Last week we heard rumors that Barnes & Noble was selling the 9-inch Nook HD+ for just $180 in select stores to test the waters on how well it would do at that price. The results must have been favorable because today the bookseller announced that the Nook HD and HD+ are both getting a big discount ahead of Mother’s Day. Starting today through Sunday, May 12, the 7-inch Nook HD costs just $150 for the 8GB model and $180 for the 16GB one (normally $200 and $230). The Nook HD+ is now $180 for the 16GB model and $210 for 32GBs (normally $270 and $300). This particular discount is only for a week, but may indicate that B&N might be willing to bring the prices down in the future to compete with the Kindle Fire HDs and other 7 – 9 inch tablet challengers.
The low price is already enough to get attention, but in conjunction with the recent Google Play store announcement, the Nook HD and HD+ are looking like serious competition for big players like the Nexus 7 and the iPads. Hardware-wise, the Nooks have always been impressive thanks to high-quality, high-resolution displays and sturdy, comfortable design. We also like the custom interface, especially for less tech-savvy users and families with kids. Now that they have access to the wide world of Android apps instead of the limited selection on the Nook App Store, the biggest drawback to buying a Nook is gone.
The price cut is for Nooks is available both in Barnes & Noble stores and on barnesandnoble.com. Retail partners will also sell the tablets at the discounted price, but not all online stores have the lower price as of press time.
Though this promotion is aimed at people shopping for Mother’s Day, we suspect that a lot of tablet lovers will scoop them up as well at this price. Read our full reviews of the Nook HD and Nook HD+ to see why we think this is such a good deal.
