Carphone Warehouse has revealed pricing for the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The hotly anticipated Android tablet will cost £530 unlocked and SIM-free, or £500 on a contract with TalkMobile.
These are the most concrete prices we've seen yet, as Carphone Warehouse is actually offering the Tab with a contract. Previously, online retailers seem to have been taking a punt on prices, with Amazon, for example, initially quoting a massively controversial price of £800, which quickly plummeted to £680, and then £600, after the earlier prices quite rightly went down like a sandpaper sandwich with you lot. How do you feel about the standalone £530 price? Remember that you'll need a SIM card contract for 3G browsing on top of that cost.
£530 is the same price as the lowest-spec 3G version of the Apple iPad. Both the iPad and Tab boast 16GB hard drives, but the iPad measures 9.7 inches to the Tab's 7 inches. Does the Tab make up for its smaller physical size with its camera, Flash support and other features lacking on the iPad, or should the Tab be cheaper than its main rival?
You can net a Tab for a penny shy of £500 if you're prepared to commit to a contract with TalkMobile, Carphone Warehouse's own network. To our pleasant surprise, we found that involves a mere 30-day rolling contract, rather than an 18- or 24-month monstrosity -- you simply pay £10 each month for a 1GB data allowance, and you can cancel at any time, with no penalty. You'll even get a free month after you've ponied up your first tenner.
The Tab arrives in shops on 1 November. We expect to see pricing get more competitive in the next two weeks as all the major networks and retailers jockey for price points -- and TalkMobile has set the bar low with its £10 rolling contract. To see how Samsung's slate stacks up against the competition, swipe your way through our face-off between the Tab, iPad and BlackBerry PlayBook.
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Anonymous 18 October, 2010 17:59
Woo hoo let the price war begin
anonymous 18 October, 2010 19:42
£529.99 does indeed match the 16GB 3G iPad.
"Remember that you'll need a SIM card contract for 3G browsing on top of that cost."
Yeah - just like you could with the 3G iPad. Funnily enough. Considering that CPW are offering the Tab at £499.99 with a £10 per month ROLLING contract, that's a good deal. Rolling as in, 1 month at a time.
"...but the iPad measures 9.7 inches to the Tab's 7 inches"
Yep, which makes the Galaxy Tab sport a significantly higher pixel density. Funny how features like that make the iPhone 4 awesome eh?
"Does the Tab make up for its smaller physical size with its camera, Flash support and other features lacking on the iPad"
Smaller physical size is actually a positive for many, in that it still has a good screen size for browsing and ebooks yet can fit into a small back or large pocket. It's also 16:9 format which is good for movies.
As for the features it has that the iPad is lacking? You mean like USB, HDMI, Flash, Air, Video calling, Normal cellular phone calls, text messages and multi tasking?
For the same money?
Do you need to ask? Or does it have to have an Apple drawn on the back to make it teh awesome?
Rich Trenholm 19 October, 2010 10:18
Smaller physical means lower production cost. Apart from that, glad you agree with us
Anonymous 19 October, 2010 11:53
Aren't we forgetting thet the Galaxy tab is also a phone!