Tablet price cuts reach the Surface RT and the Nexus 7

Still months away from the usual back-to-school sales season, prices on many tablets are dropping quickly. Last week we saw the prices of the Kindle Fire HD, both of Barnes and Noble's tablets (Nook HD and Nook HD+), and HP's Slate 7 get slashed.

This week, the Nexus 7 sees its first real price drop since its launch last year. Buyers in the United States can currently pick up one of the popular Android tablets for only US$149 for a 16 GB model or US$169 for the 32 GB. With a refresh of the 7 expected sometime this month, its a testament to the tablet's strong sales that Google hasn't needed to cut the price before now to clear out the old stock. Still, the news will come as a hard blow to other manufacturers who are already struggling to sell in a small Android tablet market dominated by the Nexus 7.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has also announced a sale on its lower end tablet, though likely for very different reasons. The Surface RT hasn't been received particularly well, and most Windows tablet buyers are opting for an alternative that runs the full version of Windows 8 instead of the comparatively limited RT version. Even at it's new low price of US$349 it may have a hard time competing with the likes of the Acer Iconia W3 (US$379), or the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 (US$450) which offer full compatibility with legacy Windows apps.

Whatever your preferences, this summer is looking like the perfect time to stock up on tablets.

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