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Tablet deals: the lowest prices on iPad Mini, Kindle Fire HD, and more

Check out these online discounts for tablets from Apple, Lenovo, ASUS and Amazon.com.

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Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP/File
An Apple employee demonstrates the iPad Mini on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco.
  • By Louis Ramirez Guest blogger

This week's tablet roundup includes only Editors' Choice tablet deals from all the major players, including the cheapest price we've seen for an iPad mini with Retina Display. We've also got deals on Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and Google's ever-popular Nexus 7.

Kindle Fire HD 8GB 7" Tablet bundled with a $25 Staples Gift Card
 Store: Staples
 Price: $124 with free shipping
 Lowest By: $25

Is It Worth It?: Amazon Prime members in the market for a tablet would be remiss if they didn't consider the Kindle Fire HD. Not only is it faster than its predecessors, but the latest Kindle Fire HD also sports Amazon's latest OS. Even better, Prime members will get access to Prime Instant Video and the Kindle Lending Library. With only 8GB of storage, this tablet won't meet everyone's needs, but CNET says it "works perfectly as an e-reader with a few extra tablet features."

The Kindle Fire HD features a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, a 7" 1280x800 IPS LCD, 8GB of internal storage, 802.11a/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0, Dolby Digital Plus audio, and Fire OS 3.0 (Mojito).

Apple iPad mini 8" 16GB WiFi Tablet with Retina Display
 Store: Best Buy
 Price: $349.99 with free shipping
 Lowest By: $20

Is It Worth It?: Move over iPad Air, the new iPad mini 2 with Retina Display "shrinks down the iPad Air into an even more compact package, sacrificing nearly nothing," says CNET. And if you've been waiting for just the right price, this Editors' Choice deal is a new low for this tablet, placing it $50 under Apple's price and $20 under our mention from two weeks ago. It's also available at the same price in Space Gray.

The iPad mini 2 features an Apple A7 64-bit processor, 7.9" 2048x1536 LED-backlit IPS display, FaceTime HD front-side camera, 5-megapixel iSight camera, 802.11n wireless with MIMO, Lightning connector, and 10-hour battery life.

ASUS Nexus 7 16GB 7" Android Tablet
 Store: MicroCenter
 Price: $179.99 with in-store pickup
 Lowest By: $26

Is It Worth It?: "From a budget and spec standpoint, the Nexus 7 offers an insane amount of value that bests the iPad mini," says Engadget. And at $180, it's the cheapest price we've seen for this tablet outside of Black Friday when it was just $10 less.

The ASUS Nexus 7 features a 7" 1920x1200 touchscreen, Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB flash memory, 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.2-megapixel front camera, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11n wireless, and Google Android 4.3 OS (Jelly Bean).

Apple iPad 2 16GB WiFi Tablet
 Store: Walmart
 Price: $299 with in-store pickup
 Lowest By: $71

Is It Worth It?: If you don't require the latest hardware on your tablet, this Editors' Choice iPad 2 is for you. Sure, there's no Retina Display and you only get a dual-core CPU, but it's still a very capable tablet with a legion of apps to back it up. What's more, it's tied with our November mention for the cheapest iPad 2 deal ever.

The iPad 2 features an Apple A5 1GHz dual-core processor, 9.7" 1024x768 touchscreen LCD, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, front and back cameras, 720p video capture, accelerometer, and up to 10 hours of battery life.

Lenovo IdeaTab S6000 32GB WiFi 10.1" Android Tablet
 Store: Lenovo
 Price: $219 via coupon code "D2BVALENTINES" with free shipping
 Lowest By: $110

Is It Worth It?: It may not be a part of the upper echelon of tablets, but at $219, the Editors' Choice IdeaTab S6000 is at an all-time price low. Furthermore, this current configuration offers more storage than any of our above-mentioned models.

It features a 1280x800 touchscreen LCD, MTK 8125 quad-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 32GB flash memory, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0, 0.3-megapixel front webcam, 5-megapixel rear camera, microphone, microSD card slot, micro USB, micro HDMI port, and Google Android 4.2 OS (Jelly Bean).

Louis Ramirez is a senior features writer for dealnews.com, where this article first appeared.

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