Azar42

These benchmarks are a bit old, but based on the tests Anandtech did on some OWC drives a year ago, there are a lot of faster SSDs out there. Including our favorite, the Samsung 840 EVO. Benchmarks on it here.

1. Your choice is really between a Kindle Fire HDX or a Nexus 7. I think the choice here comes down to knowing the person you're giving the tablet to. Is he pretty tech-savvy, or will he want to do a lot of things with his tablet? Go Nexus 7. Is he going to want a simpler UI, and mostly just read books/watch video? Does he shop a lot on Amazon? Kindle Fire's great for that.

2. The Kindle Fire HDX is a big jump forward in a lot of ways. Higher-res screen, lighter, quad-core CPU. If you're going for a Kindle Fire, definitely get an HDX.

$100 is really cheap, so you'll probably have to buy an older model. Even the 2012 Kindle Fire HD is $140 on Amazon right now.

You can get the new Nexus 7 (16GB) for about $180 online. That's a good deal, if you can spend that much.

I think it's limited in its functionality, and the screen mirroring feature didn't work really well when I tried it at launch (updates may have improved it by now.) But for a cheap way to get streaming video on your TV, it does its thing. And you can get one for $25 right now, which is damn cheap.

What are you looking for? Depending on the device, you may be able to get a slightly better deal without buying directly from Apple (or just save money instead of a gift card).

From some quick searching, Apple didn't make their own stuff cheaper on Cyber Monday in 2011 or 2012. They just sold some third-party accessories at a discount. So I'd definitely check out the Apple resellers for a deal or buy today.