By Lou Carlozo, dealnews contributor Several weeks ago, we rounded up the best deals on Android tablets — and the response it garnered was so enthusiastic, we've decided to return for a second round of tablet bargains for you to consider. And with the holiday shopping season accelerating each year, some sellers can't wait for Black Friday to pass on the big bargains. So here we are, a few weeks early, to present the best of what we've found in Android tablets — and judging from the volume of deals, we know it won't be the last time. This is a healthy product category with lots of options and competition. Our quest, as always, is to present the best deals we've seen, then let you make your selection from the best tablet deals. MID 7" 2GB Android Tablet Price: $79.95 with free shipping Lowest By: $16 Is It Worth It?: PremiumNYtronics via eBay offers this tablet, which runs Android 2.2 OS (Froyo) and comes with a 7" 800x480 touchscreen LCD, 800MHz processor, 2GB of flash memory, and a 3-megapixel camera— along with 802.11g wireless, 3G connectivity, and a microSD card slot. You're not going to get the power or pizzazz of a Motorola Xoom (see below), but the features list squares up with the $80 price point. Know that MID products get only average reviews (2 1/2 stars out of 5) from users on Amazon, so you'll get what you pay for: portability and entry into the tablet world. Toshiba Thrive 10" 16GB Android Tablet Price: $360 via coupon code "BUYDIGCLUB15" with free shipping Lowest By: $20 Is It Worth It?: Running Google Android 3.1 (Honeycomb), this Toshiba tablet is poised to take on Motorola's Xoom and Apple's iPad, with a list of features that includes: an NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core processor, 10.1" 1280x800 IPS multi-touch LED-backlit LCD screen, 1GB RAM, 16GB internal flash storage, 2-megapixel front-facing and 5-megapixel back-facing cameras, and Bluetooth 3.0. While Thrive has taken some unfair jabs for being thick in width, it is light (1.6 lbs.) and comes decked out with the features (such as full-sized USB and HDMI ports and a removable battery) that you'd expect to see on a laptop. Worth a closer look? We think so. Lenovo IdeaPad A1 7" 16GB Android Tablet Price: $199.20 via coupon code "USPA2M1104" with free shipping Lowest by: $50 Expires: November 10 Is It Worth It?: While this tablet operates on Google Android 2.3, you're going to get a nice assortment of features for the price, including those all-important front- and rear-facing cameras. The IdeaPad also comes with a 1GHz processor, 7" 1024x600 widescreen LCD touchscreen, 512MB RAM, 16GB of storage, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and a microSD card slot. (Note that Amazon charges $199.99 with free shipping for a very similar configuration of this IdeaPad, although it's listed as pre-order and it is not clear when it will ship.) Infiniti T70 7" 2GB Android Tablet Price: $89.99 with free shipping Lowest By: $30 Is It Worth It?: Offered by eXpansys, this Infinity 2GB tablet runs Android 2.3 OS, and comes with a 720MHz ARM 11 processor, 7" 800x480 LCD touchscreen, internal 2GB flash drive, and microSDHC card slot — plus 802.11g wireless, USB connectivity, HDMI output, and an internal 3400mAh rechargeable battery. Amazon users give this unit 3 out of 5 stars, dissatisfied with WiFi connectivity and screen resolution, but also praising the portability and specialized use for handing off to the kids for game playing. Motorola Xoom 32GB WiFi Android Tablet Price: $398 with $2.97 s&h Lowest by: $28 Is It Worth It?: The folks at Walmart offer the popular Motorola Xoom — a worthy competitor to the Apple iPad — at $100 off retail. Working with Google Android 3.1 (Honeycomb), the Xoom features an NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core processor, 10.1" 1280x800 touchscreen LCD, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, plus front and rear cameras, an accelerometer, gyroscope, microSD card slot, and up to 10 hours of battery life. If that sounds amazing, the folks at CNET would agree, stating that "the Xoom tablet technically offers a more powerful, more capable alternative to Apple's iPad." Front page photo credit: Android Headlines Lou Carlozo is dealnews' Green Dad columnist. He was most recently the managing editor of WalletPop.com, and before that a veteran columnist at the Chicago Tribune. Follow him on Twitter — @LouCarlozo63. You can also sign up for an email alert for all dealnews features.
