Fire HD 8 - Amazon's Official Site - Learn MoreAmazon’s Fire HD 8 tablet is on sale today for $130, a 13 percent or $20 discount. It’s worth consideration if you’re seriously into the Amazon ecosystem and value the company’s customer service. The eight-inch screen offers just 189 pixels per inch, a bit of disappointment, but still possibly tolerable for e-reading with the native reading software. Try the HD 8 first at a local store, if you can, to make sure.

The ten-inch HD 10 is also on sale, for $180, but if you’re into e-reading, you should definitely give it a pass even with the 22-percent $50 discount unless you’re planning to sideload Moon+ Reader Pro or something else that allows all-text bold (just remember—Moon can’t read DRMed books). The PPI count is a mere 149. That’s right—no typo. Even the $50 tablet, not on sale, is 171 PPI.

If you want a sharp view but don’t mind a smaller six inch screen, the HD 6 is around for $79.99, a 20 percent reduction. Its PPI count is an impressive 252. We’re not just talking numbers here. I have tried all three machines in person. The HD 6 really, really shines and is a great alternative if you want an econo-Amazon tablet and the $50 model’s screen is not good enough for you. Alas, it lacks a memory card slot or, at least for now, the latest Amazon operating system.

Also on sale is the Amazon Fire Kids Edition 7″ tablet + case ($90 / 20 percent off). That of course is the same 171 PPI as the $50 model by itself—nope, cases do not increase resolution.

Resolution issues probably won’t arise with other tablets on sale: the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7 (3rd gen) ($100 / 35 percent) (216 PPI) and the Amazon Fire HDX 8.9 tablet w/64GB ($430 / about 10 percent) (339 PPI).

In addition, you can buy an Amazon Fire TV with voice remote and 4K video support ($85).

Amazon bills this as a “holiday sale.” I don’t know how long it’ll last.

Related: Introducing the All-New Fire HD 8 Reader’s Edition, an Amazon news release.

(Thanks, Nate.)

1 COMMENT

  1. Kind of related — do you guys have any idea why Amazon.ca seems to have phased out all selling of Fires in Canda? I think it started around the time we didn’t get the $50 one, but right now you can’t buy anything other than an e-ink device from the Canadian Amazon site. Couple that with the fact that they never sold the Fire stick here, and it kind of looks like they’ve mostly given up on the Canadian market, which is odd since now they’re going gangbusters into China…

    Any idea what’s up?

The TeleRead community values your civil and thoughtful comments. We use a cache, so expect a delay. Problems? E-mail newteleread@gmail.com.