While demand for tablets has waned over the past few years, that doesn’t mean a tablet isn’t a great gift! With a few generations into product cycles, many consumers are looking to replace older tablets. This guide will help you cut through the noise and find exactly what you should buy for your family and/or friends (or yourself!) this year.

Buy This for Someone Who Won’t Shut Up about Apple: iPad Air 2 / iPad Mini 4

While the iPad Pro stole the show at Apple’s conference in 2015, it will still brutalize your wallet at a $599 starting price point for the 9.7-inch model and $799 for the larger screen. You are much better off going with nearly anything else in the iPad line. We recommend the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 4, both which will see solid discounts this holiday. We also recommend passing on the original iPad Air and sacrifice an inch of screen size to pick up the feature-loaded Mini 4 for the same MSRP.

MSRP (32GB model): $399 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $300

Search Ben’s for iPad Air 2 Deals

Buy This for Someone Who Won’t Shut Up About Android: Google Pixel C

Definitely a gorgeous tablet due to the high resolution, 10.2-inch screen, the Pixel C tablet was announced at the end of 2015 in response to the iPad Pro. Replacing the Nexus 9, the Pixel C comes with the NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor, Android 7.0 and a native multi-window display feature. The one downside is that the table is a bit pricey at a $499 MSRP.

MSRP: $499 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: n/a

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Buy This for an Office Drone Workaholic: Microsoft Surface Pro 3

Yes, Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 is still the flagship, but the price tag is way up in the clouds at a $899 starting point. The Surface Pro 3 received killer reviews over the last year and the price is still falling! It’s also compatible with both the Surface 4 Pro Type Cover and the new pen.

MSRP (128GB model): $999 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $480

Search Ben’s for Surface Pro Deals

Buy This for a Little Whippersnapper: Amazon Fire HD 7 Kids Edition

Not only is the Fire 7 an awesome bargain tablet, Amazon has the strongest parental controls of all regular tablets. While the LeapPad3 and LeapPad Ultra XDi are also solid picks for this category, the Fire HD 7 Kid’s edition edges out the competition with a 2-year guarantee that replaces the tablet no matter what happened as well as 1 year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited included.

MSRP: $99 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $70

Search Ben’s for Amazon Fire Kids Deals

Buy This for an Video Game Addict: NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet

Providing killer graphics performance at a competitive price point, NVIDIA’s SHIELD tablet will do an admirable job of running relatively recent games and handle popular MMORPGs. While a Surface Pro 3 may be a better choice for someone who wants to play games and be productive, the SHIELD tablet is vastly more affordable for gamers.

MSRP (16GB model): $199 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $185

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Buy This if You are on a Budget: Dragon Touch X10

Blowing out performance at the budget price point, the Dragon Touch X10 is the best tablet that you have never heard of. Sporting a octa-core CPU that runs up to 2.0 GHz as well as a 10-inch screen with 1366×768 resolution, the X10 tablet offers an amazing 178 degree viewing angle. It’s the ideal tablet for watching Netflix or other streaming video services.

MSRP: $125  Lowest Price on Ben’s: n/a

Check Amazon for Dragon Touch X10 Price

Tablets Worth Buying This 2016 Holiday Season

Available in a one-day only sale on Saturday, November 14th, this Sam’s Club sale looks to give Black Friday some competition. You can check out the full ad here, but we’ve selected our top five deals below.

1. Sony PlayStation 4 + 1 Game ($299)

While Sam’s Club hasn’t indicated which games will be offered with this bundle, either in-store or online, just the base price alone beats our best deal of $305 for a new console. Add in the additional game and you are scoring a solid bundle deal on the PlayStation 4.

2. VIZIO D50u-D1 50″ 4K Ultra HD Smart HDTV ($498)

Shooting for all time lows this month, this 50-inch 4K HDTV is normally $729 at most retailers. It’s likely a model specifically introduced by Vizio to drive Black Friday sales. While there will be more 4K deals throughout the month, this is a solid discount on a 50-inch model.

3. HP 15-2c147c1 Core i5 6GB 15.6″ Laptop ($399)

Beating out a similar spec-ed HP laptop at an all time low of $415, this HP model is a great deal for anyone that needs significant storage, a solid processor and great performance. Expect similar deals from Best Buy and Amazon that pop up during the month as well as Black Friday.

4. Samsung Galaxy S6 or Note 5 (96 cents)

While there will be no shortage of Galaxy S6 deals this year, carriers are starting to transition away from contract deals in favor of full smartphone payments during 24 and 30 month periods. You have the option of taking either route in this case, ideal for anyone that wants to replace an aging S4 or S5.

5. DJI Phantom 3 Drone ($549)

Likely the same model that’s currently being sold for $670+ on Amazon, this sale on the DJI Phantom 3 is a great price for anyone that’s serious about drones or aerial photography. Additional battery packs for this model are typically around $140 (when on sale) and last for 23 minutes in the air.

