Samsung Announces Dates, Prices for Galaxy Tab 3

Samsung today announced launch dates and prices for its Galaxy Tab 3 line of tablets, including the first Intel-powered Android tablet available in the United States.

The Intel tablet, which is the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1-inch, will start at $399. The smaller, 8-inch Galaxy Tab 3, which will use a Samsung Exynos processor, will start at $299, while the budget, 7-inch Galaxy Tab 3 with a Marvell processor will cost $199.

All three tablets will go on pre-sale on June 25 with actual sales starting July 7, Samsung said. The models sold in the U.S. will be Wi-Fi-only, with no cellular capability.

The Galaxy Tab 3s, which were announced globally between April 29 and June 3, take many styling cues from the Galaxy S 4 smartphones. The 7-inch and 8-inch models, especially, look like expanded Galaxy S 4 devices. They all come in white or gold-brown, with a physical home button below the screen, just like the Galaxy S 4 has.

The specs here vary a lot. The 7-inch, $199 model has a 1.2-GHz dual-core Marvell processor, a 1,024-by-600 screen and Android 4.1. There's a 3-megapixel camera on the back and a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front. The device comes with only 8GB of storage, although there's also a memory card slot. This is a basic tablet that competes with gadgets like the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and the Kobo Arc. Its screen is lower-resolution than either of those, but Samsung throws in some exclusive content and features, such as three months of Hulu Plus and two years of a 50GB Dropbox account.

Still, though, Samsung will have to rely on its name and build quality to fend off lower-priced competitors like the Asus Memo Pad HD 7 and Coby MID7065.

:story: PC Magazine