Fire OS 3.0 “Mojito” for a test drive, it’s likely that it will be just as user friendly as the original Kindle Fire OS (if not a bit limited). One really interesting feature on the HDX is the inclusion of live, 24/7 tech support with Amazon’s “Mayday” button (check out the video below). This could help Amazon pull ahead of competitors, especially for older audiences that don’t have the same level of tech skills as the younger generation of consumers. The operating system is definitely geared towards media consumption, however there is a greater focus on email and the Web browser in this version of the OS.

I’m not going to launch into the pros and cons of Android versus the latest version of iOS. If you have an Android or iOS smartphone, it’s probably best to go with what you are comfortable with. Be aware that Android is typically a more flexible platform for content creation, but Apple seems to be making strides with their core production applications.

Winner: Toss-up (based on your core needs)

Storage Space

If you need a tablet with 64GB of space, you will simply have to go with the Kindle Fire HDX or the iPad Mini. Google maxes out the storage of the Nexus 7 at 32GB and there’s no SD card slot to add additional memory. However, be aware that storage space is less of an issue than it was a few years ago due to the growing popularity of cloud storage.

Tie: Kindle HDX / iPad Mini

Price

The base price of the 7-inch Kindle HDX and the Nexus 7 is $229. Alternatively, the iPad Mini is still (and quite astoundingly) $100 more expensive at $329. You should also be aware that the base price of the Kindle Fire HDX includes the “Special Offers” that Amazon is notorious for. To opt out of the advertisements, you will need to pay Amazon an additional $15 raising the price of the 7-inch model to $244.

The Nexus 7 is also the better deal if you want a 32GB version with LTE access, coming in $35 cheaper than the Amazon model without special offers. However, if you want a LTE version with smaller storage space (16GB), that’s an option at Amazon for $329. Google doesn’t offer that option.

Winner: Ad-free Nexus 7 at $229

Overall

At this point, it would be foolish to purchase the 2012 iPad Mini when you can get significantly more value and hardware upgrades with the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HDX. How should you approach choosing between the remaining two competitors? Ask yourself what you will be using it for.

If you are looking for a media consumption device, it’s tough to beat the Amazon ecosystem, especially when adding the benefits of Amazon Prime into the mix. If you are looking for a device that will support you in the workplace or the home office, the open Android platform of the Nexus 7 is significantly more advantageous for content creation and general business.

While it’s likely that Apple will refresh the iPad Mini before the end of the year, the price point is unlikely to change based on Apple’s typical launch process. Even with upgraded specs on a new iPad Mini, you really can’t go wrong with the Nexus 7 or Kindle HDX right now. The Nexus 7 is currently available for purchase on Google and Amazon. The Kindle Fire HDX can be preordered now with a launch date of October 18.

Tablet Showdown: Kindle Fire HDX vs. Google Nexus 7 vs. iPad Mini