Best Tablets Under $250

With the release of the iPad, tablets became the hot, must-have electronic gadget. But with it's hefty price tag, $499-$829, iPads are not in everyone's budget. Fortunately, there have been a slew of tablets released since the iPad and there are many affordable tablets for under $250! Many of these popular and inexpensive tablets run of Google's highly popular Android software. If you are looking for a tablet for yourself or as a gift, check out these great tablets that are all under $250!

Amazon revolutionized reading with their popular ebook, the Kindle, they have now taken the kindle a step further by releasing the Kindle Fire, an affordable tablet that is flying off Amazon's virtual shelves. The Kindle Fire allows you to watch movies and TV shows, read books and magazines, play games, and surf the web all for $159! Amazon has followed up their successful launch of the Kindle Fire HD with even more great features and HD video for $199. The Kindle Fire (whether regular or HD) comes with a free month membership to Amazon Prime (free 2 day shipping on Amazon purchases, stream movies and TV for free, and borrow ebooks for free). The Kindle Fire has a 7" multi-touch, color display, runs off a modified version of the Android software, and uses Amazon's Silk web browser. With the Kindle Fire you have access to Amazon's extensive collection of digital movies & TV shows, ebooks, and apps.

The SKYPAD Alpha is compact and lightweight with a vibrant 7” color LCD touchscreen, a 1.3MP webcam, 4GB of internal storage, and up to 32GB of expandable storage via micro SD. The SKYPAD Alpha comes standard with WiFi N, Bluetooth™ 2.0, a powerful Freescale™ ARM Cortex™ -A8 processor, and 512MB of RAM. With the SKYPAD Alpha you can surf the web, download apps, check your email, stream videos and music, and make VOIP or video calls anywhere there’s an available WiFi connection.

The NOOK Color is not only a color e-reader but also allows you to surf the web, check your email, read a favorite blog, search Google, play games and listen to Pandora radio--all for $211! You also have the option of loading Android to the NOOK Color via an SD card.

If you're looking for an affordable 10 inch tablet, the Coby Kyros 10.1 Inch Tablet is the way to go! Most tablets under $250 are 7 inch tablets, but for just over $200 you can get a 10 inch tablet from Coby Kyros. The Coby Kyros 10.1 inch tablet runs on Android software and can wirelessly access the Internet through a hi-speed networking support. The Coby Kyros has 4GB of built-in internal memory and features a microSD card slot for upgrading the capacity to up to 32GB. It also has a built-in camera and a mic making it an all-in-one media device.

The VIZIO has an 8 inch LED-backlit LCD with multi-touch capabilities plus ambient light sensor and accelerometer. The VIZIO runs on Android software and is preloaded with the following apps: maps, YouTube, Gmail, and IM. The VIZIO has a front-facing camera, 3 speakers, built in GPS and Adobe Flash support. The VIZIO offers a N Wi-Fi connection and bluetooth connection.

At $249.99, the Lenovo Ideapad is the most expensive tablet on the list and just barely makes the "under $250" requirement. The Ideapad is a durable Android based multimedia device good for the web on the go. It's unique offline GPS navigation technology allows direct satellite connection. Plus the Lenovo App Shop and Android Market give you easy access to thousands of apps.