A very capable tablet for a low, low price

If you want an super-cheap, very capable tablet computer for surfing the web, writing emails, reading e-books and watching videos, consider the Amazon Fire HD 8 Tablet.

How cheap is super-cheap? The Fire HD 8’s regular price on www.amazon.ca is $99.99. When this was written, Amazon had cut the price to $79.99 – with no time limit on this offer and free shipping included.

The Gadget Zone

How capable is very capable? Well, the Fire HD 8 comes with a 8″ wide-format touchscreen, a 1.3 GHz quad processor, 1.5 GB of RAM, onscreen keyboard,

up to 12 hours of battery life and Dolby Atmos audio through its small stereo speakers. It also has front and back-facing cameras and a microphone for Skype video calls, and to shoot photos and videos.

The super-thin Fire HD 8 Tablet (192mm x 115mm x 9.6mm) has 16 GB onboard storage (you can get 32 GB by paying $129.99 or less). There’s a microSD card slot built into both models that allows you to add up to 256 GB more storage, and is WiFi-enabled.

There are limits: Although you can surf the web for content, you’ll find yourself buying Kindle e-books from Amazon, and downloadable music, movie, and TV series through a required Amazon Prime or Netflix account. But for $99.99 or less, the Amazon Fire HD 8 essentially puts a fully functioned tablet computer in your hands.

This is a bargain that the respected tech review site www.CNET.com called “the best ultra-cheap tablet.” Find it at www.amazon.ca/Fire-HD-Tablet-Display-Black/dp/B072KFMTQ3.

— James Careless