With the Next Generation Around the Corner, is it a Bad Time to Buy a Kindle?

Published August 8, 2011

By Lindsay Sakraida, dealnews Features Director

On Friday, Amazon dropped the price on its factory-refurbished, 8.5-oz. Amazon Kindle 3 Wi-Fi eBook Reader to just $99.99 — the best deal we've seen for any 3rd-generation Amazon Kindle. Huzzah!

But hold on. The folks over at TechCrunch speculate that this could signal the heavily-rumored release of a next generation Kindle, since it follows the occurrences right before the release of this current model — and if you care about the potential new features, maybe you shouldn't pull the trigger on any Kindle 3 right now.

On July 12, 2010, dealnews noted a price drop on the refurbished Wi-Fi Kindle 2. And at $109.99, it was also the lowest price we had seen for that model. About two weeks later, Amazon announced its new version, the Kindle 3, available with Wi-Fi for $139. Consumers could preorder it for delivery on August 27.

And now the Kindle 3 has received a markdown. If we follow the above schedule, as TechCrunch suggests we do, there's a possibility that Amazon will announce its anticipated "Kindle 4" on or around August 22, with a potential release about a month later. As the blog points out, this is in line with the existing rumored schedule for the new device.

So is it a "bad time to buy a Kindle," as TechCrunch declares? There are rumors that the refresh will include both high- and low-end models, with potentially upgraded E-Ink technology and a touchscreen (in the high-end version only). And even though two models will bring two separate price points, keep in mind that the last upgrade was only $29 more than the previous-generation refurb. So dealnews readers, what say you?

Please note that, although prices sometimes fluctuate or expire unexpectedly, all products and deals mentioned in this feature were available at the lowest total price we could find at the time of publication (unless otherwise specified).

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