There’s really little in the way of good reasons to buy a Kindle HDX “tablet” when the Nexus tablets are the same price and do far more. But if Grandma needs a media-streaming slab, they’re a great choice. And now, you can buy them on the installment plan.
Yes, bringing a holiday tradition to the Internet, Amazon is graciously letting you buy their tablets in installments. Here’s how it breaks down, according to CNET:
…buyers pay the first 25 percent as a deposit at the time of purchase ($57.25 for the 7-inch version, or $94.75 for the 8.9-inch model). The three remaining payments the company automatically bills to customers’ credit cards every three months without interest or finance charges. However, for buyers who fail to satisfy the terms of the purchase contract, Amazon reserves the right to deregister the Kindle device and shut off access to Amazon content from the device.
Oh, you can only buy one this way. In the plus column, Amazon isn’t charging interest because making a profit on these things is not the point. The point is that you buy all your movies and TV shows from Amazon, and pay them for Prime streaming so you can watch that stuff too.
Honestly, it’s not a bad deal for what you get, although I have some reservations. For one thing, Amazon’s apps are still something of a mess, so if you do buy this for the one you love who isn’t tech savvy, you’re going to have to explain to them how everything works. You’ll also probably need to link their Amazon account for them.
But if somebody wants a tablet, and you don’t want to buy them a Nexus 7, this should fit the bill. The deal expires Christmas Eve.