Amazon will offer customers the chance to pay for their Kindle Fire HDX and Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 tablets in four, interest-free installments over a period of nine months, Cnet reported.
Buyers must post a quarter of the total price for either tablet, which comes out to $57.25 for the 7-inch version ($229 total) and $94.75 ($379 total) for the 8.9-inch screen. Subsequent payments are automatically billed to the customer's credit cards. Failure to make good on any of the final three installments may result in deactivation, loss of Amazon access, a loss of apps (and books and movies), or other possible action, according to Cnet.
The deal runs through midnight on Dec. 24th and is limited to one device per customer.
Amazon's first tablet, the original Kindle Fire, debuted in 2011. At $200, some credit the first Fire for starting the market for more relatively priced tablets, perhaps now best embodied by Google's Nexus 7, acording to Techno Buffalo. Amazon further spurred the price battle with its $139 Kindle Fire HD (starting at 8 GB of storage). The latest versions offer the same features, the only difference being screen size. Called Amazon's best tablet by far (by Techno Buffalo), the HDX is equipped with an improved operating system, better hardware, and a new customer service feature called May Day. It compares favorably to its chief rival, the aforementioned Nexus 7.
The HDX, however, is still limited in the classic Amazon way. As the original Kindle was solely a reading device, the Fire, HD, and now the HDX stay true to those roots. Content is prized over a wide range of features. According to Techno Buffalo, that may be its greatest features as other tablets perhaps try too hard in too many areas.
"Now we're on to iteration number three, which is easily the best tablet Amazon has ever made-it might even be the best small Android tablet this holiday season," Techno Buffalo wrote. "That's because the Fire HDX is less of a device and more of a perfect ideal. Where many tablets today are trying very hard to do everything-maybe too much-Amazon's device is made very specifically to make consuming as much content as possible very simple. And even more so if you hold an Amazon Prime membership, with plenty of video content and access to free kindle books with each membership. That's the way it has always been, and I'm very much in favor of that approach. It's no fuss, little effort, with plenty of reward. You might say it's the People's Tablet."