Runner up: Samsung Galaxy Tab A 16GB 9.7″ Android Tablet ($229)

Very close to the all time low of $220 for the 9.7″ tablet, this sale on the Samsung Galaxy Tab A will likely match up to anything Black Friday has to offer at stores like Best Buy and Amazon. The sale on the 8-inch model isn’t quite as good, roughly $15 away from the all time low of $155.

Early Sam’s Club sale offers up killer electronics deals

As a learning tool, a personal tablet can be extremely useful for children of any age. In addition, buying a tablet for a teenager entering high school is useful for gaining an edge in preparation for college as well as fostering a sense of personal privacy by allowing them to get away from a family computer.

Each year, retailers attempt to get parents into stores to purchase new tablets for students with sales throughout August and early September. While you can find a constant feed of the best tablet deals on Ben’s Bargains, it’s also good to know what brands and models to keep an eye out for when shopping for students of all ages.

We have put together a list of five tablets that will be ideal to own at the start of the school year:

Ideal for Early Learning

LeapFrog LeapPad Ultra

• Includes parental settings to control app downloads
• The Web browser is safe and protects kids from adult content
• More than 1,000 apps ideal for kids between 4 to 9
• Retail cost around $150, Deals in the $125 range

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Great for Avid Readers

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX

• Kindle Freetime allows parents to limit time of specific activities
• Kindle Unlimited subscription service great for kids that love to read
• Available in 7-inch and 8.9-inch models
• Retail cost starts at $229, Deals in the $150 range

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Excellent for Writing Notes / Drawing

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

• Handwriting-to-text engine converts your written notes to digital type
• High resolution display (2560×1600) excellent for drawing
• Offers up to 9 hours of battery life
• Retail cost around $600, Deals in the $500 range

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Perfect for College-level Work

Microsoft Surface Pro 3

• Fantastic for using Microsoft Office for schoolwork
• With keypad, excellent for taking notes while in class
• Processor upgrades ideal for games during downtime
• Retail cost starts at $799, Upgrades available

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Fun after Finishing the Homework

Apple iPad Air / Mini

• Excellent for entertainment like movies, television or games
• Also ideal for checking up on email or surfing the Web
• Light weight of Air (1 lb) ideal for carrying around the house
• Air starts at $499, Mini with Retina at $399

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The Best Back-To-School Tablets for Students

Traditional PCs have been in a world of hurt lately due to the rapid gains made by increasingly powerful and ubiquitous tablets and smartphones. We’re supposedly two years away from when tablets will outsell PCs. Of course, everyone knows you really can’t do anything productive on a tablet or smartphone, but apparently productivity is overrated. All you really need is Vine and Angry Birds.

Still, even if you’re in the traditional PC camp, you must acknowledge one thing. Laptop battery life sucks compared to tablets and phones. Enter Haswell.

PC makers have turned once again to Intel to deliver the latest, awesomest PC chip that will rule them all. On Tuesday of this week, the public was introduced to the 4th generation Intel chips, codenamed “Haswell,” which promise 50% longer battery life compared to the previous generation known as Ivy Bridge. Some 4th gen products are boasting “all-day” power, up to 9 hours or a full workday. Or you can watch three movies on a single charge — take that, tablets and phones!

Some other stats to consider: Haswell chips offer a 15% performance boost and three times more standby time compared to Ivy Bridge. We’ll be seeing thinner form factors and fanless designs, improved laptop/tablet hybrids and higher resolution displays.

From the BBC:

“If someone is typing on their PC, we can literally shut everything down when it’s not being used and then immediately bring it back up again in between the keystrokes,” Navin Shenoy, vice president of the Intel Architecture Group, told the BBC.

“The system is smart enough to know it’s not being used for those nanoseconds. That’s the kind of granular power management at the chip level that we’ve never had before.”

Translation: Nobody cares, but hey, we’ll give it a shot!

For us few traditional PC users out there, 50% more battery life is our call to action, it’s our Gadsden flag, it’s our Alamo. Haswell is our last stand.

What will this 50% more power savings get you, dear old-school PC user? Try these on for size:

50% MORE FREEDOM

Who’s against freedom? No power cable means more freedom. It means bathroom breaks are no longer an impediment for work. It means sleepwalking and Skyping.

50% MORE SLEEP DEPRIVATION

50% more power means hours more of web surfing in bed when you should be asleep.

50% MORE ACCESSORIES

Won’t you have less need for batteries, power cables and cheesy lapdesks with fans? You’d think so. But one thing is certain: never underestimate the power of accessory manufacturers to make more things you don’t need.

50% MORE COFFEE

This super power savings will mean more hours spent at Starbucks watching people who will also be staying there longer, as they pretend to work on their longer-lasting Haswell laptops.

50% MORE INTERNET CATS

50% more power means at least 50% more cat videos. It could be more than that. Really.

Bonus: 50% MORE INTERNET CONSPIRACIES

People will have 50% more power to debate conspiracies, anytime and anyplace. Now combine the two:

Intel’s Haswell Chips Give You 50% More of Everything