Tablets, eReaders, Media Players

[curtw]

Woot! is having an "Appsclusive" (you can only order from within their phone/tablet app) on refurbed Kindle Voyage today, $59.99. I'd get a back-up for mine, but I just picked up the latest nook Glowlight Plus (for the pool).

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by booklover6

The base model. I don't really think the plus is worth it, do you? For light use.

Did you ever get your ner HD8?

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

Did you ever get your ner HD8?

Yes I got it but I gave it to my daughter so I don't have much experience using it. It was simple and quick to put the Google Play apps on it.

[bookmarked]

I know people here used to keep an eye out for cheap deals on smartphones for use as media players, etc., usually in the Black Friday thread. I don't know if anyone's still interested but I found one that may be what somebody is looking for.

Tracfone Wireless via eBay has a Motorola Moto e5 with a 1-Year 1500 Talk/Text/MB Plan for $40 and Free Shipping. That's 1500 minutes and 1500 text messages and 1500MB for the entire year (avg. 125 min/text/MB per month), which is okay for someone who mostly uses wifi, but you don't want to try to use mobile data all of the time. Google's Play Store updates will eat that up in no time.

The phone has 2GB RAM & 16GB storage and runs Android 8.1 Oreo. The phone comes locked to Tracfone, but you can unlock it after 1 year of service.

Also, Ebay has a targeted coupon for some users: HAPPY25 for $25 off of a purchase over $25. Expires 9/10/2020.

If the coupon works for you (add it at check-out), that knocks the price down to $15 (plus tax). Otherwise, at least you get a phone & a year of budget service for $40.

[cc_in_oh]

That's a nice deal. The code didn't work for me but still tempting. If anyone gets it, please post on whether it updates to Android 9 after activation. I know Tracfone rarely updates their phones but they did update my Galaxy J7 from 8 to 9...

[GA Russell]

Thanks bookmarked!

The code did not work for me either. It should arrive on the 11th.

[bookmarked]

The price has gone back up to $50 on the Tracfone Moto e5 Cell Phone + 1 Year of Service. If you missed it, put it on your eBay watchlist as I believe that it goes on sale periodically.

If you're just interested in the phone without service, that's still available for $30 here. The coupon would bring that down to $5.

As for the HAPPY25 eBay coupon, my guess is that it's targeted toward people who haven't bought anything from eBay in a while. I didn't qualify because, of course, after going nearly a year without buying from eBay, I ordered something a week before the coupon showed up.

cc_in_oh, since you're already a Tracfone customer, are you part of their rewards program? I've read elsewhere that if you send someone a referral code to join the rewards program, you both get 5000 points, which is enough to pay for a 13th month of service and qualify for a free phone unlock.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

That's a nice deal. The code didn't work for me but still tempting. If anyone gets it, please post on whether it updates to Android 9 after activation. I know Tracfone rarely updates their phones but they did update my Galaxy J7 from 8 to 9...

I got a similar deal on the Tracfone Moto E5 last year on HSN. It's still on 8.1.0 and last firmware update I got was just a security patch dated May 1.

[cc_in_oh]

I'll have to check out the rewards program. We buy 1-year refills every year and while going through the codes last time I found one for only $75. I bought 2 for each phone so we're good through 2021. I do most of my texting through my email accounts.

[sufue]

Definitely not targeted to folks who haven't bought from eBay for a while - I got one, and I buy from eBay all the time. I was actually guessing that it was a REWARD for buying from eBay until I saw your message ! So don't smack yourself too hard!

So who knows what their criteria were...

Originally Posted by bookmarked

{edited}
As for the HAPPY25 eBay coupon, my guess is that it's targeted toward people who haven't bought anything from eBay in a while. I didn't qualify because, of course, after going nearly a year without buying from eBay, I ordered something a week before the coupon showed up.
{edited}

P.S. I'd be really tempted by the Moto E5 phone, but I'm (still) looking for something with a really small screen, 5 inches or less, ideally around 4 inches, to replace my treasured Samsung Galaxy Players, the last of which finally died a while back. And the blurb about the Moto E5 says its screen is 5.7 inches - sigh! If anyone sees a good deal on a phone with a decent small screen, please post! Oh yeah, I'd only be using it for wifi, so no need for a plan, and I don't care about carrier...

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by sufue

P.S. I'd be really tempted by the Moto E5 phone, but I'm (still) looking for something with a really small screen, 5 inches or less, ideally around 4 inches, to replace my treasured Samsung Galaxy Players, the last of which finally died a while back. And the blurb about the Moto E5 says its screen is 5.7 inches - sigh! If anyone sees a good deal on a phone with a decent small screen, please post! Oh yeah, I'd only be using it for wifi, so no need for a plan, and I don't care about carrier...

I'm in the same boat. I hate the huge screens on phones these days. I love the 4.5" screen on my old Moto E2 (I use it as a WiFi media player). Unfortunately, it's 5 years old, has a 2.4 GHz single-band WiFi, and is running Android 5.

I hope to find something small, and soon.

[rrrlakin]

Motorola Luge has a 4.4'" screen and is readily available new for $40 on ebay--if you can discount $25 it comes down to $15 plus tax (free shipping).

rrrlakin

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by bookmarked

As for the HAPPY25 eBay coupon, my guess is that it's targeted toward people who haven't bought anything from eBay in a while. I didn't qualify because, of course, after going nearly a year without buying from eBay, I ordered something a week before the coupon showed up.

I got it, it's targeted at very long-time eBay customers:

A special $25 coupon just for our first members

Manabi, thank you for being with us from the very beginning! Here's a coupon for you, plus a look back at your history with us.

It really did have a look back at my history, showing when I joined, the first purchase they have a record of, my first sold item, first app purchase (none), first offer (none) and first watched item.

Of course the memories are screwed up a bit in that they apparently didn't keep data from the first several years. It shows my first purchase as being in 2004, but I know I was buying stuff the first year I signed up, in 1999. Still, it was kind of neat to see what they did have data for and I definitely appreciated a free $25. (It was good on any purchase of $25.01 or more.) I ended up buying some shirts I had planned on getting soon.

[bookmarked]

Originally Posted by Manabi

I got it, it's targeted at very long-time eBay customers:

It really did have a look back at my history, showing when I joined, the first purchase they have a record of, my first sold item, first app purchase (none), first offer (none) and first watched item.

Of course the memories are screwed up a bit in that they apparently didn't keep data from the first several years. It shows my first purchase as being in 2004, but I know I was buying stuff the first year I signed up, in 1999. Still, it was kind of neat to see what they did have data for and I definitely appreciated a free $25. (It was good on any purchase of $25.01 or more.) I ended up buying some shirts I had planned on getting soon.

I guess eBay just doesn't like me since I've been a member since 2001. I also never seem to get promotional emails from them, even though I have them turned on.

Thanks for sharing the info about who is supposed to eligible, though.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by bookmarked

I guess eBay just doesn't like me since I've been a member since 2001. I also never seem to get promotional emails from them, even though I have them turned on.

Thanks for sharing the info about who is supposed to eligible, though.

October 29, 1999 for me, and I've never received any either. In my case, it might be because of being a long way from the US.