Deal: Amazon Kindle e-readers and Fire tablets now available at discounted prices

If you were planning to purchase an Amazon Kindle e-reader or a Fire tablet, now would be the perfect time for it. For a limited time starting today, the online retailer is now offering its slabs and e-readers at significantly reduced prices.

The 7-inch Amazon Fire, which usually retails for $50, is now available at $40. The tablet may not offer a crisp multimedia experience or satisfying performance in 3D-intensive games, but the Amazon Fire 7 is a tablet that suffices for basic tasks such as web browsing or viewing movies. As such, $40 is a very tempting price if you're looking for a basic tablet.

Those looking for a better display and speedier internal hardware might be interested in the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, now available at $430 ($50 off), or the Fire HD 10, currently available at $180 ($50 off). Amazon's Fire for Kids tablet is also offered at a discount and will now set you back $80 ($20 off).

Those with a passion for the written word will probably want to check out Amazon's discounted e-readers. The 7th-generation Wi-Fi only Kindle Paperwhite is currently priced at $100 (a $20 discount) while the 3G version of the 6th-gen Paperwhite will only set you back $140 (a $40 discount). For the duration of this promotion, the basic Kindle e-reader is priced at $60, or $20 off the usual retail price.