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Kmart Briefly Offers $149 Android Tablet

Posted by kdawson on from the attention-shoppers dept.

pickens writes in with word that Kmart put an Android tablet on sale for $149 — and quickly sold out. "A Kmart circular came out last week with an uber-geeky product that perked up a few ears in the gadget community. Augen's 7-inch Gen-78 Android tablet which runs Android 2.1 is on sale for $150 (normally $170). The tablet is as bare bones as it gets, but it does work and has some features which may interest those who can't reconcile the $500+ price of Apple's iPad. Features include Android 2.1 (no skinning), 7" 800x480 Display, WiFi 802.11G, 2GB of storage +SD card slot (up to 32GB), 256MB of RAM (same as iPad), HDMI out for 720P viewing on an external display, an eBook reader, YouTube app, and Maps. ... 'I'll be honest,' writes Seth Weintraub. 'I don't trust my toddler with an iPad but this thing will be great for watching Gumby (don't ask) at home and Sesame Street in the car.'" It seems that Kmart offered rainchecks to those who found the item sold out at their local store — up until July 31. It is not clear whether after the retailer restocks the pipeline, they will stop at fulfilling the rainchecks, or will offer the Augen tablet again to new buyers. An update to the article notes that Augen does not have a license for Android from Google, and therefore the Android Store is not supported on it.

2 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. Re:iPad is UNDER $500, not $500+ by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    And you're an idiot for buying into the "99" bullshit. The cheapest iPad is, for all intents and purposes, $500, and it only goes up from there (hence the "+").

    Would it really make you feel better if they had said $499+ instead?

    Are you really that locked into the consumer mindset?

    --
    Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
  2. Re:iPad is UNDER $500, not $500+ by justinlee37 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    You're an idiot for thinking he buys into it. He never indicated that he did, or even that it bothered him. He merely suggested that whoever wrote the article or article summary has a marketing agenda that may involve making people "feel" that an iPad costs more by quoting it at $500 instead of $499.

    Like you, he understands that the "99" gimmick is just that, a marketing gimmick, a not-so-subtle attempt to make something seem cheaper when it isn't. By deliberately not using this gimmick, the author may be trying to achieve the OPPOSITE effect.

    I wouldn't have called you an idiot, but you deserved it for calling him one.