I stopped by a Staples on the way home yesterday to find all of their tablets being sold out. The Staples sales person stated that because of the "$100 tablet coupon" they've sold out all of their tablets in stock. When I asked if he could check any nearby stores for an Acer, he said he already did and that no stores in the Seattle area had them (then nearest that had one was in Portland). That morning he sold 36 tablets when the store opened when several Microsoft employees rushed in to use their $100 coupons.
The rep also told me that Staples is losing $70 per tablet sold and the coupon offer was being treated as a "Black Friday"deal. Luckily, what he could do for me was to order it online (with the $100 coupon discount) and have it shipped to my house at no extra cost. I decided to go that route, and it arrived by UPS today!
Normally, I wouldn't see a need for a tablet (especially at the $400-$600 price range), and if I did "need" one I would get an Apple iPad2. But at the $300 price it was too tempting.
Here's a my mini review in case someone is considering buying it:
After playing with one at the Staples store I was impressed with the quality of the high-res screen and the fit-n-finish of the case. The Acer isn't as thick as a lot of online reviews have stated. Sure, it might be thicker than the iPad, but it's still pretty thin to me. It's also not that heavy, so don't let the thinness and weight keep you from considering it. Just check one out for yourself. The Honeycomb Android OS seemed to run fine on the Acer tablet, and was switching screens and apps was very fast.
What's nice is that it has a real USB port so you can connect a keyboard or other USB device for use with the Acer. You can also output HDMI video, and it has an SD card slot for expanded storage. WiFi and GPS rounds out the package. I'm currently downloading the OS update, so I haven't had time to play around with it very much.
So if you're considering getting a tablet you might check them out at your local Staples store with the option of ordering one at the store to use the $100 coupon (coupon only works in the store, no home online orders).