Tolino Tab 8 Price Slashed to 99 Euros at Thalia.de – Best Offer for Black Friday
Already in the first half of the year, the price of the Tolino Tab 8″ was adjusted: first, Weltbild offered the well-reviewed tablet at a lower price, and shortly thereafter, eBook.de followed suit. The device was available for only 149 euros. There’s now a new, likely temporary price reduction, allowing you to put down only 99 euros at Thalia for the Tolino flat computer online.
This makes the device significantly cheaper than at its market launch in fall 2014, which further improves its already solid price-performance ratio, turning the tablet into a real bargain.
Note: For today’s Black Friday (November 27, 2015), Tolino Shine 2 HD and Vision 3 HD are offered at a discount with voucher codes at Bücher.de. You can find all further information here.
The Tolino Tab 8″ is powered by an Intel Atom 64-bit chipset and features a WUXGA (1920×1200 pixels) display with wide viewing angles and a highly responsive touchscreen. In our test, the case remained pleasantly cool even under load, which is quite different from many competing products (often with even less performance). The low weight of just over 300 grams is also excellent for the 8-inch device, making it especially easy to handle.
However, there are some minor trade-offs to consider: the mono speaker (though good enough) is no longer state-of-the-art for a multimedia tablet, and the lack of GPS connectivity represents a step back compared to the previous two models. To be fair, it’s safe to say that most people can live with these two downsides, especially at the current sale price of 99 euros they don’t weigh heavily.
I’m currently using the Tab 8 in my daily life, having replaced my Google Nexus 7 (due to a broken display). Tinkerers and modders can also gain root access relatively easily and customize every part of the operating system. I’m more than satisfied with the device and would definitely jump at the 99 euro offer if I didn’t already own one.
Tolino Tab 8 for 99 euros at Thalia.de
Room for the Next Tolino Tab
Despite good prices and hardware, Tolino tablets have had quite a struggle in their relatively young history. The predecessors, Tab 7 and 8.9, apparently sold only with great difficulty despite various price promotions. The Thalia Cyber Monday promotion is memorable, during which the bookseller couldn’t even sell 1,000 units during the promotional period (in the pre-Christmas season!), despite the significant price reduction. In contrast, the stock of the similarly discounted Tolino Shine was sold out within a few hours.
Some market observers (myself included) therefore expected the Tolino alliance to abandon the tablet market. However, with the introduction of the Tab 8″ at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2014, they surprised everyone once again.
Recent price promotions for the Tolino Tab 8 suggest not much has changed in the market situation. In fact, it might be even more challenging than it was with the older models, as growth in the tablet market has significantly cooled. Thus, there were no new tablet introductions at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015.
People Read on Tablets, Too
Various surveys and market analyses consistently confirm that flat computers are also used for reading, which obviously means that a significant part of the market is missed if no relevant devices are offered. Worse yet: the future of reading habits is uncertain, and with a quick technology shift, you might lose touch if you don’t lay the groundwork now.
Contrary to numerous predictions, tablets still haven’t outcompeted dedicated E-Ink display readers in the reading sector. Instead, eBook readers continue to enjoy great popularity among avid readers, despite a worldwide decline in demand. The largest bookstore chain in the USA had a particularly miscalculated focus shift towards the tablet market for its digital business, which resulted in Barnes & Noble losing the tight eBook race with Amazon and struggling quarterly to piece together an ever-growing mess.
However, Amazon also faced challenges in the tablet market: the retail giant expanded its portfolio annually, hoping to attract a broad audience with a variety of devices across different price and performance tiers. But especially in Germany, this was not successful, likely due in part to the closed operating system, despite the comparatively low sale prices. The Fire Phone fared even worse, virtually disappearing from the market within weeks.
Luckily, the Tolino partners are taking a different path with the Tab 8, allowing free app installation via the Google Play Store, so you can take full advantage of the Android system. Thus, you can buy without worry, knowing you won’t be artificially limited in usage. At the price of 99 euros, the Tolino Tab 8 is definitely worth a closer look and a great alternative to the also inexpensive Fire competitors from Amazon.
Tolino Tab 8 for 99 euros at Thalia.de
Image source: Screenshot Thalia.de
