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Amazon's new $139 Kindle Fire HD is the cheap tablet to buy

Amazon's new $139 Kindle Fire HD is the cheap tablet to buy

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Amazon Kindle Fire HD
Amazon Kindle Fire HD

Amazon is rolling out the brand-new Kindle FIre HDX with upgraded everything tonight, but last year's Kindle Fire HD isn't going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, the company announced that it is updating the tablet and cutting its price down to $139 — a very aggressive price point for a still-competitive tablet.

The new Kindle Fire HD features a 7-inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display, faster dual-core 1.5GHz processor, and dual stereo speakers. It won't give the new Nexus 7 much of a performance challenge (that's reserved for the new HDX models), but for nearly $100 less, it's certainly an enticing deal for anyone looking for a low-cost tablet. The new Kindle Fire HD is thinner and lighter than before and has a new industrial design with beveled edges and back-mounted controls.

Faster processor, new design, and a super low price

It also comes pre-loaded with the new Fire OS 3.0 software based on Android and includes improvements to X-Ray and other Kindle features. The Fire HD does not have the new Mayday live help feature coming with the Fire HDX, but it does give users the option to view their apps in a grid instead of just in the traditional Kindle carousel. Amazon claims that Fire OS 3.0 offers improved touch responsiveness compared to standard Android thanks to low-level improvements to touch latency.

You can place a pre-order for the new Kindle Fire HD today, with units expected to ship starting on October 2nd. Additionally, Amazon is offering a set of optional folding Origami covers for the tablet, which let users stand it up on a table or protect it the screen from damage.