Everywhere you look now, you’ll find tablets of all kinds, colors and sizes. And people buy them in droves. After all, if you can’t buy yourself an iPad or iPad mini, you might as well buy yourself the next best thing, or the next next. Or the next, next, next best thing.
For most people who can afford them, they use tablets to consume all sorts of information from news to e-books and of course, apps. And these days, you will never find yourself wanting (for more choices).
Enter the Inquirer Tablet — the next, if not the first to jump into the tablet bandwagon. And if they can’t make you scale a paywall through your desktop or existing iOS and Android devices, they’ll tempt you into it by offering a free* Huawei MediaPad when you subscribe to their bulk pricing of P991.63/month** (2-year lockup) for access to “more than 60 newspapers, magazines, ebooks and more titles from the Inquirer Group)…”
When you avail of this bundle offer from Inquirer.net and BPI Express Credit Card, you need to download the Philippine Daily Inquirer iPhone/iPad app from the iTunes/App Store. They call it (PDI) Digital Newstand (consisting of 60 newspapers, magazines and ebooks). The total price of the PDI Digital Newstand Subscription and the Huawei MediaPad is P23,799.00 available on installment for up to 24 months. You save 34% off the regular price of P36,095.13 if you buy this separately.
If you’re a card-carrying Android fan who happens to be a news junkie and with money to spare, you can get this bundle by registering online at http://www.inquirer.net/inquirertab and filling-out the application form. They would even deliver the tablet to your credit card registered address for a fee of P300.00.
And because it’s a tablet, you can also “surf the web, play games and chat with your friends about the latest news whenever, wherever.”
Features of the Inquirer (Huawei MediaPad) Tab:
- 7″ IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen
- Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0
- Dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor
- 5MP autofocus rear-facing camera with HD video recording capabilities
- HSPA+ 14.4 Mbps, WiFi 11b/g/n
- Flash 10.3
- HDMI port
- Phone call and SMS
But, wait! If you’re capable of paying P991.63/month for 2 years, why not buy an iPad instead and then download the PDI app? You won’t have an all-access pass to all those awesome Inquirer Group publications but the app comes with 14 free issues anyway. And you’ve got an iPad! :)
So, should you buy an Inquirer Tab?
The short answer is no.
The flyer is smart enough to hint that you shouldn’t. Let me break it down to you:
P36,095.13 – P23,799.00 = P12,296.13 / 24months = P512.24 which is just about P159.76 less the cost for a PDI monthly all-titles subscription.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer offers the following subscriptions for in-app purchase:
- Inquirer Lite ($5.99/mo): The Philippine Daily Inquirer only, without supplements.
- Inquirer Standard ($8.99/mo): The Philippine Daily Inquirer as well as Inquirer Libre, Junior Inquirer, Sunday Inquirer Magazine and Inquirer Golf.
- Inquirer Plus ($15.99/mo): All the titles in the standard subscription as well as our Tagalog-language title Bandera (Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao editions), our regional title Cebu Daily News and our Hinge Inquirer specialty magazines.
You might say: “Well, it’s still a good deal! I’ll pay P23,799.00 for the Huawei MediaPad and get 2 years worth of PDI all-access for free*.”
Yes, that’s true. But the difference is that you have a Huawei MediaPad, not an iPad. That’s even more expensive than The New iPad 16G WiFi that sells for P22,789.00 and the iPad Mini 16G that sells for P18,489.00.
But of course, it’s your money, hence, your call. As long as you’re happy and nobody gets hurt, by all means, get it. :)
*Similar to a mobile postpaid plan, some handsets are issued free when you subscribe to a 2-year lock-up period
**Exclusive to BPI credit card holders
Inquirer Tablet | Inquirer Technology.
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Let me know what you think… :)