Samsung Galaxy Tab Will Cost $999 Outright In Australia

It hardly needs any more publicity, but Samsung’s Galaxy Tab was the centrepiece of a Samsung Christmas press launch at its Sydney HQ this evening. The big news? The tablet will cost $999 if you buy it outright.

While outright purchase is very appealing for us early adopters, Samsung is anticipating that the major sales will come through bundled contract deals with telcos (all the majors – 3, Optus, Telstra and Vodafone – are on board). Official release is scheduled for November, but no plan deals were unveiled at the launch.

Nick rated the Galaxy Tab as one of his top 10 IFA announcements, but I’ve got to admit I was a bit underwhelmed during my brief play with the device on show. As well as feeling a tad sluggish in performance, the Tab’s habit of switching off the lighting behind the Android navigation buttons after a brief delay is really, really annoying.

To make it worse, to restore them, you need to tap the main screen, not the area where the buttons are. It felt really awkward compared to other Android devices. In this kind of form factor, I’d rather have a Dell Streak, but diversity is one of the key reasons why Android tablets are a welcome addition to the market.