2014 Holiday Specials for Tech Lovers

With the 2014 Holiday shopping season well under way, retailers have been busy slashing prices on many popular technology items like tablets, laptops, cameras, smartphones, and much more. All these best selling technology products and gadgets features here are available at Amazon and can be purchased directly at their secure website.

Below you will find many of these products with special discounts for the Holiday season, but also look out for discounted prices on specific days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This is a limited time offer from Amazon starting November 27 and ending December 1, 2014.

The Amazon Fire HD Tablet has been one of the best selling tablets in 2014, even with top tablets like the Apple iPad and other Popular Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy in the market. One of the main reasons for the popularity of the Fire HD tablets is the competitive price factor.

For example, the Amazon Fire HD 7-inch tablet generally priced at $139, is being offered at a special price of $109. It is equipped with a quad-core 1.5 GHz processor, front and rear-facing cameras, single band Wi-Fi, comes in 8 GB or 16 GB memory storage options, and has a 8-hour battery life.

Also, the new Fire HDX tablet which is regularly priced at $199, is being offered at a special price of $179. It is equipped with a quad-core 2.2 GHz processor, front facing HD camera, dual band Wi-Fi as well as 4G capability, and comes in 8 GB or 16 GB memory storage options. The battery life is approximately 11 hours of mixed use.

Amazon has great Black Friday deals on digital and video cameras. For example, the Canon EOS Rebel T5i Digital SLR (with 18-55mm STM Lens) camera regularly priced at $849 is now available on special for $649.

The Canon EOS Rebel T5i which is the new flagship product of the Rebel line, is an 18 MP camera with a continuous shooting speed of up to 5.0 fps. It has a 3-inch LCD touch screen with Full HD Movie mode and built-in stereo microphone. It is equipped with the EyeFi wireless communication technology.

The GoPro HERO4 camera is on special as well. The GoPro HERO4 (silver) Holiday Bundle which is regularly priced around $530 is available at a discounted price of $399.99. This popular extreme action HD video camera bundle comes with the GoPro HERO4 (silver) camera, a SanDisk Extreme 32GB UHS-I/U3 Micro SDHC memory card, GoPro Headstrap Mount and Quick clip, Wasabi Power Battery (2-Pack) and Dual Charger, and the Bobber - floating hand grip.

You will also find many good deals on computers, including ultrabooks, of different brands like Toshiba, Lenovo, ASUS, Apple, Dell, HP, Acer and others.

For example, this 13-inch touch screen Acer Aspire S7-392-9890 ultrabook regularly priced at $1,600 is now available at a special price of $1,235. This Acer ultrabook is equipped with an Intel Core i7-4500U 1.8 GHz processor, 8 GB RAM, and 256 GB solid state storage. It comes installed with Windows 8 and has a 7-hour battery life.

Another ultrabook at a great discount is the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix 36984SU. This popular ultrabook is regularly priced at $2,179 and is now being offered for $1,293. It has a 11.6-inch detachable touch screen and is equipped with a 2.0 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 8 GB RAM, and 256 GB solid state storage. It comes installed with Windows 8 Pro and has an approximate 5.6-hour battery life.

Laptops, Tablets, Ultrabooks Comparison

With rapid advancements in technology, we’re seeing faster, lighter and more efficient computing and wireless devices in the market. The influx of new and advanced computers and tablets, can leave the consumer confused in terms of what is best for their needs.

Advertizing can be deceptive and luring to the consumer leaving the consumer with a device that may not match their needs. Therefore the very first step in buying any laptop or tablet is determining the need. Once you have determined your need, you will have to decide whether a tablet, laptop or ultrabook will suit you best.

You can learn more about the difference between laptops and ultrabooks. Essentially, ultrabooks are faster, lighter and more portable compared to laptops. Also, they cost a little more than traditional laptops, so in some cases, the consumer will benefit from owning a laptop including their lower and reasonable prices. I believe that as ultrabooks become cheaper, they will ultimately replace traditional laptops. 

Tablets and laptops are quite different though, and serve a different purpose for the consumer. Tablets are much more portable than laptops or ultrabooks, and are mostly used for consumption of information. Contrary to tablets, laptops and ultrabooks are used for content creation and data processing. One of the big differences between tablets and laptops is that the latter has a physical keyboard and most tablets have a virtual keyboard. 

If you are looking for the top tablets in the market, you can visit Tablet Comparison Guide where you will find information, specifications, and video reviews of some of the best tablets. The Apple iPad was among the first tablets to be introduced in the market in 2010. However, the competition has been fierce with introduction of popular Android tablets, at much more reasonable prices. 

If you are looking for the top ultrabooks in the market, you can visit Ultrabook Comparison Guide where you will find information, specifications, and video reviews of some of the best ultrabooks in the market. In 2012, Intel introduced ultrabooks which have become popular. You can expect to see better, more efficient and more reasonably priced ultrabooks in 2013.

Kindle Fire HD Releases Sept 14th

Amazon unveiled its new line of Kindle Fire HD Tablets in late August 2012. These new Kindle tablets include 7-inch and 8.9-inch LCD IPS display devices running on modified Google's Android 4.0 operating system.

Since the launch of the first generation Kindle Fire, Amazon has captured a substantial Android tablet market share in just a few months. With the release of these new Kindle Fire HD tablets, Amazon hopes to capitalize on the momentum.

Consumers will have 7 different options depending on tablet screen size, memory storage, and Wi-Fi / 4G LTE connectivity. Listed below are the expected release dates for the new Amazon Kindle Fire tablets.

The new Amazon Kindle Fire tablets will be released in two phases. On September 14, 2012, Amazon releases the 7-inch Kindle Fire models which include the following Kindle tablets:

• Kindle Fire 7-inch tablet 8 GB Wi-Fi = $159;
• Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet 16 GB Wi-Fi = $199;
• Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet 32 GB Wi-Fi = $249;

In the second phase, on November 20, 2012, Amazon is expected to release the following 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD tablets in time for the Holiday season:

• Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch tablet 16 GB Wi-Fi = $299; 
• Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch tablet 32 GB Wi-Fi = $369; 
• Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch tablet 32 GB 4G LTE = $499; 
• Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch tablet 64 GB 4G LTE = $599.

As you can see from the above line-up, Amazon has taken quite the leap with the introduction of these Android tablets providing the consumer with a lot of choice.

For more details on the above tablets, visit Amazon Kindle Fire HD Tablet Review.

Google Nexus 7 Tablet Comparison

Google launched their first tablet PC, Nexus 7, in late June 2012 thereby further increasing the competition in the world of tablet computing.

This new 7-inch tablet has some good features and runs on Google's latest Android mobile operating systems, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

The Apple iPad continues the dominate the tablet computing landscape along with other popular tablets including Amazon's Kindle Fire.

So how does Google Nexus 7 compare to the competition. Well, let's take a quick peek.

When you compare Google Nexus 7 vs Amazon Kindle Fire, overall the Nexus 7 has much more to offer in terms of features including a comparable price point. First off, Nexus 7 runs on an improved version of the Android operating system. It has a quad-core processor compared to the dual-core in the Kindle Fire. The screen resolution is higher. It has higher RAM and comes in two memory storage models (i.e. 8 and 16 GB). Not to mention, the Nexus 7 has a front-facing camera for video chatting.

However, when you compare Google Nexus 7 vs Apple iPad, the former is not quite a match. The iPad has higher screen resolution with a larger display; comes in 3 memory storage models 16, 32, and 64 GB; has two cameras; has better battery life; and supports 3G / 4G  LTE connectivity. Though, the Nexus 7 does have a couple of features that outdo the iPad like a quad-core processor, much more customizable OS and costs much less.

Having said so, depending on what you're looking to do with a tablet, the Google Nexus 7 maybe the right choice for you. For more detailed information on the Nexus 7 and how to pre-order it, you can visit: Google Nexus Overview.

Top Tablets in 2012

Tablets have continued to increase in popularity in 2012. Since Apple first unveiled its iPad tablet in early 2010, there has been an increased appetite, from consumers, for tablet devices. Apple followed up with an improved version, the iPad 2 in March 2011 and subsequently the New iPad in March 2012.

In 2011, Apple's competitors jumped on the  tablet PC bandwagon and unveiled their tablets. Some of the top tablets include the Samsung Galaxy, Amazon Kindle Fire, Blackberry Playbook, Motorola Xoom, Toshiba  Thrive, and many others.

If you are in the market to buy a tablet and wondering which one is right for you, check my Tablet PC Comparison Guide. You will find relevant and useful information, specs comparison charts, videos and reviews on the top tablet PCs in the market. You will also find a guide on how to choose the best tablet based on your needs.

Kindle Fire Retails November 15, 2011

Amazon Kindle Fire is set to retail in approximately 1,600 retail locations in the US market on November 15, 2011. Amazon unveiled its first tablet PC in September 2011 at which point it was made available on pre-order.

Priced at $199, it makes the Kindle Fire very affordable to consumers who could not afford tablets like Apple’s iPad 2, RIM’s Blackberry Playbook and the like.

Since its launch, the Amazon Kindle Fire has garnered a lot of attention from the consumer and analysts expect sales during the Holiday season to be impressive. In fact, as per a survey conducted by ChangeWave and RBC Capital Markets, it is reported that 26 percent of Amazon Kindle Fire buyers plan to delay their purchase of Apple’s iPad 2.

So far, Apple’s iPad 2 has been leading the pack in the tablet market every since they launched their first generation iPad. Other competitor tablets like the Samsung Galaxy, Motorola Xoom, Blackberry Playbook have not been able to gain any significant market share. Though the Kindle Fire can’t really be compared to the iPad 2, it’s in a class of its own and hopes to be a winner.

The Amazon Kindle Fire won’t be an iPad killer, at least in its current state for many reasons. You can read my detailed review on the Pros and Cons of Amazon Kindle Fire to see if it’s right for you. Once you’ve made your decision, you can pre-order the Amazon Kindle Fire.